2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad[a] and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the group stage in women's football, began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, followed by the opening ceremony on 27 July.[3][4] There were 10,518 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) who participated in the 2012 Olympics.[5]
Emblem of the 2012 Summer Olympics; other colour variants are shown below | |
| Host city | London, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Motto | Inspire a Generation |
| Nations | 204+2 (including 2 IOA teams) |
| Athletes | 10,518 (5,863 men, 4,655 women) |
| Events | 302 in 26 sports (39 disciplines) |
| Opening | 27 July 2012 |
| Closing | 12 August 2012 |
| Opened by | |
| Cauldron |
|
| Stadium | Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park |
Summer Winter 2012 Summer Paralympics | |
Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the then-London mayor Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore on 6 July 2005, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid, and Paris.[6] London became the first city to host the modern Olympics three times,[7][b] having previously hosted the Summer Games in 1908 and 1948.[8][9] Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability.[10] The main focus was a new 200-hectare (490-acre) Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site in Stratford, East London.[11] The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid.[12]
The United States topped the medal table, winning the most gold medals (46) and the highest number of medals overall (104). China finished second with a total of 91 medals (38 gold) and Great Britain came third with 65 medals overall (29 gold). Michael Phelps of the United States became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, winning his 22nd medal.[13] Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, meaning that every currently eligible country has now sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games.[14] Women's boxing was included for the first time, and the 2012 Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors.[15][16][17]
The Games received considerable praise for their organisation, with the volunteers, the British military and public enthusiasm commended particularly highly.[18][19][20] The Games were described as "happy and glorious".[21] The opening ceremony, directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle, received widespread acclaim.[22][23] These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Belgian Jacques Rogge, who was succeeded by German Thomas Bach the next year.
Bidding process Edit
London was chosen over Birmingham to represent Great Britain's bid by the British Olympic Association.
By 15 July 2003—the deadline for interested cities to submit bids to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)—nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Summer Olympics: Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro.[24] On 18 May 2004, as a result of a scored technical evaluation, the IOC reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris.[25] All five submitted their candidate files by 19 November 2004 and were visited by the IOC inspection team during February and March 2005. The Paris bid suffered two setbacks during the IOC inspection visit: a number of strikes and demonstrations coinciding with the visits, and a report that a key member of the bid team, Guy Drut, would face charges over alleged corrupt party political finances.[26]
Throughout the process, Paris was widely seen as the favourite, particularly as this was its third bid in recent years. London was initially seen as lagging behind Paris by a considerable margin.[27] Its position began to improve after the appointment of Lord Coe as the new chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) on 19 May 2004.[28] In late August 2004, reports predicted a tie between London and Paris.[29]
On 6 June 2005, the IOC released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. They did not contain any scores or rankings, but the report for Paris was considered the most positive. London was close behind, having closed most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004. New York and Madrid also received very positive evaluations.[30] On 1 July 2005, when asked who would win, Jacques Rogge said, "I cannot predict it since I don't know how the IOC members will vote. But my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close. Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes, or maybe less."[31]
On 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York and Madrid. The final two contenders were London and Paris. At the end of the fourth round of voting, London won the right to host the 2012 Games with 54 votes to 50.[32]
The celebrations in London were short-lived, being overshadowed by bombings on London's transport system less than 24 hours after the announcement.[33]
| City | NOC | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | Great Britain | 22 | 27 | 39 | 54 |
| Paris | France | 21 | 25 | 33 | 50 |
| Madrid | Spain | 20 | 32 | 31 | — |
| New York City | United States | 19 | 17 | — | — |
| Moscow | Russia | 15 | — | — | — |
| Total ballots | 97 | 101 | 103 | 104 |
Development and preparation Edit
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) was created to oversee the staging of the Games, and held its first board meeting on 3 October 2005.[34] The committee, chaired by Lord Coe, was in charge of implementing and staging the Games, while the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), established in April 2006, was in charge of construction of the venues and infrastructure.[34][35]
The Government Olympic Executive (GOE), a unit within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), was the lead government body for coordinating the London 2012 Olympics. It focused on oversight of the Games, cross-programme management, and the London 2012 Olympic Legacy before and after the Games that would benefit London and the wider United Kingdom. The organisation was also responsible for the supervision of the £9.3 billion of public sector funding.[36]
In August 2011, security concerns arose surrounding the hosting of the Olympic Games in London, following the 2011 England riots.[37] Some countries expressed safety concerns,[38] despite the IOC's assurance that the riots would not affect the Games.[39] The IOC's Coordination Commission for the 2012 Games completed its tenth and final visit to London in March 2012. Its members concluded that "London is ready to host the world this summer".[40]
Venues Edit
The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games used a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well-known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. After the Games, some of the new facilities would be reused in their Olympic form, while others will be resized or relocated.[41]
The majority of venues were divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. In addition there were a few venues that, by necessity, were outside the boundaries of Greater London, such as the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy some 125 mi (201 km) southwest of London, which hosted the sailing events. The football tournament was staged at several grounds around the UK.[42] Work began on the Park in December 2006, when a sports hall in Eton Manor was pulled down.[43] The athletes' village in Portland was completed in September 2011.[44]
In November 2004, the 200-hectare (500-acre) Olympic Park plans were revealed.[45] The plans for the site were approved in September 2004 by Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney and Waltham Forest.[46] The redevelopment of the area to build the Olympic Park required compulsory purchase orders of property. The London Development Agency was in dispute with London and Continental Railways about the orders in November 2005. By May 2006, 86% of the land had been bought as businesses fought eviction.[47] Residents who opposed the eviction tried to find ways to stop it by setting up campaigns, but they had to leave as 94% of land was bought and the other 6% bought as a £9 billion regeneration project started.[48]
There were some issues with the original venues not being challenging enough or being financially unviable. Both the Olympic road races and the mountain bike event were initially considered to be too easy, so they were eventually scheduled on new locations.[49][50] The Olympic marathon course, which was set to finish in the Olympic stadium, was moved to The Mall, since closing Tower Bridge was deemed to cause traffic problems in central London.[51] North Greenwich Arena 2 was scrapped in a cost-cutting exercise, Wembley Arena being used for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events instead.[52][53][54][55]
Test events were held throughout 2011 and 2012, either through an existing championship such as 2012 Wimbledon Championships or as a specially created event held under the banner of London Prepares.[56] Team GB House was the British Olympic Association's operational HQ up to and during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Designed by architects Gebler Tooth on the top floor of an office building in Westfield Stratford City, it combined the team HQ, athletes' "Friends and Family" lounge, Press Centre, and VIP lounge.
Public transport Edit
IOC's initial evaluation felt that, if transport improvements were delivered in time for the Games, London would cope.[57] Transport for London (TfL) carried out numerous improvements in preparation for 2012, including the expansion of the London Overground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and the introduction of a new "Javelin" high-speed rail service.[58] According to Network Rail, an additional 4,000 train services operated during the Games, and train operators ran longer trains during the day.[59] During the Games, Stratford International station was not served by any international services (just as it had not been before the Games),[60] westbound trains did not stop at Hackney Wick railway station,[61] and Pudding Mill Lane DLR station closed entirely during the Games.[62]
TfL also built a £25 million cable car across the River Thames, called the Emirates Air Line, to link 2012 Olympics venues.[63] It was inaugurated in June 2012 and crosses the Thames between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks, carrying up to 2,500 passengers an hour, cutting journey times between the O2 arena and the ExCeL exhibition centre and providing a crossing every 30 seconds.[64]
The plan was to have 80% of athletes travel less than 20 minutes to their event[65] and 93% of them within 30 minutes of their event.[66] The Olympic Park would be served by ten separate railway lines with a combined capacity of 240,000 passengers per hour.[67] In addition, LOCOG planned for 90% of the venues to be served by three or more types of public transport.[66] Two park-and-ride sites off the M25 with a combined capacity of 12,000 cars were 25 minutes away from the Olympic Park. Another park-and-ride site was planned in Ebbsfleet with a capacity for 9,000 cars where spectators could board a 10-minute shuttle train service.[66] To get spectators to Eton Dorney, four park-and-ride schemes were set up.[68] These Park and Ride services were operated by First Games Transport.[69]
TfL defined a network of roads leading between venues as the Olympic Route Network; roads connecting all of the Olympic venues located within London. Many of these roads also contained special "Olympic lanes" marked with the Olympic rings—reserved for the use of Olympic athletes, officials, and other VIPs during the Games. Members of the public driving in an Olympic lane were subject to a fine of £130. Additionally, London buses would not include roads with Olympic lanes on their routes.[70][71][72] Concerns were expressed at the logistics of spectators travelling to the events outside London. In particular, the sailing events at Portland had no direct motorway connections, and local roads are heavily congested by tourist traffic in the summer.[73] However, a £77 million relief road connecting Weymouth to Dorchester was built and opened in 2011.[74][75] Some £16 million was put aside for the rest of the improvements.[76]
TfL created a promotional campaign and website, Get Ahead of the Games, to help provide information related to transport during the Olympics and Paralympics. Through the campaign, TfL also encouraged the use of cycling as a mode of transport.[77] A temporary terminal was created at Heathrow Airport to be used by 10,100 departing athletes after the Games. Up to 35% more bags than normal were expected on 13 August, which was predicted to be the busiest day in the airport's history, according to Nick Cole, head of Olympic and Paralympic planning at Heathrow.
