For every gold-medal triumph at the Olympics there are a hundred disappointments. Favorites who finished fourth. Stars who succumbed to unknowns. Medal contenders stung by the decisions of judges.

How an athlete responds to disappointment creates a lasting impression. Thus, Alicia Sacramone, the Brown student and captain of the U.S. gymnastics team, earned the admiration of many despite errors that cost the United States a better chance at the team gold and herself a shot at individual glory. She handled her failure with aplomb, holding back the tears, continuing her routines, cheering her teammates.

Demetrius Andrade, the Providence welterweight, raised some eyebrows for leaving the ring before the official decision in his quarterfinal bout against Kim Jungjoo of Korea and then blaming the judges for his 11-9 loss.

Two athletes handling disappointment in their own way.

Sacramone, a medal-winner at three World Championships and a record-smasher in her one year of competition for Brown, had no one to blame but herself for her miscues. She had had trouble staying in bounds on her floor exercise so was disappointed, but not shocked, that she went out of bounds during qualifying.

In the team competition she landed on her back at the beginning of her floor routine and fell off the beam at the start of that program. Hers were not the only mistakes but they contributed to the second-place finish for the United States. China won the gold.

Sacramone never complained or carried on.

“As the father of a teen gymnast and a former college athlete, I think Alicia displayed the heart of a champion and the spirit of the Olympic ideal,” Ted Fitzpatrick wrote in an e-mail from his home in Whitefish Bay, Wis. A Providence native, he played ice hockey as a walk-on at Notre Dame.

Fitzpatrick wrote that winning is not the most important Olympic ideal.

“Showing the character to develop the skill to compete and competing with grace and dignity are what the Olympic ideal means to me.”

Sacramone finished fourth in the individual vault, She plans to take some time off and perhaps travel before returning to Brown next winter. She is the only local athlete who won a medal, silver for the team competition.

Rhode Island youngsters should emulate the ambition and work ethic that Andrade displayed in getting to Beijing and learn a lesson from the manner in which he ended his Olympic foray. He could have stayed in the ring until the official decision but left.

Andrade’s coach, Dave Keefe, said he showed no disrespect to his Korean opponent.

“After the fight he shook the Korean’s hand, and went over and shook hands with his corner,” Keefe said yesterday. Then he left because, as Keefe put it, “he was pretty disgusted.”

Andrade complained about the judging after his first bout, which he won, 11-9, and suggested the system might work against him in a later bout. As it turned out, he was prophetic. The quarterfinal result “felt like a bad dream,” Keefe said.

“I don’t conceivably see how it went the way it did. USA Boxing judges have called me and said they scored the fight and had it a little different. . . . The sad part is he worked so hard for so long and this happens. It’s so subjective.”

Andrade will return home later this week, Keefe added, and eventually turn pro.

Of the 10 Olympians with Rhode Island connections, only one is still competing. Martin Fagan, a 2007 Providence College graduate, will run the marathon for Ireland.

Jill Craybas, the East Greenwich native living in Huntington Beach, Calif., lost in the first round of the tennis tournament. Swimmer Elizabeth Beisel of Saunderstown finished fourth in the 400 individual medley and fifth in the 200 backstroke.

Michael Parkhurst of Cranston played soccer for the United States, team that was 1-1-1 and did not advance to the medal round.

Providence College alum Roisin McGettigan ran for Ireland and finished 14th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. PC alum Kim Smith of New Zealand was ninth in the 10,000.

Anna Willard, a 2006 Brown graduate, finished 10th in the steeplechase, which was held for women for the first time.

And rower Portia Johnson McGee, a 2001 Brown grad, and Anne Cummins finished first in the Pairs Final B.

mszostak@projo.com