Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics
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Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, represented by the
British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...
(BOA), 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, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012 as the host nation and the team of selected athletes was officially known as
Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
. British athletes have competed at every
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
in the modern era, alongside Australia, France and Greece, though Great Britain is the only one to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. London is the first city to host the Summer Olympics on three different occasions, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948. Soon, it will be joined by Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028 in hosting the Olympic Games for a third time.
Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
, organised by BOA, sent a total of 541 athletes, 279 men and 262 women, to the Games, and won automatic qualification places in all 26 sports. The government agency
UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...
targeted a total of 48 to 70 medals, with a commitment of at least a minimum amount, one more than the team won at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, and a fourth-place finish in the medal table. On 7 August 2012, Great Britain had reached its 48-medal target, and surpassed the 19 gold-medal tally from
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 ...
, making it the most successful Olympics since 1908. Great Britain finished the Summer Olympic Games with a total of 65 medals (29 gold, 17 silver, and 19 bronze; after medal reallocation in men's high jump: 29 gold, 18 silver, and 18 bronze), coming third in the medal table rankings, and fourth in the total number of medal rankings. At least one medal was awarded to Team GB in seventeen sports, eleven of them containing at least one gold. British athletes dominated the medal standings in cycling, wherein they won a total of 12 Olympic medals, including 8 golds, 7 from the 10 track cycling events alone, and in equestrianism, wherein they won 5 medals including 3 golds from 6 events. Great Britain also topped the medal table in triathlon, boxing and rowing. Twelve British athletes won more than a single Olympic medal in London. Among the nation's medalists were taekwondo jin Jade Jones, triathlete Alistair Brownlee, and slalom canoers
Etienne Stott Etienne Stott MBE (born 30 June 1979) is an English slalom canoeist who started competing at the international level in 2002, initially in the K1 category, but switching to C2 in 2005. He retired from the sport in 2016. He is the ...
and
Tim Baillie Timothy Mark Baillie MBE (born 11 May 1979 in Aberdeen) is a Scottish slalom canoeist who represented Britain. From Westhill in Aberdeenshire, he started competing at the international level in 1996, initially in the K1 category, but switching ...
, who won Great Britain's first Olympic gold medals in their respective disciplines.
Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first fe ...
became the first female champion in Olympic boxing history as her sport made its debut at the Games. Having never won a medal in
dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...
in Olympic history, British riders dominated the event in 2012, winning 2 golds (both team and individual) and a bronze, Charlotte Dujardin becoming one of five British double gold medal winners. Great Britain was the first nation other than
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to win the team event since
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...
.
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
became the first British tennis player to claim an Olympic title since the sport was reintroduced as a full-medal discipline in
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 ...
; he was also the only British athlete to win two medals in a single day. Double trap shooter Peter Wilson won the nation's first gold medal in his sport for 12 years. By winning two gold medals in London, track cyclist
Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Hoy is eleven-times a wor ...
emerged as Great Britain's most successful athlete in Olympic history with a total of seven medals, including six golds which surpassed the five golds won by former rower
Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...
. Hoy also tied for the most total Olympic medals for a Briton with road cyclist
Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...
, who won the gold in the men's time trial.
Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutiv ...
became the most successful sailor in Olympic history, after winning his fourth gold medal in the Finn class. With three medals (two golds and one silver) in total,
Victoria Pendleton Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With two ...
became Great Britain's most successful female Olympic athlete, surpassing the record of two golds and one bronze medal, previously held by
Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British ...
, and briefly shared with
Rebecca Adlington Rebecca Adlington (born 17 February 1989) is a British former competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle events in international competition. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre ...
. For the first time in Olympic history, Great Britain had won a women's rowing gold; in the event, Great Britain secured three of the six gold medals in women's rowing.
Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning OBE (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower, a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team, and Royal Artillery officer. Ranked number 1 female rower in the world in 2016, she is a double Olympic champi ...
and Helen Glover took the first Great Britain gold of the games in the women's pair, and the nation's first ever in women's rowing.
Katherine Grainger Dame Katherine Jane Grainger (born 12 November 1975) is a British former rower and current Chair of UK Sport. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion. She served as Chancell ...
, winning her first gold medal with Anna Watkins in the women's double sculls, became the first Great Britain female athlete to win four Olympic medals, and at four successive games (having previously won three silver medals). Swimmer
Rebecca Adlington Rebecca Adlington (born 17 February 1989) is a British former competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle events in international competition. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre ...
equalled the feat of four Olympic medals later on the same day.
Sophie Hosking Sophie Hannah Marguerite Hosking MBE (born 25 January 1986) is a retired British rower. Personal life Hosking was born in 1986. The lightweight rower David Hosking is her father. She attended Kingston Grammar School in London, before completi ...
and
Katherine Copeland Katherine Sarah Copeland MBE (born 1 December 1990) is a retired British Olympic Gold Medal winning rower. Personal life She was born in Ashington, to vet parents Derek and Penny (they owned Copeland Veterinary Surgey, in Ingleby Barwick in 201 ...
, in the women's lightweight double sculls, completed the hat-trick as part of
Super Saturday Super Saturday or Panic Saturday is the last Saturday before Christmas, a major day of revenue for American retailers, marking the end of the shopping season which begins on Black Friday. Super Saturday targets last-minute shoppers. Typically t ...
. Despite the unprecedented success, Great Britain performed much more poorly in the team sports, winning just a single medal when
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
captained by Katie Walsh won the bronze medal match against
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
3–1 in the Women's Field hockey tournament to win the first medal of any colour by a British field hockey team at a Summer Olympics since 1992.


