About LONDON 2012 Summer Olympics
The Games of the XXX Olympiad were held in the United Kingdom from July 25 to August 12, 2012. The Games were mainly held in London although a section of women's football competition was held in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The opening ceremony was held at the Olympic Park in London on July 27 and since most events took place in the main city, the Games were also known as London 2012.
London became the only city in the world to host the Summer Games thrice. The International Olympic Committee had earlier awarded London the right to host the Games in 1908 and 1948. London, whose bid was headed by former Olympic middle-distance star Sebastian Coe, was selected as a venue on July 6, 2005 during the IOC session in Singapore. The city warded of stiff challenges from Moscow, New York, Madrid and Paris.
One of the most successful Games of the modern times, 10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participated. In terms of volume of participation, London 2012 surpassed the 1948 Games and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Interestingly, three athletes from the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee and one from South Sudan, participated independently under the Olympic flag.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time. Women's boxing, as a medal event, was also a first. These were the first Games where every country and each event had a woman competing.
United States were the champions of the Games. They won 103 medals (including 46 gold) to finish on top of the medal tally. US were followed by China (88 medals, including 38 gold) while hosts Great Britain were third with 65 medals (29 gold). Powerhouses Russia (79 but 22 gold) were fourth while South Korea, Germany, France, Australia, Italy and Hungary finished among the top 10.
The Olympic programme featured 26 sports encompassing 39 disciplines and 302 events. Apart from women's boxing, mixed doubles returned to the tennis court for the first time since 1924. London 2012 saw 32 world records in eight sports. The largest numbers of records (eight) were set in swimming. China, Great Britain and the United States set the most records, with five each. US swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated athlete of all time by winning his 22nd medal. Bahrain, Botswana, Cyprus, Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala and Montenegro won their first ever Olympic medals.
For India, 83 athletes, including 23 women, participated in 13 sports. Men's hockey was the only team-based sport and India finished last in the competition. Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who had won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games, was India's flag-bearer in the opening ceremony.
India finished with six medals two silvers and four bronze. This was India's best medal haul ever. India had won three medals in Beijing and that included a historic gold medal by shooter Abhinav Bindra.
Two Indian women finished among the medals in London 2012 Saina Nehwal (bronze in badminton) and MC Mary Kom (bronze in flyweight boxing). The silver medals in London came from Sushil Kumar and shooter Vijay Kumar (25m rapid fire pistol). Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling) and Gagan Narang (10m air rifle) added to the bronze haul. India finished 55th in the overall standings.