Spain competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad 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 ...

in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This nation has competed in all but two Summer Olympic Games since its official debut in 1920. Spain boycotted two editions, the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in Melbourne, as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Hungary. In 2012, the

Spanish Olympic Committee The Spanish Olympic Committee ( es, Comité Olímpico Español, COE) is responsible body for Spain's participation in the Olympic Games. Members of the committee are 35 sports federations, which elect the Executive Council composed of the pres ...

sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. A total of 278 athletes, 166 men and 112 women, competed in 23 sports. Spain left London with a total of 17 Olympic medals (3 gold, 10 silver, and 4 bronze), failing short of the total achieved in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

by a single medal. Three of the medals were awarded in taekwondo and canoeing, and two each in sailing, swimming, and synchronized swimming. Three Spanish athletes won more than a single medal in London, while all of their competitors in synchronized swimming and taekwondo won at least one medal. Spain's competitors in team sports also proved successful in London, as the women's handball and water polo teams won silver and bronze medals respectively. The men's basketball team managed to repeat its silver medal from Beijing. Spain, however, did not win an Olympic medal in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

for the first time since it was reintroduced as a full-medal sport in 1988, and in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

for the first time since that same year. On 21 November 2016, a fourth gold medal was assigned to Spain's

Lydia Valentín Lydia Valentín Pérez (born 10 February 1985) is a Spanish weightlifter, Olympic Champion, 2 time World Champion and 4 time European Champion competing in the 75 kg category until 2018 and 81 kg starting in 2018 after the Internatio ...

in Weightlifting (Women's 75 kg) after the IOC disqualified the original medallists in the event for failing doping tests at the Games. In 2021, another two bronze medals were assigned to Spain's

Ruth Beitia Ruth Beitia Vila (; born 1 April 1979) is a retired high jumper who was the 2016 Olympic champion in the women's high jump. She was also a politician in the Partido Popular and a member of the Parliament of Cantabria. Biography Beitia firs ...

in Athletics high jump and

Alfonso Benavides Alfonso “Sete” Benavides López de Ayala (born 9 March 1991 in) is a Spanish sprint canoeist, a World and European medallist. Career After winning the bronze medal in the C-1 200 m at the 2011 World Championships, Benavides competed in th ...

in Canoeing C-1 200 metres after the IOC disqualified the original bronze medalists in the events for failing doping tests at the Games. These make Spain finally get 20 medals with 4 golds. Among the nation's medallists were sailor

Marina Alabau Marina Alabau Neira (born 31 August 1985 in Seville) is a Spanish sailor. She has won a gold medal, one silver medal in 2006 and two bronze medals at the Windsurfing World Championships. She also won five gold medals at the European Championsh ...

in women's windsurfing, and sprint kayaker

Saúl Craviotto Saúl Craviotto Rivero (born 3 November 1984) is a Spanish sprint kayaker who has been racing since the mid-2000s. He has won five Olympic medals: a gold medal (with Carlos Pérez) in the K-2 500 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a si ...

, who previously won gold in Beijing. Three athletes won Spain's first ever Olympic medals in their respective disciplines: triathlete

Javier Gómez Noya Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known a ...

, slalom kayaker

Maialen Chourraut Maialen Chourraut Yurramendi (born 8 March 1983 in Lasarte-Oria) is a Spanish slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2000. Chourraut has a full set of Olympic medals. She won the gold medal in the K1 event at the 20 ...

, and freestyle wrestler

Maider Unda Maider Unda Gonzalez de Audikana (born 2 July 1977 in Vitoria, Spain) is a Basque Spanish retired female freestyle wrestler. She participated in Women's freestyle wrestling 72 kg at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 1/8 final she beat Oksana ...

. Sprint canoer

David Cal David Cal Figueroa (born 10 October 1982) is a Spanish sprint canoeist who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won five medals with a gold (C-1 1000 m: 2004 Summer Olympics) and four silvers (C-1 500 m: 2004, 20 ...

, who won silver in London, became the first Spanish athlete in history to win a total of five Olympic medals. Meanwhile,

Mireia Belmonte ] Mireia Belmonte García (born 10 November 1990) is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200-metre butterfly and 400-metre individual medley. Formerl ...

became the first Spanish swimmer in history to win two Olympic medals.