Medallists

The team won 65 medals in total: 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze; after medal reallocation in men's high jump: 29 gold, 18 silver, and 18 bronze. For each gold medallist, a post box was painted gold by
Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...
in recognition of the achievement, usually in the competitor's home town. A first class stamp depicting each gold medal-winning individual or team was also produced. The following British competitors won medals at the Games. In the 'by discipline' sections below, medallists' names are in bold. , style="text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;", , style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;" ,


Multiple medallists

The following Team GB competitors won several medals at the 2012 Olympic Games.


"Super Saturday"

Day 8 (4 August) of the Games, which had been billed in the build up to the Games in the host country as "Super Saturday" due to the expected programme creating numerous strong medal possibilities for the hosts, saw Great Britain record their most successful day at the Olympics since the 1908 games. The day saw the team win 6 gold medals, starting in the rowing for
Alex Gregory Alexander John Gregory, (born 11 March 1984) is an English rower and a two-time Olympic Gold medallist from 2012 and 2016 in the Coxless four. Education Alex Gregory was educated at the Richard Pate School in Cheltenham, then Bredon Hill Mi ...
,
Tom James Thomas James MBE (born 11 March 1984) is a British rower, twice Olympic champion and victorious Cambridge Blue. In a British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2021. Background and early life James was bor ...
,
Pete Reed Peter K. Reed OBE (born 27 July 1981) is a retired British Olympic rower. Reed is a three-times Olympic gold medallist – earning gold in the Men's coxless four at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and then a gold medal in the Men's eight at the 2 ...
and
Andrew Triggs Hodge Andrew Triggs Hodge (born 3 March 1979) is a British former rower - a three time Olympic champion and four time world champion. In the British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2021. Education Born in Hal ...
in the men's coxless four and
Katherine Copeland Katherine Sarah Copeland MBE (born 1 December 1990) is a retired British Olympic Gold Medal winning rower. Personal life She was born in Ashington, to vet parents Derek and Penny (they owned Copeland Veterinary Surgey, in Ingleby Barwick in 201 ...
and
Sophie Hosking Sophie Hannah Marguerite Hosking MBE (born 25 January 1986) is a retired British rower. Personal life Hosking was born in 1986. The lightweight rower David Hosking is her father. She attended Kingston Grammar School in London, before completi ...
in the women's lightweight double sculls, followed in the cycling by
Dani King Danielle 'Dani' Rowe MBE (née King; born 21 November 1990) is a British former road and track cyclist. She retired from cycling in December 2018. A team pursuit gold medallist from the London Olympics in 2012, Rowe also won three consecutive ...
,
Joanna Rowsell Shand Joanna Katie Rowsell MBE (born 5 December 1988) is a retired English cyclist on the Great Britain Cycling Team who competed on track and road. Her greatest successes were the gold medals won in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 London Olym ...
and Laura Trott in the women's team pursuit. This was followed by three athletics gold medals in the space of 46 minutes, with
Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...
winning gold in the women's heptathlon,
Greg Rutherford Gregory James Rutherford MBE (born 17 November 1986) is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World and European Championships, and England at the Commonwealth ...
in the men's long jump and
Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
in the men's 10,000 metres. Completing the medal total on the day in the rowing was a silver for Mark Hunter and
Zac Purchase Zachary Jake Nicholas Purchase-Hill MBE (born 2 May 1986) is a retired English rower. Purchase won an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Both medals were won in t ...
in the men's lightweight double sculls.
Lord Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals ...
, organiser of London 2012, described the unfolding of the day's events as "a narrative of infectious success" and the greatest day of sport he had ever witnessed.


