The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are scheduled to take place from July 27 to Aug 12, 2012 in London ,United Kingdom(UK).
London was selected as the host city on July 06, 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore defeating Moscow,New York City,Madrid and Paris.
London will become the first city to officially host the modern olympic games thrice(held in 1908 and 1948)
Events
2012 Summer Olympic programme features 26 sports and a total of 39 disciplines.For the first time, women's boxing is included in the programme, with 36 athletes competing in three different weight classes.
For the first time, women's boxing is included in the programme, with 36 athletes competing in three different weight classes.London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop Baseball and Softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city.
Motto - Inspire a Generation
Logo
The new logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the olympic rings embedded within the zero
This will be the first time that the same essential logo is to be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic games
Wenlock and Mandeville - Official Mascots for the 2012 Olympics
Wenlock and Mandeville are animations (depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton) and are named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock which held a forerunner of the current olympic games, and Stoke Mandeville Hospital, a facility in Buckinghamshire that initially organised the Stoke Mandeville Games, the precursor of the Paralympic Games.
Chinese workers sew up "Wenlock," the mascot of 2012 London Olympic Games, at a factory in Dafeng, in eastern China's Jiangsu province
Official Song
''Survival''a single released by the English Band Muse, will be the official song of the Olympics
Stamps
In Aug 2009 the Royal Mail commissoned artists and illustrators to create 30 stamps which were released in batches of 10 during 2009 to 2011.
The 30 stamps symbolise that the Games take place during the 30th Olympiad. Each stamp featured an Olympic or Paralympic sport and in addition carried the London 2012 logo.
Coins
Two £5 coins have been made to mark London 2012 Olympics
Participating Nations and Athletics and Events
204 National Olympic Committees(NOC) and about 10500 athletics and 302 Events in 26 Sports
Medals
Medals were designed byDavid Watkins(Olympics) and Lin Cheung (Paralympics).Each medal weighs 375–400g, has a diameter of 85mm and is 7mm thick, with the sport and discipline engraved on the rim.
Front and Reverse side of the Gold Medal
2012 London Olympics Venues
Events will take place at venues in the Olympic Park, across London, and at out of London venues.
The Olympic Stadium will host the Athletics and Paralympic Athletics events at the London 2012 Games, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
The Aquatics Centre will be the venue for Swimming, Paralympic Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and the Aquatics discipline of the Modern Pentathlon.
The Velodrome will host Track Cycling and Paralympic Track Cycling.
The Basketball Arena will host Basketball, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby and the final stages of the Handball competition.
ExCeL is an existing exhibition and conference centre in London's Docklands. Its five arenas will host a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports during the London 2012 Games.
The Hockey Centre is a temporary arena in the north-west corner of the Olympic Park.
The City of Coventry Stadium will play host to 12 football matches during the Games, including the women's Bronze medal match.(The City of Coventry Stadium is home to Championship club Coventry City.)
Hampden Park is Scotland's national football stadium.The stadium will host a total of 8 Olympic Football matches, with action in both the men's and women's competitions
Old Trafford (One of the most famous football grounds in the world, the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ is home to Manchester United Football Club.)will host 9 Football matches during the Olympic Games, including a semi-final in both the men's and women's competitions
Eton Dorney will be the venue for Rowing, Paralympic Rowing and Canoe Sprint events during the London 2012 Games
The Volleyball competition will be held in Earls Court. 288 athletes will take part, with the action beginning on the 28 July.
Wembley Arena, a flagship live music and sport venue, will host the Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
North Greenwich Arena will host Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline Gymnastics and the Basketball finals during the Olympic Games
Olympic District to be named East Village
The name that will be given to the London Olympic village once the Games have ended has been announced.
The area, in the new postcode of E20, will be called 'East Village' and be home to more than 6,000 people from 2013.
London 2012 Olympic Park neighbourhood names revealed
The names of five neighbourhoods which will be built on the site of London's Olympic Park after the 2012 Games have been revealed.
The new suburbs will be called -Chobham Manor,
East Wick,
Marshgate Wharf,
Sweetwater and
Pudding Mill
Over the next 20 years, 8,000 new homes will be built, along with schools, nurseries and health centres.
The neighbourhoods will also share a new green space called Queen Elizabeth Park.
The park will open in phases to the public from 2013, with families moving into the first new homes in 2015.
2012London Olympic Ceremonies Budget Doubled
The PM David Cameron gave the go-ahead for an increase of £41m above the £40m already budgeted for the opening and closing nights' shows.The extra money comes from within the £9.3bn Olympic public funding package.2012London Olympic -India 'to raise role of Dow Chemical'
India's Sport Ministry has instructed its Olympics officials to raise the issue of Dow Chemical's sponsorship of the 2012 London Games with its organisers .(Dow is funding a wrap around the Olympic stadium)The sports ministry told the IOA to convey its concerns, saying there was "strong public sentiment" on the issue.(Dow has links to the firm behind the gas leak disaster in Bhopal in 1984)
Giant Rings On The Thames
Giant Olympic rings were launched on to the River Thames.The rings, standing at 11 metres (36ft) high and 25 metres (82ft) wide, are travelling on a barge in the centre of the city and will pass landmarks including Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf.
The rings, which are coloured on one side and have white LED lights on the other, were originally intended to start their journey at Battersea Bridge but instead were unveiled at London Bridge, meaning that they missed going past the Houses of Parliament as planned.