Medalists

, width="78%" align="left" valign="top" , , width="22%" align="left" valign="top" ,

Delegation

The

( es, Comité Olímpico Español, link=no, ''COE'') selected a team of 278 athletes, 166 men and 112 women, to compete in 23 sports; it was the nation's sixth-largest team sent to the Olympics, but the smallest since

. Spain did not qualify athletes in fencing, modern pentathlon, and rowing, but there was only a single competitor in women's freestyle wrestling. Athletics was the largest team by sport, with a total of 46 competitors. The Spanish team featured several Olympic medalists from Beijing, including sailors

Iker Martínez Iker is a Basque male given name. The corresponding female name is Ikerne. It was created by the Spanish Basque writer Sabino Arana in his book ' (''Collection of Basque Saints' Names'')—an effort to provide neologistic Basque versions of names i ...

and

Xabier Fernández Xabier Fernández Gaztañaga (born 19 October 1976 in Ibarra, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country) is a Spanish sailor and olympic champion. Fernandez won a gold medal in the '' 49er class'' with Iker Martínez at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

in the open skiff class, and sprint canoer

, who won the silver in two of his events. Race walker

Jesús Ángel García Jesús Ángel García Bragado (born 17 October 1969 in Madrid) is a Spanish race walker. He has competed at eight Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporti ...

became the second Spanish athlete to compete in six Olympic Games, tying the record set by former water polo player

Manuel Estiarte Manel Estiarte Duocastella (born October 26, 1961 in Manresa) is a Spanish former water polo player born in Manresa, a municipality in Barcelona, Spain. He is currently a member of Pep Guardiola's technical staff at Manchester City FC. He is u ...

. Meanwhile, another race walker

María Vasco María del Monte Vasco Pes Gallardo (born December 26, 1975 in Viladecans) is a Spanish race walker. She won the bronze medal in the 20 km at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. Vasco was als ...

, and field hockey player Pablo Amat competed at their fifth Olympics. Table tennis player

He Zhi Wen He Zhiwen (; born January 31, 1962), or Zhiwen He in Western name order, is a Chinese-born Spanish male table tennis player. In 2006 he was ranked #41 in the ITTF world ranking. Due to the difficulty of pronouncing his name in Spanish he has b ...

, at age 50, was the oldest athlete of the team, while rhythmic gymnast Lourdes Mohedano was the youngest at age 17. Other notable Spanish athletes featured sprint kayaker and two-time world champion

, swimmer

in the women's medley, butterfly, and freestyle events, tennis doubles specialist

Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...

, and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

basketball players

Víctor Claver Víctor Claver Arocas (born 30 August 1988) is a Spanish professional basketball player for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Professional career Valencia (2006–2012) Claver began his playing career with the youth teams o ...

and

Serge Ibaka Serge Jonás Ibaka Ngobila (; born 18 September 1989) is a Congolese-Spanish professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Ibaka was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 24th overa ...

. Former world number-one male tennis player and defending Olympic champion

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...

was initially selected by the committee to carry the nation's flag, but he later withdrew from the Games because of an undisclosed injury. On 20 July 2012, NBA basketball star

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA champion ...

, who led his team by winning the silver medal in Beijing, replaced Nadal as Spain's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games. Note that reserves for fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes:

Archery

Spain had qualified one archer each in the men's and women's individual events.

Athletics

Spanish athletes qualified standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard): Carles Castillejo - 2012 Olympic Marathon

Carles Castillejo - 2012 Olympic Marathon

;Men ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events

Badminton

Basketball

Spain's men basketball team qualified for the event by reaching the final of the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

. * Men's team event – 1 team of 12 players

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarter-final

;Semi-final ;Gold medal match

Boxing

Spain qualified boxers for the following events. ;Men

Canoeing

Slalom

Spain qualified boats for the following events. Slalom canoeing 2012 Olympics W K1 ESP Maialen Chourraut

Sprint

Spain qualified boats for the following events Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Cycling

Spain qualified riders for the following events.