Medal and performance targets

With Team GB attempting to build on their previous successes in Beijing four years earlier, expectations prior to the London Olympics were very high with the additional advantage of competing with home support.
UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...
, the body responsible for distributing £300 million in Olympic and Paralympic sports, revealed on 4 July 2012 a target of finishing in the top four of the
medal table The Olympic medal table is a method of sorting the medal placements of countries in the modern-day Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not officially recognize a ranking of participating countries at the Olympic ...
and winning at least 48 medals across at least 12 sports based on an aggregate medal range of 40–70. although a specific number of gold medals was not targeted. Team GB was also highly rated by other expert and professional sport bodies prior to the Olympics. This included a team of experts invited by BBC Radio 5 live, which implied an estimated total of 95 medals: 27 gold, 25 silver and 43 bronze. Sports statistics provider Infostrada projected 57 medals, 16 of them gold. Sheffield Hallam University 56 medals, 27 of them gold; whilst Luciana Barra a former Italian Olympic Committee member, estimated 59 medals, 16 of them gold. UK Sport set targets for medals and positions for each individual Olympic sports except Football. These are listed in the table below, along with the actual Team GB performance. The only sport which Team GB failed to meet its medal target was in
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
.


UK Sport funding

In the Olympic cycle from 2008 until 2012 the government agency
UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...
allocated a total budget of more than £264 million towards funding
Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
and the individual athletes and teams specifically for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The sports which received the highest funding were
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
,
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 ...
,
athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
,
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
, and
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
. The only sports on the Olympic Programme that were not given any funding by the body were
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...
.


Delegation

The team, known by the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) as ''Great Britain'', selects athletes from all four of the
Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...
(England,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
), as well as the three Crown Dependencies (
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
,
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
and
Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
), and all but three of the
British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
(
Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
,
British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...
and
Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...
having their own NOCs). The team is organised by the
British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...
(BOA) who have since 1999 branded it
Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
, explaining that "''Team GB'' is the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team." The BOA selected a team of 541 athletes, 279 men and 262 women, to compete in all sports after gaining automatic qualification places in their respective events. The BOA by-law preventing the selection of athletes sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations was struck down by the
Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...
in April 2012, allowing the participation of
Dwain Chambers Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is a British track sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics. His primary event is the 100 me ...
,
David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
and Carl Myerscough. British Olympic Association chief
Colin Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baronet, 4th Baron Moynihan (born 13 September 1955) is a British Olympic silver medalist, businessman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, and sports administrator. Lord Moynihan served as ...
condemned the disproportionate number of British Olympic competitors who had attended expensive, elite private schools. Twenty percent of all British Olympic competitors and 33% of the British participants in the rowing, sailing, and equestrian events, in which the host country won a number of medals, attended private schools. Moynihan called the numbers, "one of the worst statistics in British sport" and said that it was "wrong and unacceptable" that so many elite British athletes came from privileged backgrounds. Alan Bairner, professor of sport and social theory at
Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
, said that a primary factor in the numbers was the existence of excellent sports facilities and specialized coaching at the private schools and lack of the same at many state-sponsored schools. The Great Britain kit was designed by
Stella McCartney Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and the late American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCa ...
. In addition to the Olympic merchandise, a range of ''Team GB'' branded items went on sale including the BOA's official mascot Pride.


Competitors

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

As the host nation, Britain automatically received the full allocation of six individual places, alongside entry to both the men's and women's team events. Former medalist Alison Williamson competed in her sixth consecutive Summer Olympics, becoming only the third British athlete to do so, but failed to move past the first round. Both the women's and men's teams failed to progress further than the round of 16 after losing to the Russian and Ukrainian teams respectively, while no individual archers made it past the round of 16.


