Sports Program
Lomdon 2012 Sports Program
Archery
Venue: Lord’s Cricket Ground, London
Dates: Friday 27 July – Friday 03 August
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 128 (64 men, 64 women)
Did you know: Archery dates back around 10,000 years and is now practiced in more than 140 countries around the world.
Olympic History: Archery was introduced for the first time at the Games of the II Olympiad, Paris 1900. It was then included on the programme of the 1904, 1908 and 1920 Games before disappearing for over 50 years. The Games of the XX Olympiad, Munich 1972, saw the re-introduction of archery on the Olympic programme. Women were able to compete in archery events at the 1904 and 1908 Games, then again, like the men, in 1972.
Athletics
Venue: Olympic Stadium – Olympic Park (track, field and combined events), London; The Mall (road events), London
Dates: Friday 03 August – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 47
Athletes: 2,000
Did you know: The Marathon event was increased from around 25 miles to 26.2 miles at the London 1908 Olympic Games, so the race could finish in front of the Box where members of the British Royal Family were sitting. The length of the Marathon remains 26.2 miles to this day.
Olympic History: Athletics was on the programme of the Games of the I Olympiad, Athens 1896, and has remained on the programme since then. Twelve men’s events were on the programme of the first Games, and twice as many at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, Athens 2004. Women were authorised to compete in athletics events for the first time at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, with five events. The women’s programme currently includes 23 events.
Badminton
Venue: Wembley Arena, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 05 August
Medal events: 5
Athletes: 172
Did you know: Olympic shuttlecocks contain 16 feathers, each of them plucked from the left wing of a goose, and can travel faster than 400km/h.
Basketball
Venues: Basketball Arena – Olympic Park, North Greenwich Arena,
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 288 (144 men, 144 women, 12 teams in each event).
Did you know: Basketball was originally played using a football. It wasn’t until the very end of the 19th century that the first basketballs were manufactured.
Beach Volleyball
Venue: Horse Guards Parade, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Thursday 09 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 96 (48 men, 48 women; 24 teams in each event)
Did you know: Since Beach Volleyball made its debut at the Atlanta 1996 Games, seven of the eight gold medals have been won by the US and Brazil.
Boxing
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 13
Athletes: 286 (250 men, 36 women)
Did you know: Boxing was introduced to the ancient Olympic Games in the 7th century BC, when opponents fought with strips of leather around their fists.
Canoe Slalom
Venue: Lee Valley White Water Centre, Hertfordshire
Dates: Sunday 29 July – Thursday 02 August
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 82
Did you know: Up to 25 gates can be on a white water course. Touching a gate adds a two-second time penalty to the run; missing a gate incurs a 50-second penalty.
Canoe Sprint
Venue: Eton Dorney, Buckinghamshire
Dates: Monday 06 – Saturday 11 August
Medal events: 12
Athletes: 246
Did you know: In canoes, athletes use a single-bladed paddle from a kneeling position. In kayaks, the competitors sit in the boat and use a paddle with two blades.
Cycling – BMX
Venue: BMX Track – Olympic Park, London
Dates: Wednesday 08 – Friday 10 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 48
Did you know: BMX bikes have only one gear and one brake.
Cycling – Mountain Bike
Venue: Hadleigh Farm, Essex
Dates: Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 80 (50 men, 30 women)
Did you know: The races will be held over rough, hilly countryside.
Cycling – Road
Venue: The Mall, London (Road Race); Hampton Court, London (Time Trial)
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Wednesday 01 August
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 212 (145 men, 67 women)
Did you know: During the time trial cyclists start 90 seconds apart. The winner is the cyclist with the fastest time over the course.
Cycling – Track
Venue: Velodrome, London
Dates: Thursday 02 – Tuesday 07 August
Medal events: 10
Athletes: 188 (104 men, 84 women)
Did you know: The track in the Velodrome has been laid with lengths of Siberian pine, and is banked to an angle of 42 degrees at its steepest point.
Diving
Venue: Aquatics Centre – Olympic Park, London
Dates: Sunday 29 July – Saturday 11 August 2012
Medal events: 8
Athletes: 136 (68 men, 68 women)
Did you know: Olympic springboards must be at least 4.8m long and 50cm wide, while platforms should be at least 6m long and 3m wide.