Olympic Games Flame Lit in Greece
The flame for the London 2012 torch relay and Olympic Games has been lit during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece.
The flame is lit using a mirror and the sun's rays, before being passed on to light the torch for the relay.
At the lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame, Actress Ino Menegaki played the key role of the high Priestess. Using a parabolic mirror - and a little olive oil - she captured the morning sun's rays to ignite the Olympic flame. The ceremony took place at the Temple of Hera, Greece, where the flame is kindled for every Olympics.
Women dressed as vestal virgins acted as guardians of the flame during the lighting ceremony. The specially-made torch was used to transfer the flame to the archaic pot, which was taken via an ancient pathway to the site of the first Olympic Games
High priestess, holding a lit torch and an olive branch
The high priestess lifted the pot and the entourage walked to the neighbouring stadium area, where crowds had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Once in the stadium area, the priestesses performed a graceful ritual dance. It was there that the flame was hit by a gust of wind and a puff of smoke could be seen coming from the urn. It was quickly re-lit from the mother flame.
Actress as high priestess Ino Menegaki passes on the Olympic flame to Spyros Gianniotis, a 32-year-old Liverpool-born swimmer, who won a silver medal for Greece in the 5-kilometer open water event in 2008 Beijing Olympics
The flame - an Olympic symbol meant to represent purity because it comes directly from the sun - was placed in an urn and taken to the stadium where the ancient Olympic Games were held.
It was transferred to a Greek torch which then "kissed" the London 2012 torch of Liverpool-born Greek world champion 10km swimmer Spyros Gianniotis.
He began to run with it on the first leg of its week-long journey around Greece.
Alex Loukos(the 2nd torchbearer of the Olympic flame for the 2012 Games) a keen boxer from Newham, east London, lit the 2012 Olympic torch from Gianniotis
The flame flies to Britain on Friday May 18,2012
London Olympics live on YouTube
Sushil Kumar(2008 Beijing Olympics Bronze-Medallist Wrestler) to be India's flag-bearer at London Olympics
IOA acting President VK Malhotra confirmed that the Olympic bronze-medallist wrestler will lead India's contingent at the opening ceremony.
Besides Sushil, IOA had shortlisted 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold-Medallist Shooter Abhinav Bindra, Bronze-Medallists Boxer Vijender Singh and Tennis Veteran Leander Paes for the flag bearer's role in London.
Abhinav Bindra, the country's first individual gold medallist at the Olympics, was reportedly the preferred candidate of the IOA, but since his 10m air rifle event is scheduled three days after the opening ceremony on July 30, the shooter wanted to focus on his preparations.Similarly, Vijender's weigh-in is scheduled for July 28 so it was also tough on his part.
However,Leander Paes got the honour of leading the Indian contingent at the Sydney Games, so Sushil was the only contender left to do the honours.Extreme dancers perform `speed angels` outside the National Theatre in London as part of London 2012 Olympic Festival
2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony - Friday July 27,2012
London 2012 opening ceremony had 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens and nine geese - recruited by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle along with a cast and crew of 10,000 presented a quirky, humourous and vibrant vision of quintessential Britain, its history and future
Danny Boyle's Isles of Wonder show not only celebrated the green and pleasant land of meadows, farms, cottages, village cricket matches and bird song, but also dwelled on Britain's darker industrial past by creating a dark backdrop, portraying 'dark satanic mills'. Horses paraded, smokestacks appeared from the ground and drummers marched through the lower tiers. Yellow submarines, Chelsea pensioners and Pearly Kings and Queens also featured in the three-hour long extravaganza.
Then a helicopter hovered over the stadium to the James Bond theme and The Queen was received at the entrance of the stadium by Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, and the Union Flag was raised.
Along with thousands of athletes and performers, some 60,000 spectators packed the Olympic Stadium. Around 120 national leaders from around the world also attended the ceremony
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and IOC President Jacques Rogge at the Opening Ceremony
IOC President Jacques Rogge and LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe at the Opening Ceremony
Torchbearer Sir Steve Redgrave hands the Olympic Flame over to7 young athletes at the Opening Ceremony
A young athlete who is joined by six others representing Britain's hopes for the next Olympics carries the Olympic torch during the Opening Ceremony
The Olympic Cauldron is lit during the Opening Ceremony
Fireworks illuminate the sky over the Olympic Stadium at the OC
Queen Elizabeth II declared the 2012 London Olympic Games open
The Olympic rings are lit with pyrotechnics during the Opening Ceremony
Fireworks explode above the iconic Tower Bridge over the River Thames
Performers stand in the formation of a peace sign
Paul McCartney performs during the Opening Ceremony
Athletes enter the stadium at the Opening Ceremony
Greece first, followed by the other 203 nations in alphabetical order.Alexandros Nikolaidis (Greece) Olympic taekwondo team carries his country's flag
Lauren Jackson (Australia)Olympic basketball team carries her country's flag
Jianlian Yi(China) carries the national flag
Natascha Keller( Germany )carries the flag
Sushil Kumar( India) carries the flag at the Opening Ceremony
Chris Hoy ( Great Britain ) Olympic cycling team carries his country's flag
Maria Sharapova (Russia) carries her country's flag during the Opening Ceremony
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