Men


Women


Athletics

In Athletics, the British team did not receive any automatic places for representing the host nation, as they had done in other sports. A squad of 77 athletes was initially selected for the Games. The selection of
Lynsey Sharp Lynsey Sharp (born 11 July 1990) is a Scottish track and field athlete who competes in the 800 metres. She is the 2012 European Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres, 2012 European champion and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summ ...
as the team's sole representative in the 800m when there were three places available proved controversial. Sharp, who won the event at the GB Olympic trials, failed to achieve the 'A' qualifying standard. Under international rules, non 'A' standard competitors could only be selected if no other athletes that have met the standard were chosen. As a result, Sharp's inclusion meant the exclusion of four other runners that had achieved the 'A' standard, including
2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...
gold medallist Jenny Meadows.
Gareth Warburton Gareth Warburton (born 23 April 1983) is a Welsh middle-distance runner originally from Caernarfon. He specializes in the 800 metres. Warburton finished fourth in the 800m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He has represented Great Britain on numero ...
was initially not selected for the 800 metres, having failed to achieve the 'A' qualifying standard at the
2012 European Athletics Championships The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years. ...
in Helsinki, but was granted a place at the Games following an appeal. Ten other British athletes were unsuccessful with their appeals to be included. David Webb was initially chosen as part of the squad for the men's marathon but withdrew on 25 July due to injury. No replacement was selected.
Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Maratho ...
was initially chosen as part of the squad for the women's marathon but withdrew on 29 July due to injury; Freya Murray was called up as her replacement. Welshman
Dai Greene David "Dai" Greene (born 11 April 1986) is a British hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, competing internationally for both Wales and Great Britain. In a 'golden' sixteen-month period between 2010 and 2011, Greene dominated the e ...
was selected to captain the athletics squad, reprising a role he had first served at the
2011 European Team Championships The third European Team Championships, took place on 18 and 19 June 2011. The Competition was divided between four divisions, with results determining promotion and relegation between them. The Super League event was held in Stockholm, at the Sto ...
in Sweden. In the Games, Great Britain had their best track and field performance since the Moscow Games in 1980, with 4 gold medals including a double gold for
Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
over the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Pre-event favourites Farah in the 10,000 metres,
Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...
in heptathlon, and the world leading, but slightly less favoured
Greg Rutherford Gregory James Rutherford MBE (born 17 November 1986) is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World and European Championships, and England at the Commonwealth ...
in the long jump, won 3 gold medals for Great Britain in the space of 49 minutes on the middle Saturday of the Games. * Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only ; Q: Qualified for the next round ; q: Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser ''or'', in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target ; NR: National record ; WB: World Best ; N/A: Round not applicable for the event ; Bye: Athlete not required to compete in round


Men


Track & road events

* Competed in relay heats only


Field event

;Combined events –
Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...


Women


Track & road events

* Competed in relay heats only


Field events


Combined events –

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...


Badminton

As hosts, Team GB were entitled to enter two badminton players regardless of how they fared in qualifying. At the qualification date, Team GB had qualified four places; a single player in each singles event, and a pair in the mixed doubles.


Basketball

Basketball was the only sport in which Great Britain were not guaranteed entry as hosts in 2012. In early 2011,
FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...
granted the men's and women's teams automatic qualification. Until 2006, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland competed as separate teams.


Men's tournament


Roster


Group play


Women's tournament


Roster


Group play


Boxing


Men

Britain was guaranteed five male boxers at the Games and one female entrant, by virtue of being the host nation. However following the 2011 World Championships, five British boxers had claimed their places. The special 'host' places for men's boxing therefore became void. The boxers who qualified through the world championships were;
Andrew Selby Andrew Selby (born 25 December 1988) is a Welsh professional boxer who held the British flyweight title from 2016 to 2019. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships, Bronze at the 2013 World Championships, and gold ...
, Luke Campbell,
Tom Stalker Thomas Lee Stalker (born 30 June 1984) is an English professional boxer who challenged for the Commonwealth lightweight title in 2017. He won multiple international medals while competing for England as an amateur, including gold at the 2010 ...
, Fred Evans and
Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021. At r ...
. Following the World Championships
Andrew Selby Andrew Selby (born 25 December 1988) is a Welsh professional boxer who held the British flyweight title from 2016 to 2019. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships, Bronze at the 2013 World Championships, and gold ...
and Khalid Yafai had both attained the qualification standard for the Olympics in the flyweight division. NOCs may only nominate one boxer per event, and since both had reached the quarter finals of the World Championships, a box off was required. The box off took place at the
York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...
during the 2011 British Championships in November. Selby won the first bout, following which Yafai failed to make the weight for the second bout by 300
gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
s, meaning that Selby would represent Great Britain at the Olympics. In the subsequent AIBA European Qualification Tournament, two further boxers,
Josh Taylor Josh or Joshua Taylor may refer to: * Josh Taylor (actor) (born 1943), American comedy and dramatic television actor * Josh Taylor (baseball) (born 1993), American professional baseball pitcher * Josh Taylor (boxer) (born 1991), Scottish profession ...
and Anthony Ogogo, also qualified.