Cost and financing Edit
A study from Oxford University found that the sports-related costs of London 2012 amounted to US$15 billion, compared with $4.6 billion for Rio 2016, $40–44 billion for Beijing 2008, and $51 billion for Sochi 2014 (the most expensive Olympics in history). London 2012 went over budget by 76% in real terms, measured from bid to completion. Cost per athlete was $1.4 million.[78] This does not include wider costs for urban and transport infrastructure, which often equal or exceed the sports-related costs.
The costs of staging the Games were separate from those for building the venues and infrastructure and redeveloping the land for the Olympic Park. While the Games were privately funded, the venues and infrastructure were largely financed using public money.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the original budget for the Games was increased to about £9.3 billion (US$15.28 billion) in 2007.[79] The revised figures were announced to the House of Commons on 15 March 2007 by Tessa Jowell. Along with East End regeneration costs, the breakdown was:
- Building the venues and infrastructure – £5.3 billion
- Elite sport and Paralympic funding – £400 million
- Security and policing – £600 million
- Regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley – £1.7 billion
- Contingency fund – £2.7 billion
Volunteers Edit
Unpaid volunteers known as Games Makers performed a variety of tasks before and during the Games.[80] A target of 70,000 volunteers was set as early as 2004.[81] When recruitment took place in 2010, more than 240,000 applications were received.[82] Sebastian Coe said in February 2012, "Our Games Makers will contribute a total of around eight million volunteer hours during the Games and the Games simply wouldn't happen without them".[83] The volunteers wore clothing that included purple and red polo shirts and jackets, beige trousers, grey socks and grey-and-white trainers, which they collected from the Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Centre. Volunteers also wore photo accreditation badges that were also worn by officials, athletes, family members and media, which gained them access to specific venues and buildings around the site.
Ticketing Edit
Organisers estimated that some 8 million tickets would be available for the Olympic Games,[84] and 1.5 million tickets for the Paralympic Games.[84] LOCOG aimed to raise £375–£400 million in ticket sales. There were also free events such as marathon, triathlon and road cycling,[85] although, for the first time in Olympic history, the sailing events were ticketed.[86] Eventually, more than 7,000,000 tickets were sold.[87] Following IOC rules, people applied for tickets from the NOC of their country of residence. European Union residents were able to apply for tickets in any EU country.[88]
In Great Britain, ticket prices ranged from £20 for many events to £2,012 for the most expensive seats at the opening ceremony. Some free tickets were given to military personnel as part of the Tickets For Troops scheme,[89] as well as to survivors and families of those who died during 7 July 2005 London bombings.[90] Initially, people were able to apply for tickets via a website from 15 March until 26 April 2011. There was a huge demand for tickets, with a demand of more than three times the number of tickets available.[91][92] On 11 May 2012 a round of nearly one million "second chance" tickets went on sale over a 10-day period between 23 June and 3 July 2011.[93] About 1.7 million tickets were available for football and 600,000 for other sports, including archery, field hockey, football, judo, boxing and volleyball. Ten sports had sold out by 8 am of the first day.[94]
Countdown Edit
During the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, the Olympic Flag was formally handed over from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London. This was followed by a section highlighting London,[95] One month later, the Olympic and Paralympic flags were raised outside the London City Hall.[96]
A countdown clock in Trafalgar Square was unveiled, 500 days before the Games.[97][98] It was a two-sided clock with the Paralympic countdown on the other side. The countdown to the start of the Olympics began with a ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece.[99]
Security Edit
The police led the security operation (named Operation Olympics by the Ministry of Defence), with 10,000 officers available, supported by 13,500 members of the British Armed Forces. Naval and air assets were deployed as part of the security operation, including ships situated in the Thames, Typhoon fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles;[100] it was the biggest security operation Britain had faced in decades. The cost of security increased from £282 million to £553 million, and the figure of 13,500 armed forces personnel was greater than the number deployed at the time in Afghanistan.[101] The Metropolitan Police and the Royal Marines carried out security exercises in preparation for the Olympics on 19 January 2012, with 50 marine police officers in rigid inflatables and fast response boats, joined by up to 100 military personnel and a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter.[102]
The Ministry of Defence distributed leaflets to residents of the Lexington building in Bow, announcing that a missile system was to be stationed on top of the water tower.[103][104] This caused concern to some residents.[103][104] The Ministry said it probably would use Starstreak missiles and that site evaluations had taken place, but that no final decision had taken place.[103][104]
Medals Edit
Approximately 4,700[105] Olympic and Paralympic medals were produced by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant.[106] They were designed by David Watkins (Olympics) and Lin Cheung (Paralympics).[107] 99% of the gold, silver and copper was donated by Rio Tinto from a mine in Salt Lake County, Utah in the U.S.[108] The remaining 1% came from a Mongolian mine.[109] Each medal weighs 375–400 g (13.2–14.1 oz), has a diameter of 85 mm (3.3 in) and is 7 mm (0.28 in) thick, with the sport and discipline engraved on the rim.[110] The obverse, as is traditional, features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stepping from the Panathinaiko Stadium that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, with Parthenon in the background; the reverse features the Games logo, the River Thames and a series of lines representing "the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together".[111] The medals were transferred to the Tower of London vaults on 2 July 2012 for storage.[110]
Each gold medal is 92.5 percent silver and 1.34 percent gold, with the remainder copper. The silver medal is 92.5 percent silver, with the remainder copper. The bronze medal is made up of 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc, and 0.5 per cent tin.[112] The value of the materials in the gold medal was about £410 (US$644), the silver about £210 (US$330), and the bronze about £3 (US$4.71) as of 30 July 2012.[113]
Torch relay Edit
The Olympics torch relay ran from 19 May to 27 July 2012, before the Games. Plans for the relay were developed in 2010–11, with the torch-bearer selection process announced on 18 May 2011.[114] The torch was designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
On 18 May 2012 the Olympic flame arrived at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall from Greece[115] on flight BA2012, operated by a British Airways Airbus A319 named "Firefly". The relay lasted 70 days, with 66 evening celebrations and six island visits, and involved some 8,000 people carrying the torch about 8,000 mi (12,875 km), starting from Land's End in Cornwall.[116] The torch had three days outside the United Kingdom when it visited the Isle of Man on 2 June, Dublin in Ireland, on 6 June,[117] and both Guernsey and Jersey on 15 July.
