2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, were held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012, followed by the 2012 Paralympic Games from 29 August to 9 September.
London became the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times; London also hosted the 1908 Summer Olympics and the 1948 Summer Olympics.
The bidding process
By the bid submission deadline of 15 July 2003, nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Olympics. These cities were Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro.
On 18 May 2004 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris.
The IOC inspection team visited the five candidate cities during February and March 2005.
On 6 June 2005, the International Olympic Committee released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. Although these reports did not contain any scores or rankings, the evaluation report for Paris was seen as the most positive, followed closely by London.
During the process, many thought Paris was most likely to win the nomination, largely because this was its third bid in recent years. In late August 2004, reports came out predicting a London and Paris tie in the 2012 bid.
On 6 July 2005, London was announced as the winner of the bid at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore.
The Games
Athletes from 204 National Olympic Countries took part. In addition, four individual athletes competed under the Olympic flag--one from South Sudan and three from the region of the former Netherlands Antilles
Participating nations
Listed below are NOCs who have qualified at least one athlete. As of 7 June 2011, 101 nations have qualified at least one athlete.
Algeria
Andorra
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Colombia
DR Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Great Britain (Host)
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
North Korea
South Korea
Kuwait
Latvia
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
Namibia
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Chinese Taipei
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Medal table
Sports
The 2012 Summer Olympics event has 26 sports.
The International Olympic Committee executive board met on 13 August 2009 and approved the addition of women's boxing. The International Boxing Federation proposed that 40 athletes compete in five different weight classes.
Aquatics
Sprint (12)
Slalom (4)
BMX (2)
Mountain biking (2)
Road (4)
Track (10)
Dressage (2)
Eventing (2)
Jumping (2)
Artistic (14)
Rhythmic (2)
Trampoline (2)
Volleyball (2)
Beach volleyball (2)
Freestyle (11)
Greco-Roman (7)
Motto
The official motto for the 2012 Summer Olympics is "Inspire a generation". It was chosen to highlight the organiser's commitment to inspire the world to get involved in sporting events through the olympic games' legacy.
Mascots
The official mascots for the Olympics and Paralympic Games were revealed in May 2010. They were called Wenlock and Mandeville.
Sponsors
The 2012 Olympics had many sponsors. Some of the most popular ones are McDonald's, Acer, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Panasonic.