Women

Qualification for the women's events was held at the AIBA 2012 Women's World Championships only. On 16 May 2012,
Natasha Jonas Natasha Jonas (born 18 June 1984) is a British professional boxer who has held the WBO female junior-middleweight title since February 2022. Since September 3rd 2022 she has held the WBC female super-welterweight title. Since November 12th 20 ...
qualified in the 60 kg category, and
Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first fe ...
in the 51 kg category. As a result, the host quota place in women's boxing became void. On 18 May 2012
Savannah Marshall Savannah Rose Marshall (born 19 May 1991) is a British professional boxer who held the WBO female middleweight title between 2020 and 2022. As an amateur, she became the first British female world champion after securing gold at the 2012 Wo ...
qualified in the 75 kg category, ensuring Great Britain is represented at all women's weights at the first Olympic Games featuring the women's discipline.


Canoeing


Slalom

Britain qualified the maximum of one boat in all four classes, at the 2011 World Championships. Places were allocated in Team GB in a qualification event in April 2012. As stated above, Great Britain was entitled to one quota of two canoeists in the men's C-2 event; however, as the successful C-2 canoeists Florence and Hounslow had already qualified in the individual events, a quota for a second boat in C-2 became available.


Sprint

The canoe sprint allocation for the host nation was one place in the men's K-1 1000 m, men's C-1 1000 m and women's K-1 500 m. Team GB was expected to earn a healthy number of British quota places.


Men


Women

; FA: Qualify to final (medal) ; FB: Qualify to final B (non-medal)


Cycling

Great Britain selected 27 cyclists across the four cycling disciplines. Included in the squad was
David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
, who was cleared to compete after a British Olympic Association rule preventing any athlete formerly banned for doping from Olympic selection, was overturned. In the road events
Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...
won the gold medal and
Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...
the bronze in the men's time trial. This was Wiggins seventh Olympic medal and took him past
Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...
as the British athlete with the most Olympic medals. He also became the first man to win the Tour de France and an Olympic gold medal in the same year. On the track the men's sprint team of
Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Hoy is eleven-times a wor ...
,
Jason Kenny Sir Jason Francis Kenny, (born 23 March 1988) is an English former track cyclist, specialising in the individual and team sprints. Kenny is the holder of most Olympic gold medals (7) and medals (9) for a British athlete. His wife, Laura Kenn ...
and
Philip Hindes Philip Hindes MBE (born 22 September 1992) is a British track cyclist, specialising in sprints. He holds dual nationality, having been born in Germany to a British father. Having initially competed for Germany at a junior level, in 2010 he swi ...
set new world records in both the first round and again in the final against France as they won the gold medal. Hoy joined
Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...
as the only British athletes to win five Olympic gold medals. A sixth gold medal in the men's Keirin brought Hoy past the record of Redgrave, and brought him equal with Wiggins on seven Olympic medals


Road

Great Britain qualified for a maximum five quota places in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 10 national ranking in the
2011 UCI World Tour The 2011 UCI World Tour was the third edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 18 January, and consisted of 14 stage races and 13 one- ...
. They qualified a maximum 4 quota places in the women's event by virtue of a top 5 national ranking by the end of May 2012. The BOA announced the five man squad of road racers for Team GB on 4 July 2012.


Men


Women


Track

Qualification for the ten events to be held in the Olympic velodrome was entirely dependent on UCI rankings. Entry was limited to one rider, or as the case may be one team, per nation. Nations are also limited to 14 riders in total, although 2 riders from other cycling disciplines may also be called upon. Great Britain qualified in all track events. On 18 June 2012, British Cycling confirmed two accredited 'P' places – sprinters
Ross Edgar Ross Edgar (born 3 January 1983) is a Scottish track cyclist who represented Scotland at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games, where he won a gold medal in the team sprint riding with Chris Hoy and Craig MacLean. He competed for Great Britain at ...
and
Becky James Rebecca Angharad James (born 29 November 1991) is a Welsh former professional racing cyclist specialising in track cycling. James was the 2013 world sprint and keirin champion. She is a 2016 Rio Olympics double silver medalist. James rode for ...
– essentially, substitute riders officially selected for the Olympic squad in the event of injury or illness. Competitors in the individual sprint and keirin events to be chosen from respective team sprint squads.


Sprint


Team sprint


Pursuit

*
Andy Tennant Andrew Wellman Tennant (born June 15, 1955) is an American screenwriter, film and television director, actor, and dancer. Early life Tennant was born June 15, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois and was raised in Flossmoor, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago ...
and
Wendy Houvenaghel Wendy Louise Houvenaghel (née McLean; born 27 November 1974) is a Northern Irish former racing cyclist from Upperlands, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, riding on both the road and track, but specialising in the latter. She has represente ...
were selected as part of the pursuit squads but did not ride during the event.