The relay focused on National Heritage Sites, locations with sporting significance, key sporting events, schools registered with the Get Set School Network, green spaces and biodiversity, Live Sites (city locations with large screens), and festivals and other events.[118] Dumfries and Galloway was the only Region in the whole of the United Kingdom that had the Olympic Torch pass through it twice. A group of young athletes, nominated by retired Olympic athletes, ran the torch around the stadium. These torchbearers were Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds, and Adelle Tracey. Together the torchbearers each lit a petal that spread the fire to the 204 petals of the cauldron, representing the countries that participated in the Games.[119] The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick.
Environmental policy Edit
The Olympic Park was planned to incorporate 45 hectares of wildlife habitat, with a total of 525 bird boxes and 150 bat boxes. Local waterways and riverbanks were enhanced as part of the process.[120] Renewable energy also featured at the Olympics. It was originally planned to provide 20% of the energy for the Olympic Park and Village from renewable technologies; however, only 9% of it was achieved.[121] Proposals to meet the original target included large-scale on-site wind turbines and hydroelectric generators in the River Thames. These plans were scrapped for safety reasons.[122] The focus subsequently moved to installing solar panels on some buildings, and providing the opportunity to recover energy from waste. Where it could not be reused or recycled, food packaging for use at the Olympics—including fast-food wrappers, sandwich boxes and drink cartons—was made from compostable materials like starch and cellulose-based bioplastics. After use, many of these materials were suitable for anaerobic digestion (AD), allowing them to be made into renewable energy.[123]
Post-Games, buildings like the Water Polo Arena were relocated elsewhere. Building parts like roofing covers and membranes of different temporary venues were recycled via VinyLoop. This allowed organisers to meet the standards of the Olympic Delivery Authority concerning environmental protection.
London 2012 inaugurated Olympic Games guidelines that included the recycling of PVC, which was used for temporary buildings such as the Basketball Arena and for the temporary parts of permanent venues such as the Olympic Stadium.[124] In the Water Polo Arena, PVC roofing was made from recycled cushions to provide insulation.[125] Through this recycling process, the Olympic Games PVC Policy was fulfilled; the policy states:[126]
- Where London 2012 procures PVC for temporary usage or where permanent usage is not assured, London 2012 is required to ensure that there is a take-back scheme that offers a closed-loop reuse system or mechanical recycling system for post-consumer waste.
According to Kirsten Henson, Materials Manager for the London 2012 Olympic Park: "The majority of temporary facilities created for the Olympic Games including the Aquatic centre temporary stands, basketball arena, Water Polo Arena, and the shooting facilities at the Royal Artillery Barracks, are essentially big tents. Basically, PVC stretched over lightweight steel frame. This design solution makes them efficient to install, reduces the need for any significant foundations and are, of course, reusable. We were challenged by the public around the use of PVC; but we considered it to be the right material for certain functions. We therefore challenged the PVC supply chain to have certain environmental performance criteria in place, including a take back and recycle scheme."[127]
Cultural Olympiad Edit
The Olympic Charter, the set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games and for governing the Olympic Movement, states that
LOCOG shall organise a programme of cultural events which must cover at least the entire period during which the Olympic Village is open.[128]
The Cultural Olympiad comprised many programmes, with more than 500 events spread over four years across the whole of the United Kingdom, and culminating in the London 2012 Festival.[129][130]
Opening ceremony Edit
Titled "The Isles of Wonder", the opening ceremony began at 21:00 British Summer Time (UTC+1) on 27 July in the Olympic Stadium.[131] Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle was artistic director and Rick Smith of Underworld was musical director.[132] The opening ceremony was immediately seen as a tremendous success, widely praised as a "masterpiece" and "a love letter to Britain".[133][134] The principal sections of the artistic display represented Britain's Industrial Revolution, National Health Service, literary heritage, popular music and culture, and were noted for their vibrant storytelling and use of music.
The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[135] This was the second Olympic Games opened personally by the Queen, the first being in 1976 in Montreal, Canada. The ceremony featured a short comic film starring Daniel Craig as secret agent James Bond and the Queen as herself.[136] There was also a musical comedy item starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean playing along with the London Symphony Orchestra.[137] These were widely ascribed to Britain's sense of humour.[138]
Live musical performers included Frank Turner, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Mike Oldfield, Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys, and Sir Paul McCartney who performed "Hey Jude" as the closing act.[139][140] Broadcast live on BBC One, the ceremony attracted a peak viewing audience of over 27 million in the UK.[141]
Closing ceremony Edit
The closing ceremony was held on 12 August. It featured a flashback fiesta to British music with The Who closing the performance. The ceremony also included a handover of the Olympic flag by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, to Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[142] In his closing address, Jacques Rogge described the Games as "happy and glorious".[21]
The Games Edit
Participating National Olympic Committees Edit
300+ | 100–299 | 30–99 | 10–29 | 4–9 | 1–3 |
Green = Had previously participated; Grey = Participating for first time; Yellow circle is host city (London)
Around 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) took part,[5] (85 countries acquired at least one medal: gold, silver or bronze)[143] surpassing the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester as the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the United Kingdom.[144]
Three athletes from the Netherlands Antilles, which whose territory was dissolved in 2010 and lost its recognition during 123rd IOC session held during July 2011, and one athlete from South Sudan, which their NOC was recognized in 2015, participated as two independent athletes teams under the Olympic flag.[145]
Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee Edit
National houses Edit
During the Games, some countries and continents had a "national house". These temporary meeting places for supporters, athletes and other followers were located throughout London.[147][148]
Sports Edit
The 2012 Summer Olympics featured 26 different sports encompassing 39 disciplines and 302 events. In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.
| 2012 Summer Olympics Sports Programme | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Women's boxing was included in the programme for the first time, and 36 women competed in three weight classes. There was a special dispensation for the shooting events, which would otherwise have been illegal under UK gun law.[149][150] In tennis, mixed doubles returned to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1924.[151]
London's bid featured the same 28 sports that had been included in other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games just two days after London had been selected as the host city. There was an appeal, but the IOC voted to uphold the decision, and the two sports were scheduled to be discontinued after their last appearance at the 2008 Olympics.[152] The IOC then voted on whether or not to replace them; karate, squash, golf, roller sports and rugby sevens were considered. Karate and squash were the two final nominees, but neither received enough votes to reach the required two-thirds majority.[152]
Although formal demonstration sports were eliminated after the 1992 Summer Olympics,[153] special tournaments for non-Olympic sports can be run during the Games, such as the Wushu tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[154] There were attempts to run Twenty20 cricket[154] and netball[155] tournaments alongside the 2012 Games, but neither campaign was successful.