Road

Track

;Sprint ;Pursuit ;Keirin ;Omnium

Mountain biking

Diving

Spain qualified two divers: ;Men ;Women

Equestrian

Dressage

Spain qualified one team and three individual quota places after finishing in fifth place at the

2011 European Dressage Championship The 2011 European Dressage Championship was held between August 17 and August 21, 2011 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was the 25 edition of the European Dressage Championships, in the 24th time team medals were awarded. Organization Before th ...

Field hockey

* Men's team event – 1 team of 16 players

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;5th/6th place game

Football

Spain's men football team qualified for the event by reaching the final of the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

. * Men's team event – 1 team of 18 players

Men's tournament

;Team roster ;Group play

Gymnastics

Artistic

;Men ;Team ;Individual finals ;Women

Rhythmic

Handball

* Men's team event – 1 team of 14 players * Women's team event – 1 team of 14 players

Men's tournament

;Team roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinal

Women's tournament

;Team roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinal ;Semifinal ;Bronze medal game

Judo

;Men ;Women

Sailing

Spain qualified 1 boat for each of the following events ;Men Juegos Olimpicos 470 Berta Betanzos y Tara Pacheco

;Women ;Match racing ;Open M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race;

Shooting

Spain qualified for 8 quota places in shooting events; ;Men ;Women

Swimming

Spanish swimmers achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)): ;Men ;Women

Synchronized swimming

Spain qualified 9 quota places in synchronized swimming at the 2012 Olympics.

Table tennis

Spain qualified two athlete for singles

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

events.

Shen Yanfei Shen Yanfei (; born December 24, 1979, in Hebei, China) is a female Chinese-born table tennis player who now represents Spain and resides in Cartagena, Murcia. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the third round of the single ...

qualified for the women's event based on the 2011 world rankings. On 14 April 2012,

qualified in the European Qualification Tournament for the men's event, and on 14 May 2012 at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha, Carlos Machado for the men's event;

Galia Dvorak Galyna Volodymyrivna "Galia" Dvorak Khasanova ( uk, Галина Володимирівна Дворжака Хасанова; born 1 April 1988) is a Spanish table tennis player. She was born in Kyiv, but her family moved to Spain when she was ...

and

Sara Ramírez Sara Elena Ramírez (; born August 31, 1975) is a Mexican-American actor and singer. Born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juilliard School. ...

completed the Spanish team for the women's team event, and one of them played the women's event too.

Taekwondo

Tennis

Spain qualified 12 players. The final list was announced on 11 June 2012. ;Men ;Women

Triathlon

Spain qualified six athletes, the maximum as possible.

Volleyball

Beach

Water polo

Spain qualified a team to both the men's and the women's tournaments.

Men's tournament

;Team roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinal ;Classification semifinal ;5th place game

Women's tournament

;Team roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinal ;Semifinal ;Gold medal game

Weightlifting

Spain qualified 1 man and 1 woman.

Wrestling

;Women's freestyle

Uniform controversy

As Spain was suffering from the 2008–2014 financial crisis, the Spanish Olympic team saved EUR1.5 million by obtaining free uniforms for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

from the Russian sportswear company Bosco, which was a team sponsor and also provided the Russian and Ukrainian teams' outfits. Spanish athletes criticized the outfits' appearance as "loud, very loud", however, saying that "there aren't enough adjectives". ''

The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...

'' described the uniforms' colors as "a never-before-seen mix of cherry red, orange and canary yellow", and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

stated that the outfits appeared designed for

Ronald McDonald Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and ...

References

{{commons category, Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 in Spanish sport Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Medalists

Delegation

Archery

Athletics

Badminton

Basketball

Men's tournament

Boxing

Canoeing

Slalom

Sprint

Cycling

Road

Track

Mountain biking

Diving

Equestrian

Dressage

Field hockey

Men's tournament

Football

Men's tournament

Gymnastics

Artistic

Rhythmic

Handball

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Judo

Sailing

Shooting

Swimming

Synchronized swimming

Table tennis

Taekwondo

Tennis

Triathlon

Volleyball

Beach

Water polo

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Uniform controversy

See also

References