Keirin


Omnium


Mountain biking


BMX

The cyclists below were selected for the BMX events. On 18 June 2012, British Cycling announced that two further riders –
Kyle Evans Kyle Evans (born 26 September 1993) is a British BMX rider from Hindley, Greater Manchester, who represents Great Britain in international competitions. He competed in the men's time trial event at the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships. Evans ...
and Abbie Taylor – had been granted 'P' accreditations, and would be substitute riders in the event of illness or injury.


Diving

As hosts Great Britain were automatically entitled to places in all four synchronised diving events, but athletes for individual events had to qualify through their own performances. Through finishes at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, the 2012 FINA Diving World Cup event in London, and the dive-off on the final day of the 2012 event, Great Britain achieved the maximum allowable number of quota places; two in each individual event.


Men


Women


Equestrian

Great Britain automatically received a team and the maximum number of individual competitors in each of the 3 disciplines; dressage, eventing and show jumping.


Dressage


Eventing

;*:
Piggy French Georgina "Piggy" March (née French, born 12 August 1980) is a British equestrian sportswoman who competes in eventing. She won the 2019 Badminton Horse Trials and 2022 Burghley Horse Trials on Vanir Kamira, and finished second at the 2011 Badmin ...
, riding DHI Topper W, was originally selected by Team GB, but withdrew on 2 July 2012 due to an injury to her horse. Nicola Wilson was promoted from the reserve team


Show jumping

; JO: Jump off for gold medal


Fencing

As hosts, Great Britain received eight quota places which could be allocated to any of the fencing events. Additional places could be won in specific disciplines in a series of qualification events. On 24 March 2012,
Richard Kruse Richard Kruse (born 30 July 1983) is a former British right-handed foil fencer and four-time Olympian. In 2015, he was part of the Great Britain team that shocked Olympic champions Italy to win the first European Games gold in team foil, the fi ...
won a qualifying event in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, thus earning Team GB a ninth quota place in men's foil. On 22 April 2012, Natalia Sheppard attained a qualifying place at the Zonal European Qualifier in women's foil. On 1 June 2012, the BOA announced the first seven of ten fencers, and confirmed the remaining three fencers would be in foil events.


Men


Women


Field hockey

The Great Britain men's and
women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
teams qualified automatically as hosts. England, Wales and Scotland compete separately in most competitions, but sent a combined team to the Olympics, which was managed by
England Hockey England Hockey is the national governing body for the sport of field hockey in England. There are separate governing bodies for the sport in the other parts of the United Kingdom. History and organisation England Hockey was formed on 1 January 2 ...
.


Men's tournament

Head coach
Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...
appeared at his fifth Olympics, having played for Great Britain in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
and
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, and been head coach in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
.


Group play


Semi-final


Bronze medal match


Women's tournament


Squad


Group play


Semi-final


Bronze medal match


Final rank


Football

Great Britain men's football team competed at the Olympics for the first time since 1960. The team was run by
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
, as the national associations of
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
declined to take part. However, despite objections from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, players from all four nations were considered for selection, although Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy, Aaron Ramsey, Neil Taylor and Joe Allen (all Welsh) were the only non-English players who were selected. However, players chosen to represent
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at the 2012 European Championships were not considered for selection, although one player (
Jack Butland Jack Butland (born 10 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United, on loan from Crystal Palace. Butland began his career with Birmingham City, and made his debut in the Football League ...
) received special dispensation to compete. Former England captain
David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
, who was involved in promoting London's bid to host the Games, had expressed an interest in appearing as one of the three over-23 players in the squad. The men's team was managed by
Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...
and the women's by
Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...
. * Men's team event – 1 team of 18 players * Women's team event – 1 team of 18 players


Men's tournament


Squad


Group play


Quarter-final


Women's tournament


Squad


Group play


Quarter-final


Gymnastics


Artistic

Great Britain fielded a full team of five gymnasts in both the men's and women's artistic gymnastics events. The women's team qualified through a top eight finish in the
2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Inte ...
, whilst the men qualified by winning the Olympic qualification event, after failing to qualify at the world championships. Included in the squads were Louis Smith, who won a bronze medal in the
pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...
at the 2008 Games,
Beth Tweddle Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired British artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Cham ...
, 2009 World Floor Champion and 2010 Uneven Bars Champion, and
Rebecca Tunney Rebecca Tunney (born 26 October 1996) is a retired British artistic gymnast who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Personal information Tunney took ballet from a young age but gave it up at five years old to focus on gymnastics. She moved t ...
, who, at the age of 15, was the youngest Team GB athlete from any sport.


Men


=Team

= ;Individual finals


Women


=Team

=


=Individual finals

= * Whelan's vault score was wiped after she fell face first during her landing.