Calendar Edit
The final official schedule was released on 15 February 2011.[156]
- All times and dates use British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Gold medal events | CC | Closing ceremony |
| July/August 2012 | July | August | Events | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Wed | 26th Thu | 27th Fri | 28th Sat | 29th Sun | 30th Mon | 31st Tue | 1st Wed | 2nd Thu | 3rd Fri | 4th Sat | 5th Sun | 6th Mon | 7th Tue | 8th Wed | 9th Thu | 10th Fri | 11th Sat | 12th Sun | |||
| Ceremonies | OC | CC | — | ||||||||||||||||||
| Aquatics | Diving | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ● | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | 46 | ||||||
| Marathon swimming | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Swimming | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Synchronized swimming | ● | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Water polo | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | |||||||
| Archery | ● | 1 | 2012, summer, olympics, 2012, olympics, london, 2012, redirect, here, summer, paralympics, 2012, summer, paralympics, winter, youth, olympics, innsbruck, austria, 2012, winter, youth, olympics, video, game, london, 2012, video, game, officially, games, olympia. 2012 Olympics and London 2012 redirect here For the Summer Paralympics see 2012 Summer Paralympics For the Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck Austria see 2012 Winter Youth Olympics For the video game see London 2012 video game The 2012 Summer Olympics officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad a and also known as London 2012 was an international multi sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London England United Kingdom The first event the group stage in women s football began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff Wales followed by the opening ceremony on 27 July 3 4 There were 10 518 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees NOCs who participated in the 2012 Olympics 5 Games of the XXX OlympiadEmblem of the 2012 Summer Olympics other colour variants are shown belowHost cityLondon United KingdomMottoInspire a GenerationNations204 2 including 2 IOA teams Athletes10 518 5 863 men 4 655 women Events302 in 26 sports 39 disciplines Opening27 July 2012Closing12 August 2012Opened byQueen Elizabeth II 1 CauldronCallum Airlie Jordan Duckitt Desiree Henry Katie Kirk Cameron MacRitchie Aidan Reynolds Adelle Tracey 1 Austin Playfoot relight 2 StadiumOlympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic ParkSummer Beijing 2008Rio 2016 Winter Vancouver 2010Sochi 2014 2012 Summer ParalympicsFollowing a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the then London mayor Ken Livingstone London was selected as the host city at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore on 6 July 2005 defeating bids from Moscow New York City Madrid and Paris 6 London became the first city to host the modern Olympics three times 7 b having previously hosted the Summer Games in 1908 and 1948 8 9 Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment with an emphasis on sustainability 10 The main focus was a new 200 hectare 490 acre Olympic Park constructed on a former industrial site in Stratford East London 11 The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid 12 The United States topped the medal table winning the most gold medals 46 and the highest number of medals overall 104 China finished second with a total of 91 medals 38 gold and Great Britain came third with 65 medals overall 29 gold Michael Phelps of the United States became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time winning his 22nd medal 13 Saudi Arabia Qatar and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time meaning that every currently eligible country has now sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games 14 Women s boxing was included for the first time and the 2012 Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors 15 16 17 The Games received considerable praise for their organisation with the volunteers the British military and public enthusiasm commended particularly highly 18 19 20 The Games were described as happy and glorious 21 The opening ceremony directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle received widespread acclaim 22 23 These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Belgian Jacques Rogge who was succeeded by German Thomas Bach the next year Contents 1 Bidding process 2 Development and preparation 2 1 Venues 2 2 Public transport 2 3 Cost and financing 2 4 Volunteers 2 5 Ticketing 2 6 Countdown 2 7 Security 2 8 Medals 2 9 Torch relay 2 10 Environmental policy 2 11 Cultural Olympiad 2 12 Opening ceremony 2 13 Closing ceremony 3 The Games 3 1 Participating National Olympic Committees 3 1 1 Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee 3 1 2 National houses 3 2 Sports 3 3 Calendar 3 4 Records 4 Medal table 4 1 Podium sweeps 5 Broadcasting 5 1 Olympic Golden Rings Awards 6 Marketing 6 1 Motto 6 2 Logo and graphics 6 3 Colours 6 4 Mascots 6 5 Chariots of Fire 6 6 Sponsors 7 Controversies 8 Drug testing 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 12 1 Book references 13 External linksBidding process EditMain article Bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics London was chosen over Birmingham to represent Great Britain s bid by the British Olympic Association By 15 July 2003 the deadline for interested cities to submit bids to the International Olympic Committee IOC nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Summer Olympics Havana Istanbul Leipzig London Madrid Moscow New York City Paris and Rio de Janeiro 24 On 18 May 2004 as a result of a scored technical evaluation the IOC reduced the number of cities to five London Madrid Moscow New York and Paris 25 All five submitted their candidate files by 19 November 2004 and were visited by the IOC inspection team during February and March 2005 The Paris bid suffered two setbacks during the IOC inspection visit a number of strikes and demonstrations coinciding with the visits and a report that a key member of the bid team Guy Drut would face charges over alleged corrupt party political finances 26 Throughout the process Paris was widely seen as the favourite particularly as this was its third bid in recent years London was initially seen as lagging behind Paris by a considerable margin 27 Its position began to improve after the appointment of Lord Coe as the new chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games LOCOG on 19 May 2004 28 In late August 2004 reports predicted a tie between London and Paris 29 On 6 June 2005 the IOC released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities They did not contain any scores or rankings but the report for Paris was considered the most positive London was close behind having closed most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004 New York and Madrid also received very positive evaluations 30 On 1 July 2005 when asked who would win Jacques Rogge said I cannot predict it since I don t know how the IOC members will vote But my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes or maybe less 31 On 6 July 2005 the final selection was announced at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore Moscow was the first city to be eliminated followed by New York and Madrid The final two contenders were London and Paris At the end of the fourth round of voting London won the right to host the 2012 Games with 54 votes to 50 32 The celebrations in London were short lived being overshadowed by bombings on London s transport system less than 24 hours after the announcement 33 2012 host city election ballot results City NOC Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4London nbsp Great Britain 22 27 39 54Paris nbsp France 21 25 33 50Madrid nbsp Spain 20 32 31 New York City nbsp United States 19 17 Moscow nbsp Russia 15 Total ballots 97 101 103 104Development and preparation EditMain article 2012 Summer Olympic development The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games LOCOG was created to oversee the staging of the Games and held its first board meeting on 3 October 2005 34 The committee chaired by Lord Coe was in charge of implementing and staging the Games while the Olympic Delivery Authority ODA established in April 2006 was in charge of construction of the venues and infrastructure 34 35 The Government Olympic Executive GOE a unit within the Department for Culture Media and Sport DCMS was the lead government body for coordinating the London 2012 Olympics It focused on oversight of the Games cross programme management and the London 2012 Olympic