London Olympics 2012



Some facts about London Olympics 2012

» India ranked 55th in the medals tally with a total of 6 medals (2 Silver and 4 Bronze).
» The London Olympic Games were inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II on July 27, 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London.
» London is the first city in the world to stage Olympic Games thrice, after the 1908 and 1948 Summer Olympics. Entitled Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony was devised by Oscar Award - winning director Daniel Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire fame with music directors Rick Smith and Karl Hyde of the electronic music duo Underworld.
» The inaugural ceremony of the London Olympic 2012 also had an Indian flavour in the form of music composers Ilayaraja and A. R. Rahman.
» The theme for the night, Isles of Wonder was inspired by William Shakespeare's play 'The Tempest'.
» 2012 Olympic programme featured 26 sports disciplines. For the first time, women s boxing is included in the programme. In tennis, mixed doubles event returns to the Olympic proeamme for the first time since 1924.
» Under the slogan “Inspire Generation”, the 30th edition of the Olympic Games will also be recorded as the first in which all participating delegation have female athletes.Brungi, Qutar and Saudi Arabia have including women for the first time, and Qatar named the female shooter, Bahiya-al-Hamad, as its flag-bearer.
» Yi Siling of China took the honour of claiming the first Gold Medal of the London Olympics when she won the women's 10 metre Air Rifle event on July 28, 2012.
» Wrestler Sushil Kumar led the Indian contingent holding the Indian tricolour in the opening ceremony, while female boxer M. C. Mary Kom was the flag bearer in the closing ceremony.
» The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had sent a total of 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports, making it the largest contingent India has ever sent to the Olympic Games.
» In London Olympics India bagged a total of 6 medals with 1 Silver of Vijay Kumar in Shooting (Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol) and the second Silver medal of Sushil Kumar in Wrestling (Men's 66kg Freestyle), alongwith one Bronze each of Gagan Narang in Shooting (Men's 10m Air Rifle), Yogeshwar Dutt in Wrestling (Men's 60kg Freestyle), Saina Nehwal in Badminton (Women's Singles) and M. C. Mary Kom in Boxing (Women's Fly, 51 kg).
» Sushil Kumar's historic feat of winning back-to-back Olympic medals on the very last day of London Olympics 2012 turned out to be the high point of country's compaign. His Silver was India's fourth Wrestling medal in the Olympics and second in London after Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a Bronze in the 60 kg Freestyle event.
» KD (Khashaba Dadasaheb) Jadhav had won the country's first medal in Wrestling in 1952 Olympics at Helsinki.
» American swimmer Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time with his record 22 Olympic Medals, out of which 6 are from London Olympics, retired from the game after winning his fourth consecutive Gold on August 4, 2012. He also holds the all time records for Gold Medals (18, double that of the next highest record holders), Gold Medals in individual events (11) and Olympic medals in individual events for a male (13).
» Jamaica was dominant on the track again in London; highlighte by the men's 4 x 100m relay record. This record-breaking race marked the third time since 2008 that the Jamiacan team had broken the record. Bolt also became an Olympic legend by repeating as champion in both e 100 metre and 200-metre sprints.

Medals Tally (Top Ten Nations and India) of London Olympics, 2012

Position Coutnry Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 USA 46 29 29 104
2 China 38 27 23 88
3 Britain 29 17 19 65
4 Russia 24 26 32 82
5 S. Korea 13 08 07 28
6 Germany 11 19 14 44
7 France 11 11 12 34
8 Italy 08 09 11 28
9 Hungary 08 04 05 17
10 Australia 07 16 12 35
55 India 00 02 04 06