Rhythmic

The
British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...
announced that the team would utilise host nation qualification places. However an agreement between British Gymnastics and the BOA stipulated that the team had to reach a target score (45.223) at a test event held in London in January 2012. They narrowly missed this target in the qualification stage by 0.273 marks. though they met the mark on the finals day. This led to a dispute in which
British Gymnastics British Gymnastics, also known as the British Amateur Gymnastics Association (BAGA), is the sports governing body for gymnastics and Trampolining in the UK. History It was founded in 1888 as the Amateur Gymnastics and Fencing Association. Gy ...
originally argued that they should not be included in the Games as they had failed to make the mark in the agreed manner; the gymnasts argued that it was not clear the mark had to be reached on the qualification round, and that their mark in the final day (which was over the target mark) should be accepted. On 5 March 2012, the gymnasts won their appeal, and British Gymnastics announced that the team would now be nominated for selection.


Trampoline


Handball

Great Britain's men's and women's handball teams were allowed to take up host places at the 2012 Olympics. This is the first time that Great Britain has competed in handball at the Olympics.


Men's tournament

;Group A


Women's tournament


Squad


Group play


Judo

British judoka received one place in each of the 14 categories by virtue of hosting the Olympic tournament – the maximum allocation possible.


Men


Women


Modern pentathlon

As hosts, Great Britain received one automatic qualification place per gender. A maximum of two British men and two British women were able to qualify for modern pentathlon events. In the event, Great Britain earned two quota places in each gender.


Rowing

Great Britain qualified boats in 13 of the 14 Olympic events at the 2011 World Championships; the only boat which Britain did not qualify for the Olympics was in the women's single sculls event where Frances Houghton was one place short. In the heats of the women's coxless pair, Helen Glover and
Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning OBE (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower, a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team, and Royal Artillery officer. Ranked number 1 female rower in the world in 2016, she is a double Olympic champi ...
set a new Olympic record with a time of six minutes 57.29 seconds.


Men


Women

Qualification legend: FA, final A (medal); FB, final B (non-medal); FC, final C (non-medal); FD, final D (non-medal); FE, final E (non-medal); FF, final F (non-medal); SA/B, semifinals A/B; SC/D, semifinals C/D; SE/F, semifinals E/F; QF, quarterfinals; R, repechage


Sailing

As hosts, Great Britain received automatic qualification places in each boat class.


Men


Women


Fleet racing


Match racing

* Due to the lack of wind the 5–8th place classification races were cancelled. The final round robin table was used for classification. ; BFD: Disqualified under the black flag rule. ; M: Medal races. Points awarded in medal races are double the position achieved in the race.


Shooting

As the host nation, Great Britain were awarded a minimum of nine quota places in nine different events. Additional places have been secured by Richard Brickell in the men's skeet, Richard Faulds and Peter Wilson in the men's double trap and Georgina Geikie in women's 25 m pistol. In addition, a shooter that has qualified for one event may compete in others without affecting the quotas. On 28 May 2012, the Great Britain team was confirmed.


Men


Women


Swimming

British swimmers have 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)): All British swimmers must qualify by finishing in the top two of the Olympic trials having gained the GB qualifying A standard set by British Swimming in the relevant final (that time being the fastest time of the sixteenth fastest swimmer internationally in that event in 2011).


Men

Qualifiers for the latter rounds (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats.


Women

Qualifiers for the latter rounds (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats. * Amy Smith tied equal with two other swimmers for the final spot in to the semi-finals. A swim-off was held between the three competitors, which Smith won and was awarded with the 16th qualification place in to the semi-finals. ** Competed in the heats only


Synchronised swimming

As the host nation, Great Britain will have a squad of 9 synchronised swimmers taking part in both the duet and team events. British Swimming announced the squad on 8 May 2012.


Table tennis

Team GB fielded a six-strong table tennis team at the 2012 Olympic Games after being granted permission to use host nation qualification places.


Taekwondo

Britain did not take any formal part in qualification tournaments in taekwondo, as the GB team already had four guaranteed places at their disposal, two for men, two for women. British Taekwondo nominated four athletes to take up their host quota places. The nomination of
Lutalo Muhammad Lutalo Muhammad (born 3 June 1991) is a British taekwondo athlete who represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal. He won the gold medal in the −87  ...
for the 80 kg class was originally rejected by the BOA on 31 May 2012, following concerns over the selection process. Muhammad, European champion, and world ranked number seven, at 87 kg had been nominated in preference to double European champion at 80 kg, and world ranked number one fighter at that weight,
Aaron Cook Aaron Cook may refer to: *Aaron Cook (baseball) (born 1979), Major League Baseball pitcher * Aaron Cook (footballer) (born 1979), Welsh footballer * Aaron Cook (politician), Nauruan politician *Aaron Cook (taekwondo) Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 ...
(Muhammad was ranked below 50th in the world at that weight category, at which he had rarely fought recently). On 8 June 2012, Muhammad's renewed nomination was ratified.