Legacy before and after the Games that would benefit London and the wider United Kingdom The organisation was also responsible for the supervision of the 9 3 billion of public sector funding 36 In August 2011 security concerns arose surrounding the hosting of the Olympic Games in London following the 2011 England riots 37 Some countries expressed safety concerns 38 despite the IOC s assurance that the riots would not affect the Games 39 The IOC s Coordination Commission for the 2012 Games completed its tenth and final visit to London in March 2012 Its members concluded that London is ready to host the world this summer 40 Venues Edit Main article Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics nbsp The Queen Elizabeth Olympic ParkThe 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games used a mixture of new venues existing and historic facilities and temporary facilities some of them in well known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade After the Games some of the new facilities would be reused in their Olympic form while others will be resized or relocated 41 The majority of venues were divided into three zones within Greater London the Olympic Zone the River Zone and the Central Zone In addition there were a few venues that by necessity were outside the boundaries of Greater London such as the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy some 125 mi 201 km southwest of London which hosted the sailing events The football tournament was staged at several grounds around the UK 42 Work began on the Park in December 2006 when a sports hall in Eton Manor was pulled down 43 The athletes village in Portland was completed in September 2011 44 nbsp London Olympic StadiumIn November 2004 the 200 hectare 500 acre Olympic Park plans were revealed 45 The plans for the site were approved in September 2004 by Tower Hamlets Newham Hackney and Waltham Forest 46 The redevelopment of the area to build the Olympic Park required compulsory purchase orders of property The London Development Agency was in dispute with London and Continental Railways about the orders in November 2005 By May 2006 86 of the land had been bought as businesses fought eviction 47 Residents who opposed the eviction tried to find ways to stop it by setting up campaigns but they had to leave as 94 of land was bought and the other 6 bought as a 9 billion regeneration project started 48 There were some issues with the original venues not being challenging enough or being financially unviable Both the Olympic road races and the mountain bike event were initially considered to be too easy so they were eventually scheduled on new locations 49 50 The Olympic marathon course which was set to finish in the Olympic stadium was moved to The Mall since closing Tower Bridge was deemed to cause traffic problems in central London 51 North Greenwich Arena 2 was scrapped in a cost cutting exercise Wembley Arena being used for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events instead 52 53 54 55 Test events were held throughout 2011 and 2012 either through an existing championship such as 2012 Wimbledon Championships or as a specially created event held under the banner of London Prepares 56 Team GB House was the British Olympic Association s operational HQ up to and during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Designed by architects Gebler Tooth on the top floor of an office building in Westfield Stratford City it combined the team HQ athletes Friends and Family lounge Press Centre and VIP lounge Public transport Edit nbsp The Olympic Javelin high speed service ran between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet via Stratford IOC s initial evaluation felt that if transport improvements were delivered in time for the Games London would cope 57 Transport for London TfL carried out numerous improvements in preparation for 2012 including the expansion of the London Overground s East London Line upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line and the introduction of a new Javelin high speed rail service 58 According to Network Rail an additional 4 000 train services operated during the Games and train operators ran longer trains during the day 59 During the Games Stratford International station was not served by any international services just as it had not been before the Games 60 westbound trains did not stop at Hackney Wick railway station 61 and Pudding Mill Lane DLR station closed entirely during the Games 62 nbsp The Emirates Air Line crosses the River Thames between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks TfL also built a 25 million cable car across the River Thames called the Emirates Air Line to link 2012 Olympics venues 63 It was inaugurated in June 2012 and crosses the Thames between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks carrying up to 2 500 passengers an hour cutting journey times between the O2 arena and the ExCeL exhibition centre and providing a crossing every 30 seconds 64 The plan was to have 80 of athletes travel less than 20 minutes to their event 65 and 93 of them within 30 minutes of their event 66 The Olympic Park would be served by ten separate railway lines with a combined capacity of 240 000 passengers per hour 67 In addition LOCOG planned for 90 of the venues to be served by three or more types of public transport 66 Two park and ride sites off the M25 with a combined capacity of 12 000 cars were 25 minutes away from the Olympic Park Another park and ride site was planned in Ebbsfleet with a capacity for 9 000 cars where spectators could board a 10 minute shuttle train service 66 To get spectators to Eton Dorney four park and ride schemes were set up 68 These Park and Ride services were operated by First Games Transport 69 TfL defined a network of roads leading between venues as the Olympic Route Network roads connecting all of the Olympic venues located within London Many of these roads also contained special Olympic lanes marked with the Olympic rings reserved for the use of Olympic athletes officials and other VIPs during the Games Members of the public driving in an Olympic lane were subject to a fine of 130 Additionally London buses would not include roads with Olympic lanes on their routes 70 71 72 Concerns were expressed at the logistics of spectators travelling to the events outside London In particular the sailing events at Portland had no direct motorway connections and local roads are heavily congested by tourist traffic in the summer 73 However a 77 million relief road connecting Weymouth to Dorchester was built and opened in 2011 74 75 Some 16 million was put aside for the rest of the improvements 76 TfL created a promotional campaign and website Get Ahead of the Games to help provide information related to transport during the Olympics and Paralympics Through the campaign TfL also encouraged the use of cycling as a mode of transport 77 A temporary terminal was created at Heathrow Airport to be used by 10 100 departing athletes after the Games Up to 35 more bags than normal were expected on 13 August which was predicted to be the busiest day in the airport s history according to Nick Cole head of Olympic and Paralympic planning at Heathrow Cost and financing Edit A study from Oxford University found that the sports related costs of London 2012 amounted to US 15 billion compared with 4 6 billion for Rio 2016 40 44 billion for Beijing 2008 and 51 billion for Sochi 2014 the most expensive Olympics in history London 2012 went over budget by 76 in real terms measured from bid to completion Cost per athlete was 1 4 million 78 This does not include wider costs for urban and transport infrastructure which often equal or exceed the sports related costs The costs of staging the Games were separate from those for building the venues and infrastructure and redeveloping the land for the Olympic Park While the Games were privately funded the venues and infrastructure were largely financed using public money According to The Wall Street Journal the original budget for the Games was increased to about 9 3 billion US 15 28 billion in 2007 79 The revised figures were announced to the House of Commons on 15 March 2007 by Tessa Jowell Along with East End regeneration costs the breakdown was Building the venues and infrastructure 5 3 billion Elite sport and Paralympic funding 400 million Security and policing 600 million Regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley 1 7 billion Contingency fund 2 7 billionVolunteers Edit Unpaid volunteers known as Games Makers performed a variety of tasks before and during the Games 80 A target of 70 000 volunteers was set as early as 2004 81 When recruitment took place in 2010 more