I take exception to your assertion that Olympic logos are typically bad. The Munich ’72 logo might evoke nothing more than a ‘meh’ if it’s all alone but its applications were absolutely stunning [1]. The takeaway might be that it’s best to design a solid logo that offends no one and put all the elaboration and quirkiness [2] into the rest of the identity.

[1] Poster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insect54/2307407256/ – Tickets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/realnotreal/3509806052/

[2] ‘Waldi’ is the weird but funny mascot of the 1972 Olympics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosdopico/575561156/