The athletics programme at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Games of the XXX Olympiad) features a full schedule of track and field events for bot men and women, atracting the world’s top athletes. The competition took place at the Olympic Stadium in London and delivered some of the most memorable performances in Olympic history.
London 2012 Olympic Games: Women’s 4x400m Relay Gold Medalists. Photo by Kent Capture, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
London 2012 Olympic Games: 10000m Final Christopher Thompson, Bedan Karoki Muchiri, Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, Tariku Bekele, Gebregziabher Gebremariam. Photo: Citizen59, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Highlights of the London 2012 Olympic Games Competitions
The London 2012 Olympic Games produced a number of outstanding moments in athletics. One of the most iconic performance came from David Rudisha, who set a World Record in the 800m final. Usain Bolt successfully defended his Olympic titles in the 100m and 200m events, confirming his dominance in sprinting. In addition to individual achievents, relay events also delivered exceptional performaces, with America’s womens 4x100m relay team and Jamacica’s men’s 4x100m relay team setting new Olympic and world records. The London 2012 Olympic Games showcased a balance between established champions and emerging talents, making London 2012 one of the most memorable athletics competitions in recent history.
Brian Mariano, Churandy Martina, Giovanni Codrington, Patrick van Luijk
6
Australia
AUS
38.43
Anthony Alozie, Isaac Ntiamoah, Andrew McCabe, Joshua Ross
Canada
CAN
DQ
Gavin Smellie, Seyi Smith, Jared Connaughton, Justyn Warner (r163.3)
United States
USA
DQ
Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay DQ (r40.9), Ryan Bailey [Jeffrey Demps, Davis Patton] (r40.9).
¹ Note: USA Team, initially silver medallist, was later stripped of the medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Men’s 4x400m relay Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Bahamas
BAH
2:56.72
Chris Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu, Ramon Miller
2
United States
USA
2:57.05
Bryshom Nellum, Josh Mance, Tony McQuay, Angelo Taylor [Manteo Michell]
² Note: The original winner of the race Sergey Kirdyapkin (RUS) was later stripped of the gold medal medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Men’s High Jump Final² – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
1
Ivan Ukhov
RUS
2.38
2
Eric Kynard
USA
2.33
3
Mutaz Essa Barshim
QAT
2.29
3
Derek Drouin
CAN
2.29
3
Robbie Grabarz
GBR
2.29
6
Jamie Nieto
USA
2.29
7
Bogdan Bondarenko
UKR
2.29
8
Michael Mason
CAN
2.29
² Note: The original winner of the men’s high jump event Ivan Ukhov (RUS) was later stripped of the gold medal medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Men’s Pole Vault Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Renaud Lavillenie
FRA
5.97
2
Björn Otto
GER
5.91
3
Raphael Holdzeppe
GER
5.91
4
Dmitriy Starodubtsev
RUS
5.75
5
Steven Lewis
GBR
5.75
5
Yevgeniy Lukyanenko
RUS
5.75
7
Konstadinos Filippidis
GRE
5.65
8
Jan Kudlička
CZE
5.65
Men’s Long Jump Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Greg Rutherford
GBR
8.31
2
Mitchell Watt
AUS
8.16
3
Will Claye
USA
8.12
4
Michel Tornéus
SWE
8.11
5
Sebastian Bayer
GER
8.10
6
Chris Tomlinson
GBR
8.07
7
Mauro da Silva
BRA
8.01
8
Khotso Mokoena
RSA
7.93
Men’s Triple Jump Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Christian Taylor
USA
17.81
2
Will Claye
USA
17.62
3
Fabrizio Donato
ITA
17.48
4
Daniele Greco
ITA
17.34
5
Leevan Sands
BAH
17.19
6
Benjamin Compaoré
FRA
17.08
7
Tosin Oke
NGR
16.95
8
Alexis Copello
BRA
16.92
Men’s Shot Put Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Tomasz Majewski
POL
21.89
2
David Storl
GER
21.86
3
Reese Hoffa
USA
21.23
4
Christian Cantwell
USA
21.19
5
Dylan Armstrong
CAN
20.93
6
Germán Lauro
ARG
20.84
7
Asmir Kolašinac
SRB
20.71
8