than 240 000 applications were received 82 Sebastian Coe said in February 2012 Our Games Makers will contribute a total of around eight million volunteer hours during the Games and the Games simply wouldn t happen without them 83 The volunteers wore clothing that included purple and red polo shirts and jackets beige trousers grey socks and grey and white trainers which they collected from the Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Centre Volunteers also wore photo accreditation badges that were also worn by officials athletes family members and media which gained them access to specific venues and buildings around the site Ticketing Edit Organisers estimated that some 8 million tickets would be available for the Olympic Games 84 and 1 5 million tickets for the Paralympic Games 84 LOCOG aimed to raise 375 400 million in ticket sales There were also free events such as marathon triathlon and road cycling 85 although for the first time in Olympic history the sailing events were ticketed 86 Eventually more than 7 000 000 tickets were sold 87 Following IOC rules people applied for tickets from the NOC of their country of residence European Union residents were able to apply for tickets in any EU country 88 In Great Britain ticket prices ranged from 20 for many events to 2 012 for the most expensive seats at the opening ceremony Some free tickets were given to military personnel as part of the Tickets For Troops scheme 89 as well as to survivors and families of those who died during 7 July 2005 London bombings 90 Initially people were able to apply for tickets via a website from 15 March until 26 April 2011 There was a huge demand for tickets with a demand of more than three times the number of tickets available 91 92 On 11 May 2012 a round of nearly one million second chance tickets went on sale over a 10 day period between 23 June and 3 July 2011 93 About 1 7 million tickets were available for football and 600 000 for other sports including archery field hockey football judo boxing and volleyball Ten sports had sold out by 8 am of the first day 94 Countdown Edit nbsp The Countdown Clock in Trafalgar SquareDuring the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics the Olympic Flag was formally handed over from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London This was followed by a section highlighting London 95 One month later the Olympic and Paralympic flags were raised outside the London City Hall 96 A countdown clock in Trafalgar Square was unveiled 500 days before the Games 97 98 It was a two sided clock with the Paralympic countdown on the other side The countdown to the start of the Olympics began with a ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia Greece 99 Security Edit Main article Security for the 2012 Summer Olympics See also Controversies surrounding G4S The police led the security operation named Operation Olympics by the Ministry of Defence with 10 000 officers available supported by 13 500 members of the British Armed Forces Naval and air assets were deployed as part of the security operation including ships situated in the Thames Typhoon fighter jets and surface to air missiles 100 it was the biggest security operation Britain had faced in decades The cost of security increased from 282 million to 553 million and the figure of 13 500 armed forces personnel was greater than the number deployed at the time in Afghanistan 101 The Metropolitan Police and the Royal Marines carried out security exercises in preparation for the Olympics on 19 January 2012 with 50 marine police officers in rigid inflatables and fast response boats joined by up to 100 military personnel and a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter 102 The Ministry of Defence distributed leaflets to residents of the Lexington building in Bow announcing that a missile system was to be stationed on top of the water tower 103 104 This caused concern to some residents 103 104 The Ministry said it probably would use Starstreak missiles and that site evaluations had taken place but that no final decision had taken place 103 104 Medals Edit nbsp Front of the Silver Medal won by the USA Approximately 4 700 105 Olympic and Paralympic medals were produced by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant 106 They were designed by David Watkins Olympics and Lin Cheung Paralympics 107 99 of the gold silver and copper was donated by Rio Tinto from a mine in Salt Lake County Utah in the U S 108 The remaining 1 came from a Mongolian mine 109 Each medal weighs 375 400 g 13 2 14 1 oz has a diameter of 85 mm 3 3 in and is 7 mm 0 28 in thick with the sport and discipline engraved on the rim 110 The obverse as is traditional features Nike the Greek goddess of victory stepping from the Panathinaiko Stadium that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 with Parthenon in the background the reverse features the Games logo the River Thames and a series of lines representing the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together 111 The medals were transferred to the Tower of London vaults on 2 July 2012 for storage 110 Each gold medal is 92 5 percent silver and 1 34 percent gold with the remainder copper The silver medal is 92 5 percent silver with the remainder copper The bronze medal is made up of 97 percent copper 2 5 percent zinc and 0 5 per cent tin 112 The value of the materials in the gold medal was about 410 US 644 the silver about 210 US 330 and the bronze about 3 US 4 71 as of 30 July 2012 113 Torch relay Edit Main article 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay The Olympics torch relay ran from 19 May to 27 July 2012 before the Games Plans for the relay were developed in 2010 11 with the torch bearer selection process announced on 18 May 2011 114 The torch was designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby On 18 May 2012 the Olympic flame arrived at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall from Greece 115 on flight BA2012 operated by a British Airways Airbus A319 named Firefly The relay lasted 70 days with 66 evening celebrations and six island visits and involved some 8 000 people carrying the torch about 8 000 mi 12 875 km starting from Land s End in Cornwall 116 The torch had three days outside the United Kingdom when it visited the Isle of Man on 2 June Dublin in Ireland on 6 June 117 and both Guernsey and Jersey on 15 July The relay focused on National Heritage Sites locations with sporting significance key sporting events schools registered with the Get Set School Network green spaces and biodiversity Live Sites city locations with large screens and festivals and other events 118 Dumfries and Galloway was the only Region in the whole of the United Kingdom that had the Olympic Torch pass through it twice A group of young athletes nominated by retired Olympic athletes ran the torch around the stadium These torchbearers were Callum Airlie Jordan Duckitt Desiree Henry Katie Kirk Cameron MacRitchie Aidan Reynolds and Adelle Tracey Together the torchbearers each lit a petal that spread the fire to the 204 petals of the cauldron representing the countries that participated in the Games 119 The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick Environmental policy Edit The Olympic Park was planned to incorporate 45 hectares of wildlife habitat with a total of 525 bird boxes and 150 bat boxes Local waterways and riverbanks were enhanced as part of the process 120 Renewable energy also featured at the Olympics It was originally planned to provide 20 of the energy for the Olympic Park and Village from renewable technologies however only 9 of it was achieved 121 Proposals to meet the original target included large scale on site wind turbines and hydroelectric generators in the River Thames These plans were scrapped for safety reasons 122 The focus subsequently moved to installing solar panels on some buildings and providing the opportunity to recover energy from waste Where it could not be reused or recycled food packaging for use at the Olympics including fast food wrappers sandwich boxes and drink cartons was made from compostable materials like starch and cellulose based bioplastics After use many of these materials were suitable for anaerobic digestion AD allowing them to be made into renewable energy 123 Post Games buildings like the Water Polo Arena were relocated elsewhere Building parts like roofing covers and membranes of different temporary venues were recycled via VinyLoop This allowed organisers to meet the standards of the Olympic Delivery Authority concerning environmental protection London 2012 inaugurated Olympic Games guidelines that included the recycling of PVC which was used for temporary