London 2012 Olympic Games

London 2012 Olympic Games, athletic festival held in London that took place July 27–August 12, 2012. The London Games were the 27th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games.

In 2012 London became the first city to host the modern Summer Games three times, having previously been the site of the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games. The city was chosen as the 2012 host in a close 2005 International Olympic Committee (IOC) election, beating runner-up Paris (the heavy favorite, which also was attempting to become the first three-time host) by four votes. Safety concerns dogged the London Olympics in the weeks before the opening ceremonies, for the private firm that had been contracted to provide the Games’ security notified the British government that it could not provide as many guards as it had promised (falling short by some 3,500). The government was forced to send in military personnel and local police as a stopgap measure, but the Games proceeded with no major security issues, and the episode proved to be an embarrassment rather than a crisis. The London Games’ opening ceremonies were one of the festival’s highlights. The elaborate spectacle (devised by film director Danny Boyle) depicted the cultural and social history of Britain and drew raves from attendees and television viewers, who were treated to an unexpected comic turn by Queen Elizabeth II.

The record for the total number of participating national Olympic committees—204—that had been established at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was equaled in London. The London Games featured more than 10,500 athletes who participated in 302 events in 36 sports. The most-notable addition to the London program was women’s boxing, which made its Olympic debut in three weight classes (51 kg [112 pounds], 60 kg [132 pounds], and 75 kg [165 pounds]). The London Games were also the first Olympiad wherein each participating country had at least one female athlete competing.

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Like the Beijing Olympics, the London Games were dominated by two of the greatest Olympians of all time: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American swimmer Michael Phelps. By taking gold in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events, Bolt became the first man to win track’s two most prestigious sprints in consecutive Olympiads. Phelps became the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history by capturing six medals (including four golds) to bring his lifetime total to 22. Overall, the United States won an Olympics-high 46 golds, which was the country’s best performance in a non-boycotted Olympics since the poorly organized 1904 Games, where more than five-sixths of the competitors were Americans. Along with Phelps, American swimmers took home a great number of those golds, notably teenage sensation Missy Franklin (who won four golds, including both the 100-meter and 200-meter individual backstroke) and Phelps’s friendly rival Ryan Lochte (winner of two golds and five total medals). The other major swimming story of the London Games was 16-year-old Ye Shiwen of China, who won the women’s 200-meter individual medley (IM) and shattered the world record while winning the 400-meter IM event. The star of the gymnastics events was Gabrielle Douglas of the United States, who won the women’s individual all-around gold and was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team.

Great Britain’s 65 total medals was the host country’s best Olympic performance in more than a century, with gold medal triumphs from cyclist Chris Hoy—whose victories in the team sprint and keirin competitions gave him six career golds, the most won by any Briton and more than any other cyclist had won—and locally beloved tennis player Andy Murray, who defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland in the men’s singles final to avenge a loss to Federer in the Wimbledon final a month earlier. The top medal-winning athletes are listed below.