Equestrian – Dressage
Venue: Greenwich Park, London
Dates: Thursday 02 – Thursday 09 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 50
Did you know: In Dressage, riders and their horses perform a series of movements known as a dressage test, and are awarded scores by judges.
Equestrian – Eventing
Venue: Greenwich Park, London
Dates: Saturday 28 – Tuesday 31 July
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 75
Did you know: This competition combines dressage, crosscountry riding and jumping.
Equestrian – Jumping
Venue: Greenwich Park, London
Dates: Saturday 04 – Wednesday 08 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 75
Did you know: These events are an exciting test of skill, speed and power held in an arena around a short course combining 12-14 fences.
Fencing
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 05 August
Medal events: 10
Athletes: 212
Did you know: Fencing was the first Olympic sport to feature professional athletes.
Football
Venues: City of Coventry Stadium (Coventry); Hampden Park (Glasgow); Millennium Stadium (Cardiff); Old Trafford (Manchester); St James’ Park (Newcastle); Wembley Stadium (London)
Dates: Wednesday 25 July – Saturday 11 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 504 (288 men, 216 women; 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams).
Did you know: Since it was introduced as a medal sport in 1908, Football has featured at every Olympic Games except one – the Los Angeles 1932 Games.
Gymnastics – Artistic
Venue: North Greenwich Arena, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Tuesday 07 August
Medal events: 14
Athletes: 196 (98 men, 98 women)
Did you know: Since the Games in Ancient Greece, the sport has been considered to offer perfect symmetry between mind and body.
Gymnastics – Rhythmic
Venue: Wembley Arena, London
Dates: Thursday 09 – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 96 (all women)
Did you know: Competitors perform short routines to music using hand apparatus – a ball, clubs, a hoop and a ribbon.
Gymnastics – Trampoline
Venue: North Greenwich Arena, London
Dates: Friday 03 – Saturday 04 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 32
Did you know: The first modern trampoline was used in the 1930s as a training tool for tumblers, astronauts and athletes.
Handball
Venue: Handball Arena – Olympic Park, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 336 (168 men, 168 women; 12 teams in each event)
Did you know: Handball uses an indoor court measuring 40m x 20m, the largest court of any indoor ball sport at the Games.
Hockey
Venue: Hockey Centre, London
Dates: Sunday 29 July – Saturday 11 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 384 (192 men, 192 women; 12 teams in each event)
Did you know: Men’s Hockey made its Olympic debut at London in 1908, while the first women’s Olympic Hockey competition was held at the Moscow 1980 Games.
Judo
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Friday 03 August
Medal events: 14
Athletes: 386
Did you know: Judo made its first appearance at the Olympic Games at Tokyo in 1964. Competitors use a mix of attack and defence in one-on-one contests, which can be tough, tense and explosive.
Olympic History: Judo made its first appearance on the Olympic programme at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, Tokyo 1964. It was then absent from the Mexico City 1968 Games, only to return for the Munich 1972 Games and has been on the Olympic programme ever since. Women’s judo appeared as a demonstration sport at the Seoul 1988 Games and joined the Olympic programme for the Games of the XXV Olympiad, Barcelona 1992.
Modern Pentathlon
Venue: Olympic Park, London
Dates: Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 August
Events: Fencing, Swimming, Riding, Combined Run/Shoot Event
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 72 (36 men, 36 women)
Did you know: A century after its Olympic debut, the Modern Pentathlon competition at the London 2012 Games will be the first at which running and shooting are combined into a single discipline.
Rowing
Venue: Eton Dorney, Buckinghamshire
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Saturday 04 August
Medal events: 14
Athletes: 550 (353 men, 197 women)
Did you know: The youngest Olympic champion is thought to be a French boy, aged no more than 12, who coxed for a Dutch pair at the Paris 1900 Games.