buildings such as the Basketball Arena and for the temporary parts of permanent venues such as the Olympic Stadium 124 In the Water Polo Arena PVC roofing was made from recycled cushions to provide insulation 125 Through this recycling process the Olympic Games PVC Policy was fulfilled the policy states 126 Where London 2012 procures PVC for temporary usage or where permanent usage is not assured London 2012 is required to ensure that there is a take back scheme that offers a closed loop reuse system or mechanical recycling system for post consumer waste According to Kirsten Henson Materials Manager for the London 2012 Olympic Park The majority of temporary facilities created for the Olympic Games including the Aquatic centre temporary stands basketball arena Water Polo Arena and the shooting facilities at the Royal Artillery Barracks are essentially big tents Basically PVC stretched over lightweight steel frame This design solution makes them efficient to install reduces the need for any significant foundations and are of course reusable We were challenged by the public around the use of PVC but we considered it to be the right material for certain functions We therefore challenged the PVC supply chain to have certain environmental performance criteria in place including a take back and recycle scheme 127 Cultural Olympiad Edit Main article 2012 Cultural Olympiad nbsp Tower Bridge was illuminated with the Olympic Rings in the week leading up to the opening ceremony The Olympic Charter the set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games and for governing the Olympic Movement states that LOCOG shall organise a programme of cultural events which must cover at least the entire period during which the Olympic Village is open 128 The Cultural Olympiad comprised many programmes with more than 500 events spread over four years across the whole of the United Kingdom and culminating in the London 2012 Festival 129 130 Opening ceremony Edit Main articles 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations nbsp Fireworks at the opening ceremonyTitled The Isles of Wonder the opening ceremony began at 21 00 British Summer Time UTC 1 on 27 July in the Olympic Stadium 131 Oscar winning director Danny Boyle was artistic director and Rick Smith of Underworld was musical director 132 The opening ceremony was immediately seen as a tremendous success widely praised as a masterpiece and a love letter to Britain 133 134 The principal sections of the artistic display represented Britain s Industrial Revolution National Health Service literary heritage popular music and culture and were noted for their vibrant storytelling and use of music The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh 135 This was the second Olympic Games opened personally by the Queen the first being in 1976 in Montreal Canada The ceremony featured a short comic film starring Daniel Craig as secret agent James Bond and the Queen as herself 136 There was also a musical comedy item starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean playing along with the London Symphony Orchestra 137 These were widely ascribed to Britain s sense of humour 138 Live musical performers included Frank Turner Dame Evelyn Glennie Mike Oldfield Dizzee Rascal Arctic Monkeys and Sir Paul McCartney who performed Hey Jude as the closing act 139 140 Broadcast live on BBC One the ceremony attracted a peak viewing audience of over 27 million in the UK 141 Closing ceremony Edit Main articles 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony and 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony flag bearers The closing ceremony was held on 12 August It featured a flashback fiesta to British music with The Who closing the performance The ceremony also included a handover of the Olympic flag by Boris Johnson Mayor of London to Eduardo Paes Mayor of Rio de Janeiro the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics 142 In his closing address Jacques Rogge described the Games as happy and glorious 21 The Games EditParticipating National Olympic Committees Edit nbsp Number of participating athletes by country 300 100 299 30 99 10 29 4 9 1 3 nbsp Participating countries Green Had previously participated Grey Participating for first time Yellow circle is host city London Around 10 500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees NOCs took part 5 85 countries acquired at least one medal gold silver or bronze 143 surpassing the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester as the largest multi sport event ever to be held in the United Kingdom 144 Three athletes from the Netherlands Antilles which whose territory was dissolved in 2010 and lost its recognition during 123rd IOC session held during July 2011 and one athlete from South Sudan which their NOC was recognized in 2015 participated as two independent athletes teams under the Olympic flag 145 Participating National Olympic Committees nbsp Afghanistan 6 nbsp Albania 9 nbsp Algeria 38 nbsp American Samoa 4 nbsp Andorra 6 nbsp Angola 33 nbsp Antigua and Barbuda 4 nbsp Argentina 137 nbsp Armenia 24 nbsp Aruba 4 nbsp Australia 405 nbsp Austria 70 nbsp Azerbaijan 52 nbsp Bahamas 21 nbsp Bahrain 12 nbsp Bangladesh 5 nbsp Barbados 6 nbsp Belarus 160 nbsp Belgium 111 nbsp Belize 3 nbsp Benin 5 nbsp Bermuda 8 nbsp Bhutan 2 nbsp Bolivia 5 nbsp Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 nbsp Botswana 4 nbsp Brazil 248 nbsp British Virgin Islands 2 nbsp Brunei 3 nbsp Bulgaria 63 nbsp Burkina Faso 5 nbsp Burundi 6 nbsp Cambodia 6 nbsp Cameroon 32 nbsp Canada 273 nbsp Cape Verde 3 nbsp Cayman Islands 4 nbsp Central African Republic 6 nbsp Chad 2 nbsp Chile 35 nbsp China 376 nbsp Colombia 101 nbsp Comoros 3 nbsp Republic of the Congo 7 nbsp Democratic Republic of the Congo 4 nbsp Cook Islands 8 nbsp Costa Rica 11 nbsp Croatia 107 nbsp Cuba 109 nbsp Cyprus 13 nbsp Czech Republic 133 nbsp Denmark 114 nbsp Djibouti 4 nbsp Dominica 2 nbsp Dominican Republic 33 nbsp Ecuador 36 nbsp Egypt 109 nbsp El Salvador 10 nbsp Equatorial Guinea 2 nbsp Eritrea 12 nbsp Estonia 32 nbsp Ethiopia 33 nbsp Fiji 9 nbsp Finland 56 nbsp France 324 nbsp Gabon 21 nbsp The Gambia 2 nbsp Georgia 34 nbsp Germany 383 nbsp Ghana 7 nbsp Great Britain 530 host nbsp Greece 102 nbsp Grenada 8 nbsp Guam 8 nbsp Guatemala 19 nbsp Guinea 4 nbsp Guinea Bissau 4 nbsp Guyana 6 nbsp Haiti 5 nbsp Honduras 25 nbsp Hong Kong 41 nbsp Hungary 152 nbsp Iceland 27 nbsp Independent Olympic Athletes 4 nbsp India 81 nbsp Indonesia 22 nbsp Iran 52 nbsp Iraq 8 nbsp Ireland 64 nbsp Israel 37 c nbsp Italy 281 nbsp Ivory Coast 9 nbsp Jamaica 45 nbsp Japan 291 nbsp Jordan 9 nbsp Kazakhstan 113 nbsp Kenya 47 nbsp Kiribati 3 nbsp North Korea 52 nbsp South Korea 250 nbsp Kuwait 10 146 nbsp Kyrgyzstan 14 nbsp Laos 3 nbsp Latvia 45 nbsp Lebanon 10 nbsp Lesotho 4 nbsp Liberia 3 nbsp Libya 4 nbsp Liechtenstein 3 nbsp Lithuania 62 nbsp Luxembourg 9 nbsp Macedonia 4 nbsp Madagascar 7 nbsp Malawi 3 nbsp Malaysia 29 nbsp Maldives 5 nbsp Mali 6 nbsp Malta 5 nbsp Marshall Islands 4 nbsp Mauritania 2 nbsp Mauritius 11 nbsp Mexico 99 nbsp Federated States of Micronesia 6 nbsp Moldova 20 nbsp Monaco 6 nbsp Mongolia 29 nbsp Montenegro 33 nbsp Morocco 63 nbsp Mozambique 6 nbsp Myanmar 6 nbsp Namibia 9 nbsp Nauru 2 nbsp Nepal 5 nbsp Netherlands 173 nbsp New Zealand 178 nbsp Nicaragua 6 nbsp Niger 6 nbsp Nigeria 49 nbsp Norway 61 nbsp Oman 3 nbsp Pakistan 21 nbsp Palau 5 nbsp Palestine 5 nbsp Panama 8 nbsp Papua New Guinea 8 nbsp Paraguay 8 nbsp Peru 16 nbsp Philippines 11 nbsp Poland 210 nbsp Portugal 76 nbsp Puerto Rico 25 nbsp Qatar 12 nbsp Romania 105 nbsp Russia 429 nbsp Rwanda 7 nbsp Saint Kitts and Nevis 4 nbsp Saint Lucia 4 nbsp Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3 nbsp Samoa 8 nbsp San Marino 4 nbsp Sao Tome and Principe 2 nbsp Saudi Arabia 19 nbsp Senegal 31 nbsp Serbia 116 nbsp Seychelles 6 nbsp Sierra Leone 2 nbsp Singapore 23 nbsp Slovakia 47 nbsp Slovenia 65 nbsp Solomon Islands 4 nbsp Somalia 2 nbsp South Africa 124 nbsp Spain 278 nbsp Sri Lanka 7 nbsp Sudan 6 nbsp Suriname 5 nbsp Swaziland 3 nbsp Sweden 133 nbsp Switzerland 98 nbsp Syria 10 nbsp Chinese Taipei 44 nbsp Tajikistan 16 nbsp Tanzania 6 nbsp Thailand 37 nbsp East Timor 2 nbsp Togo 6 nbsp Tonga 3 nbsp Trinidad and Tobago 25 nbsp Tunisia 83 nbsp Turkey 112 nbsp Turkmenistan 10 nbsp Tuvalu 3 nbsp Uganda 15 nbsp Ukraine 230 nbsp United Arab Emirates 26 nbsp United States 530 nbsp Uruguay 27 nbsp Uzbekistan 53 nbsp Vanuatu 5 nbsp Venezuela 68 nbsp Vietnam 18 nbsp United States Virgin Islands 7 nbsp Yemen 4 nbsp Zambia 7 nbsp Zimbabwe 7 Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee Edit 10 768 athletes from 204 NOCs IOC Country AthletesGBR nbsp