Tennis

Great Britain had only two players that qualified automatically through their world ranking: world number four
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
took part in the men's singles, and also played with his brother
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
, who had sufficiently high ranking in doubles, in the men's doubles. Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming have also qualified for the men's doubles. Great Britain did not have any other players with a sufficiently high world ranking to qualify automatically, and therefore applied for a number of wildcard places in the men's and women's draws. A total of four British players (two each in the women's singles and women's doubles) were given places, allowing Great Britain to take part in all five events (a pair for the mixed doubles will be selected at the Games). On 12 July, the IOC confirmed that withdrawals from the women's doubles event had created a vacancy in that event, and Great Britain's entries in the singles event,
Elena Baltacha Elena Sergeevna Baltacha ( uk, Олена Сергіївна Балтача; 14 August 1983 – 4 May 2014) was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term ...
and
Anne Keothavong Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a retired British tennis player. During her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved on 23 Februar ...
would team up to enter. On 24 July, Heather Watson, one of Great Britain's other women's doubles pair, was given an entry to the women's singles as a replacement for
Alona Bondarenko Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok ( uk, Альона Володимирівна Бондаренко; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko plays on the WTA Tour. Her career-high s ...
of Ukraine, who withdrew due to injury.
Laura Robson Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached th ...
replaced Croatian
Petra Martić Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and one doubles tou ...
withdrew due to injury, chosen as an alternate replacement.


Men


Women


Mixed


Triathlon

Helen Jenkins Helen Rebecca Jenkins, ''née'' Tucker (born 8 March 1984) is Two-time Triathlon World Champion (2008 & 2011) Helen Jenkins is one of Britain’s most celebrated triathletes having represented Team GB at the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 & 201 ...
became the second Briton to qualify for the Olympics, when she won the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series 2011 London event, meeting the British qualifying standards of finishing on the podium at the race over the Olympic course. The next day Alistair Brownlee and his brother
Jonathan Brownlee Jonathan Callum Brownlee (born 30 April 1990) is a British professional duathlete and triathlete. He is a six-time World champion (once World Triathlon Series, twice World Sprint Triathlon, three-time World Triathlon Mixed Relay), and one-ti ...
became the third and fourth people to qualify for London, as Alistair won the race and Jonny came in third over the Olympic course.


Volleyball

As hosts, Great Britain gained automatic entry for men's and women's teams in both indoor and beach volleyball.


Beach


Indoor


Men's tournament


=Squad

=


=Group play

=


Women's tournament


=Squad

=


=Group play

=


Water polo

As hosts, Great Britain gained automatic entry for both men's and women's teams.


Men's tournament


Team roster


Group play


Women's tournament


Team roster


Group play


=Quarter-final

=


=Semi-final 5–8

=


=Classification 7–8

=


Weightlifting

As the hosts, British weightlifters have already received three men's quota places and two women's places for the London Olympics. The GB team must allocate these places to individual athletes by 10 June 2012. * Following disqualifications as a result of retested samples.


Wrestling

Great Britain were originally offered three guaranteed places at the Games as host nation. If any wrestlers qualify directly through the qualification process, these places were to be reduced. On 29 May 2012, the BOA announced that British Wrestling had failed to meet the agreed criteria for the three quota places, and therefore only one quota place would be awarded. Ukrainian-born
Olga Butkevych Olga Butkevych (born 3 January 1986) is a Ukrainian-born British wrestler. She is a European Wrestling Championship and World Wrestling Championship bronze medallist. She was Great Britain's sole wrestler at the 2012 Summer Olympic ...
was selected in the women's 55 kg category.


Women's freestyle


Media coverage

The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
paid £40–50 million for the broadcast rights to the 2012 Olympic Games and showed around 5,800 hours of content over the 17 days of the Games, all of which was available in high definition. This is an increase on the amount of coverage shown at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
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 ...
when half of the international feed, 2,500 hours, was broadcast. To accompany its coverage the BBC commissioned an anthem from the British band,
Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the media ...
, entitled " First Steps".


Victory parade

A celebratory parade took place in central London on 10 September 2012 to commemorate the Olympic and Paralympic Games.


See also

*
Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...


References

{{Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
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 ...
Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics