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London 2012 at a Glance
When: July 27 - August 12, 2012
Where: London, England
Length of the Games: 17 days
By the Numbers:
204 countries will be represented by approximately 10,500 athletes.
Team USA will send approximately 530 athletes.
2,100 medals will be awarded over 17 days.
31 competition venues will host the 302 medal events - 22 locations within London, and 9 in other U.K. Cities - including venues in Scotland and Wales.
Sports Stats
The 2012 Summer Games will see the return of 29 sports and will include 302 events. Baseball and Softball won't be part of the 2012 Olympic program. They are the first sports to be cut from the Games since Polo was dropped in 1936.
Women's Boxing will make its Olympic Games debut in 2012.
Tennis will also add a Mixed Doubles competition
Five of the 29 IOC-recognized sports categories have appeared in each and every modern Olympic Games:
- Cycling
- Track & Field
- Swimming
- Fencing
- Gymnastics
Results
The first medals to be awarded in the London 2012 Games will be won by the top three finishers in the men's and women's 10-meter Air Pistol shooting events on July 28th. The final medals ceremony of the Games will honor the winning men's Handball team on August 12.
Number One
At the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, U.S. athletes took home 110 medals, including 36 gold medals. Team USA finished those Olympic Games in first place. To date, Team USA has won medals in 26 of the 29 sports on the 2012 Olympic program. U.S. athletes have never medaled in badminton, handball, or table tennis (Forest Gump, where are you!!)
London: A Proud Olympic Tradition
London is the first city to host three modern Olympic Games. Previously, it hosted the Games in 1908 and again in 1948.
The 1908 Games were originally scheduled to be hosted by Rome. But Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906 and created a huge financial burden on Italy. The city of London stepped in on very short notice and saved the Games!
1908 Shapes the Games
The marathon race distance was set at 26.2 miles in 1908, in order to ensure that the race would finish directly below the Royal Box of King Edward VII in the Olympic Stadium. That exact distance still stands today.
The 1908 London Olympic Stadium was the first facility specifically built for the Olympic Games.
Swimming events were held in a specially designed pool for the first time during the 1908 Games. Previously, they had been held in open water.
The London Olympic Games of 1948 were also historic. After a 12-year hiatus due to World War II, London once again took on the challenge of delivering world-class competition, even in the midst of their own post-war rebuilding efforts. Now, with the London 2012 Games, the British people are poised to once again deliver unforgettable memories to the world.
For information and pricing of this wide and exciting range of London Olympic Games coins, collectors should visit www.govmint.com or telephone GovMint at (800)-721-0346 (24 hours a day).
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