Great Britain 541USA nbsp United States 530RUS nbsp Russia 436AUS nbsp Australia 410GER nbsp Germany 392CHN nbsp China 390FRA nbsp France 330JPN nbsp Japan 293ITA nbsp Italy 284ESP nbsp Spain 278CAN nbsp Canada 277BRA nbsp Brazil 258KOR nbsp South Korea 245UKR nbsp Ukraine 237POL nbsp Poland 218NZL nbsp New Zealand 184NED nbsp Netherlands 175BLR nbsp Belarus 165HUN nbsp Hungary 157ARG nbsp Argentina 137SWE nbsp Sweden 134CZE nbsp Czech Republic 133RSA nbsp South Africa 125BEL nbsp Belgium 115SRB nbsp Serbia 115KAZ nbsp Kazakhstan 114TUR nbsp Turkey 114DEN nbsp Denmark 113EGY nbsp Egypt 113CUB nbsp Cuba 110CRO nbsp Croatia 108COL nbsp Colombia 104GRE nbsp Greece 103ROU nbsp Romania 103MEX nbsp Mexico 102SUI nbsp Switzerland 102IND nbsp India 83TUN nbsp Tunisia 83POR nbsp Portugal 77AUT nbsp Austria 70VEN nbsp Venezuela 70MAR nbsp Morocco 67IRL nbsp Ireland 66SLO nbsp Slovenia 65NOR nbsp Norway 64BUL nbsp Bulgaria 63LTU nbsp Lithuania 62FIN nbsp Finland 55NGR nbsp Nigeria 55UZB nbsp Uzbekistan 54AZE nbsp Azerbaijan 53IRI nbsp Iran 53PRK nbsp North Korea 51JAM nbsp Jamaica 50KEN nbsp Kenya 47SVK nbsp Slovakia 47LAT nbsp Latvia 46TPE nbsp Chinese Taipei 44ALG nbsp Algeria 42HKG nbsp Hong Kong 42ISR nbsp Israel 37THA nbsp Thailand 37ECU nbsp Ecuador 36CHI nbsp Chile 35DOM nbsp Dominican Republic 35ETH nbsp Ethiopia 35GEO nbsp Georgia 35ANG nbsp Angola 34CMR nbsp Cameroon 33EST nbsp Estonia 33MNE nbsp Montenegro 33SEN nbsp Senegal 31MAS nbsp Malaysia 30TRI nbsp Trinidad and Tobago 30MGL nbsp Mongolia 29URU nbsp Uruguay 29HON nbsp Honduras 27ISL nbsp Iceland 27UAE nbsp United Arab Emirates 26ARM nbsp Armenia 25PUR nbsp Puerto Rico 25BAH nbsp Bahamas 24GAB nbsp Gabon 24SIN nbsp Singapore 23INA nbsp Indonesia 22MDA nbsp Moldova 22PAK nbsp Pakistan 21GUA nbsp Guatemala 19KSA nbsp Saudi Arabia 19VIE nbsp Vietnam 18PER nbsp Peru 16TJK nbsp Tajikistan 16UGA nbsp Uganda 16KGZ nbsp Kyrgyzstan 14CYP nbsp Cyprus 13ALB nbsp Albania 12BRN nbsp Bahrain 12ERI nbsp Eritrea 12QAT nbsp Qatar 12CRC nbsp Costa Rica 11KUW nbsp Kuwait 11MRI nbsp Mauritius 11PHI nbsp Philippines 11CIV nbsp Ivory Coast 10ESA nbsp El Salvador 10GRN nbsp Grenada 10LIB nbsp Lebanon 10SYR nbsp Syria 10TKM nbsp Turkmenistan 10FIJ nbsp Fiji 9GHA nbsp Ghana 9JOR nbsp Jordan 9LUX nbsp Luxembourg 9NAM nbsp Namibia 9BER nbsp Bermuda 8COK nbsp Cook Islands 8GUM nbsp Guam 8IRQ nbsp Iraq 8PAR nbsp Paraguay 8PNG nbsp Papua New Guinea 8SAM nbsp Samoa 8CGO nbsp Republic of the Congo 7ISV nbsp United States Virgin Islands 7MAD nbsp Madagascar 7PAN nbsp Panama 7RWA nbsp Rwanda 7SKN nbsp Saint Kitts and Nevis 7SRI nbsp Sri Lanka 7TAN nbsp Tanzania 7ZAM nbsp Zambia 7ZIM nbsp Zimbabwe 7AFG nbsp Afghanistan 6AND nbsp Andorra 6BAR nbsp Barbados 6BDI nbsp Burundi 6BIH nbsp Bosnia and Herzegovina 6BOL nbsp Bolivia 6CAF nbsp Central African Republic 6CAM nbsp Cambodia 6DJI nbsp Djibouti 6FSM nbsp Federated States of Micronesia 6GUY nbsp Guyana 6MLI nbsp Mali 6MON nbsp Monaco 6MOZ nbsp Mozambique 6MYA nbsp Myanmar 6NCA nbsp Nicaragua 6NIG nbsp Niger 6SEY nbsp Seychelles 6SUD nbsp Sudan 6TOG nbsp Togo 6ANT nbsp Antigua and Barbuda 5ASA nbsp American Samoa 5BAN nbsp Bangladesh 5BEN nbsp Benin 5BUR nbsp Burkina Faso 5CAY nbsp Cayman Islands 5HAI nbsp Haiti 5LBA nbsp Libya 5MDV nbsp Maldives 5MLT nbsp Malta 5NEP nbsp Nepal 5PLE nbsp Palestine 5PLW nbsp Palau 5SUR nbsp Suriname 5VAN nbsp Vanuatu 5ARU nbsp Aruba 4BOT nbsp Botswana 4COD nbsp Democratic Republic of the Congo 4GBS nbsp Guinea Bissau 4GUI nbsp Guinea 4IOA nbsp Independent Olympic Athletes 4LBR nbsp Liberia 4LCA nbsp Saint Lucia 4LES nbsp Lesotho 4MHL nbsp Marshall Islands 4MKD nbsp Macedonia 4OMA nbsp Oman 4SMR nbsp San Marino 4SOL nbsp Solomon Islands 4YEM nbsp Yemen 4BIZ nbsp Belize 3BRU nbsp Brunei 3CHA nbsp Chad 3COM nbsp Comoros 3CPV nbsp Cape Verde 3KIR nbsp Kiribati 3LAO nbsp Laos 3LIE nbsp Liechtenstein 3MAW nbsp Malawi 3SWZ nbsp Swaziland 3TGA nbsp Tonga 3TUV nbsp Tuvalu 3VIN nbsp Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3BHU nbsp Bhutan 2DMA nbsp Dominica 2GAM nbsp The Gambia 2GEQ nbsp Equatorial Guinea 2IVB nbsp British Virgin Islands 2MTN nbsp Mauritania 2NRU nbsp Nauru 2SLE nbsp Sierra Leone 2SOM nbsp Somalia 2STP nbsp Sao Tome and Principe 2TLS nbsp East Timor 2National houses Edit During the Games some countries and continents had a national house These temporary meeting places for supporters athletes and other followers were located throughout London 147 148 Nation Location NameAfrican nations Kensington GardensAustria Trinity HouseBelgium Inner TempleBrazil Somerset House Casa BrasilCanada Canada HouseChina The Waldorf HiltonCroatia Pelham Hotel South KensingtonCzech Republic Business Design Centre IslingtonDenmark St Katherine DocksFrance Old Billingsgate Club FranceGeorgia Chelsea College of Art and Design 45 Millbank Germany Museum of London Docklands Deutsches HausGreat Britain Westfield Stratford CityIreland The Big Chill House Kings CrossItaly Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Casa ItaliaJapan Royal Aeronautical SocietyJamaica The O2Kenya East Thames Community Centre StratfordKorea Royal Thames Yacht ClubMonaco HaymarketNetherlands Alexandra Palace Holland Heineken HouseNew Zealand Granary Square Kings Cross Kiwi HouseNigeria Theatre Royal Stratford EastPoland Polish Social and Cultural CentreQatar Institution of Engineering and Technology Savoy PlaceRomania 30 Pavilion Road KnightsbridgeRussia Perks Field Kensington PalaceSlovakia Institute of DirectorsSouth Africa Queen Elizabeth HallSouth Pacific St Katharine DocksSwitzerland Glazier s HallTrinidad amp Tobago Tricycle TheatreUSA Royal College of ArtSports Edit The 2012 Summer Olympics featured 26 different sports encompassing 39 disciplines and 302 events In the list below the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses 2012 Summer Olympics Sports ProgrammeAquatics nbsp Diving 8 nbsp Swimming 34 nbsp Synchronized swimming 2 nbsp Water polo 2 nbsp Archery 4 nbsp Athletics 47 nbsp Badminton 5 nbsp Basketball 2 nbsp Boxing 13 nbsp Canoeing Sprint 12 Slalom 4 nbsp Cycling competitors BMX 2 Mountain biking 2 Road 4 Track 10 nbsp Equestrian Dressage 2 Eventing 2 Jumping 2 nbsp Fencing 10 nbsp Field hockey 2 nbsp Football 2 nbsp Gymnastics Artistic 14 Rhythmic 2 Trampoline 2 nbsp Handball 2 nbsp Judo 14 nbsp Modern pentathlon 2 nbsp Rowing 14 nbsp Sailing 10 nbsp Shooting 15 nbsp Table tennis 4 nbsp Taekwondo 8 nbsp Tennis 5 nbsp Triathlon 2 nbsp Volleyball Volleyball 2 Beach volleyball 2 nbsp Weightlifting 15 nbsp Wrestling Freestyle 11 Greco Roman 7 Women s boxing was included in the programme for the first time and 36 women competed in three weight classes There was a special dispensation for the shooting events which would otherwise have been illegal under UK gun law 149 150 In tennis mixed doubles returned to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1924 151 London s bid featured the same 28 sports that had been included in other recent Summer Olympics but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games just two days after London had been selected as the host city There was an appeal but the IOC voted to uphold the decision and the two sports were scheduled to be discontinued after their last appearance at the 2008 Olympics 152 The IOC then voted on whether or not to replace them karate squash golf roller sports and rugby sevens were considered Karate and squash were the two final nominees but neither received enough votes to reach the required two thirds majority 152 Although formal demonstration sports were eliminated after the 1992 Summer Olympics 153 special tournaments for non Olympic sports can be run during the Games such as the Wushu tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics 154 There were attempts to run Twenty20 cricket 154 and netball 155 tournaments alongside the 2012 Games but neither campaign was successful Calendar Edit See also Chronological summary of the 2012 Summer Olympics The final official schedule was released on 15 February 2011 156 All times and dates use British Summer Time UTC 1 OC Opening ceremony Event competitions 1 Gold medal events CC Closing ceremonyJuly August 2012 July August Events25thWed 26thThu 27thFri 28thSat 29thSun 30thMon 31stTue 1stWed 2ndThu 3rdFri 4thSat 5thSun 6thMon 7thTue 8thWed 9thThu 10thFri 11thSat 12thSun nbsp Ceremonies OC CC Aquatics nbsp Diving 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 46 nbsp Marathon swimming 1 1 nbsp Swimming 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 nbsp Synchronized swimming 1 1 nbsp Water polo 1 1 nbsp Archery 1 span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library, article, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games. | ||||||||||||||||||