Sailing
Venue: Weymouth and Portland, Dorset
Dates: Sunday 29 July – Saturday 11 August
Medal events: 10
Athletes: 380 (237 men, 143 women)
Did you know: The 10 different Olympic Sailing events (six for men, four for women) feature a variety of craft, from dinghies and keelboats to windsurfing boards.
Shooting
Venue: The Royal Artillery Barracks, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Monday 06 August
Medal events: 15
Athletes: 390
Did you know: In Pistol and Rifle events, competitors aim at a ringed target from a set distance. In Shotgun events, competitors shoot at moving clay targets launched above and in front of them.
Swimming
Venue: Aquatics Centre – Olympic Park, London (pool events);
Hyde Park, London (Marathon Swimming 10km)
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Saturday 04 August (Aquatics Centre); Thursday 9 – Friday 10 August (Hyde Park)
Medal events: 34
Athletes: 950
Did you know: At the London 1908 Olympic Games, the pool was built on the infield of the athletics track at White City Stadium and the competition was held outdoors.
Synchronised Swimming
Venue: Aquatics Centre – Olympic Park, London
Dates: Sunday 05 – Friday 10 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 104 (all women)
Did you know: Synchronised Swimming is one of only two events on the Olympic programme to be contested exclusively by women. The other is Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Table Tennis
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Wednesday 08 August
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 172 (86 men, 86 women)
Did you know: Table Tennis is the biggest participation sport in the world. Other names for the sport include ‘Ping Pong’, ‘Whiff Waff’ and ‘Flim Flam’ reflecting the sound of the ball being struck and bouncing off the table.
Taekwondo
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Wednesday 08 – Saturday 11 August
Medal events: 8
Athletes: 128 (64 men, 64 women)
Did you know: Over their standard white uniform, known as a ‘dobok’, competitors wear coloured protective equipment. The competitor wearing blue is referred to as ‘chung’, while the competitor in red is ‘hong’.
Olympic History: Taekwondo appeared on the Olympic programme for the first time at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, Sydney 2000, after having twice been included as a demonstration sport (Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992). Women’s and men’s events were added at the same time.
Tennis
Venue: Wimbledon, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 05 August
Events: Men’s and women’s Singles and Doubles; Mixed Doubles
Medal events: 5
Athletes: 172 (86 men, 86 women)
Did you know: Tennis appeared at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 but was dropped from the programme after the Paris 1924 Games, before returning 64 years later.
Triathlon
Venue: Hyde Park, London
Dates: Saturday 04 and Tuesday 07 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 110 (55 men, 55 women)
Did you know: More than half a million spectators lined the streets of Sydney to watch the first ever Olympic Triathlon at the 2000 Games.
Volleyball
Venue: Earls Court, London
Date: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 288 (144 men, 144 women: 12 teams in each event)
Did you know: The key attacking move is the set and spike, in which a player feeds the ball (the set) for a teammate to power it into the opposition’s court (the spike).
Water Polo
Venue: Olympic Park – Water Polo Arena, London
Dates: Sunday 29 July – Sunday 12 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 260 (156 men, 104 women)
Did you know: Water polo developed during the 19th century as an aquatic version of rugby, played informally in lakes and rivers.
Weightlifting
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Tuesday 07 August
Medal events: 15
Athletes: 260 (156 men, 104 women)
Did you know: The aim of Weightlifting is simple: to life more weight than anyone else. Competitors in Olympic Weightlifting are divided into 15 weight categories, eight for men and seven for women.
Olympic History: Weightlifting was on the programme of the Games of the I Olympiad, Athens 1896, (included in the gymnastics programme). The sport was not staged at the Paris 1900 Games, but was re-included for the St Louis 1904 Games (in the athletics programme), then disappeared again in 1908 and 1912. Since the Games of the VII Olympiad, Antwerp 1920, it has been on the programme of each edition. Women’s weightlifting made its debut on the Olympic programme at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, Sydney 2000.
Wrestling
Venue: ExCeL, London
Dates: Sunday 05 – Sunday 12 August 2012
Medal events: 18
Athletes: 344
Did you know: Greco-Roman and Freestyle are different disciplines. Wrestling is a body-to-body combat sport with the ultimate aim to force the back of the opponent’s shoulders onto the ground.
