The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and commonly known as London 2012, was a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
It took place in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The first event, the group stage in women's football, began two days earlier, on 25 July. More than 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated.
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10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) took part,
surpassing the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 2002 Commonwealth
Games in Manchester as the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in
the UK.
Three athletes from the
Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee, which the IOC Executive
Committee had ceased to recognise at the IOC session of July 2011, and
one athlete from South Sudan, which has no recognized NOC, participated
independently under the Olympic flag. |
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Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris. London was the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.
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London 2012: Olympic torch begins its journey after being lit in Olympia, Greece
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| Greek actress Ino Menegaki, playing the role of High Priestess, lights a
torch from the sun's rays reflected in a parabolic mirror during the
torch lighting ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the site of
ancient Olympia in GreecePicture: REUTERS/John Kolesidis |
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| The High Priestess holds up the lit Olympic torch at the Temple of HeraPicture: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images |
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| The Olympic flame is held aloft by the High PriestessPicture: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images |
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| The high priestess passes on the Olympic flame to a priestess holding a cauldronPicture: Petros Giannakouris/AP |
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| The High Priestess holds up the cauldron with the Olympic flamePicture: REUTERS/John Kolesidis |
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| Actresses playing the role of priestesses take part in the torch lighting ceremonyPicture: REUTERS/John Kolesidis |
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| An actress playing the role of a priestess releases a dovePicture: EPA/ALEXANDROS VLACHOS |
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| Actors and actresses perform a traditional dance during the lighting ceremonyPicture: ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP/GettyImages |
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| Priestesses dance during the ceremonyPicture: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images |
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Wrestling: Omid Haji Noroozi won the 60kg Greco-Roman event
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Wrestling: a victory somersault for Ryutaro Matsumoto
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Rhythmic gymnastics: the Belarusian team, silver medallists
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Rhythmic gymnastics: the Italian team in the ball routine
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Rhythmic gymnastics: Daria Dmitrieva in the ball routine
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Rhythmic gymnastics: Evgeniya Kanaeva won the gold medal
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Rhythmic gymnastics: three ribbons and two hoops for Russia
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Equestrian - eventing: William Fox-Pitt in action in the jumping event
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Equestrian - eventing: Michael Jung with Sam in the cross country event
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Equestrian - eventing: Sandra Auffarth with Opgun Louvo in the cross country event
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Equestrian - eventing: Linda Algotsson jumping the wagon
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Phoenix rises as Flame is extinguished
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Brazilian singer Marisa Monte
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| Carnival atmosphere en route to Rio |
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Olympic rings and Phoenix
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Supermodels in gold
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Closing ceremony fireworks
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Rio mayor takes the Olympic flag
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Fireworks close the show
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# pictures thankfully shared from: telegraph.co.uk, olympic.org and wikipedia.org
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