Pavel Lyzhin
BLR
20.69
Men’s Discus Throw Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Robert Harting
GER
68.27
2
Ehsan Hadadi
IRI
68.18
3
Gerd Kanter
EST
68.03
4
Virgilijus Alekna
LTU
67.38
5
Piotr Małachowski
POL
67.19
6
Martin Wierig
GER
65.85
7
Frank Casanas
ESP
65.56
8
Vikas Gowda
IND
64.79
Men’s Hammer Throw Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Krisztián Pars
HUN
80.59
2
Primož Kozmus
SLO
79.36
3
Koji Murofushi
JPN
78.71
4
Oleksiy Sokyrskyy
UKR
78.25
5
Kirill Ikonnikov
RUS
77.86
6
Lukás Melich
CZE
77.17
7
Szymon Ziólkowski
POL
77.10
8
Nicola Vizzoni
ITA
76.07
Men’s Javelin Throw Final³ – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Keshorn Walcott
TTO
84.58
2
Oleksandr Pyatnytsya
UKR
84.51
3
Antti Ruuskanen
FIN
84.12
4
Vitĕzslav Veselý
CZE
83.34
5
Tero Pitkämäki
FIN
82.80
6
Andreas Thorkildsen
NOR
82.63
7
Spirídon Lebésis
GRE
81.91
8
Tino Häber
GER
81.21
³ Note: Ukraine’s Oleksandr Pyatnytsya, initially silver medallist, was later stripped of the medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
⁴ Note: The original winner of the women’s 800m event Mariya Savinova (RUS) was later stripped of the gold medal medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Women’s 1500m Final⁵ – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Gamze Bulut
TUR
4:10.40
2
Maryam Jamal
BRN
4:10.74
3
Tatyana Tomashova
RUS
4:10.90
4
Abeba Aregawi
ETH
4:11.03
5
Shannon Rowbury
USA
4:11.26
6
Lucia Klocová
SVK
4:12.64
7
Lisa Dobriskey
GBR
4:13.02
8
Laura Weightman
GBR
4:15.60
⁵ Note: Turkey’s Aslı Çakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, initially gold and silver medallists respectively, were later stripped of the medals following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Leena Günther, Anne Cibis, Tatjana Pinto, Verena Sailer
6
Netherlands
NED
42.70
Kadene Vassell, Dafne Schippers, Eva Lubbers, Jamile Samuel
7
Brazil
BRA
42.91
Ana Claudia da Silva, Franciela Krasucki, Evelyn dos Santos, Rosángela Santos
Trinidad and Tobago
TTO
DQ
Michelle Lee Ahye, Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Kai Selvon, Semoy Hackett DQ(ADR № 10.8
⁶ Note: Russia’s team, initially placed 2nd in the final was later stripped of the silver medal following doping violations. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Women’s Marathon – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Tiki Gelana
ETH
2:23.07
2
Priscah Jeptoo
KEN
2:23.12
3
Tatyana Arkhipova
RUS
2:23.29
4
Mary Keitany
KEN
2:23.56
5
Zhu Xiaolin
CHN
2:24.48
6
Jessica Augusto
POR
2:25.11
7
Valeria Straneo
ITA
2:25.27
8
Albina Mayorov
RUS
2:25.38
Women’s 20 Kilometers Race Walking – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Yelena Lashmanova
RUS
1:25.02
2
Qieyang Shenjie
CHN
1:25.16
3
Liu Hong
CHN
1:26.00
4
Anisya Kirdyapkina
RUS
1:26.26
5
Lu Xiuzhi
CHN
1:27.10
6
Elisa Rigaudo
ITA
1:27.36
7
Beatriz Pascual
ESP
1:27.56
8
Ana Cabecinha
POR
1:28.03
Women’s High Jump Final⁷ – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Anna Chicherova
RUS
2.05
2
Brigetta Barrett
USA
2.03
3
Svetlana Shkolina
RUS
2.03
4
Ruth Beitia
ESP
2.00
5
Tia Hellebaut
BEL
1.97
6
Chaunté Lowe
USA
1.97
7
Svetlana Radzivil
UZB
1.97
8
Emma Green Tregaro
SWE
1.93
⁷ Note: Russia’s Svetlana Shkolina, initially bronnze medallist of the women’s high jump, was later stripped of the bronze medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Women’s Pole Vault Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
1
Jenn Stuczynski/Suhr
USA
4.75
2
Yarisley Silva
CUB
4.75
3
Yelena Isinbaeva
RUS
4.70
4
Silke Spiegelburg
GER
4.65
5
Martina Strutz
GER
4.55
6
Holly Bleasdale
GBR
4.45
6
Jířína Ptácníková
CZE
4.45
6
Lisa Ryzih
GER
4.45
Women’s Long Jump Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Brittney Reese
USA
7.12
2
Yelena Sokolova
RUS
7.07
3
Janay DeLoach
USA
6.89
4
Ineta Radeviča
LAT
6.88
5
Anna Nazarova
RUS
6.77
6
Lyudmila Kolchanova
RUS
6.76
7
Natasia Mironchyk-Ivanova
BLR
6.72
8
Éloyse Lesueur
FRA
6.67
Women’s Triple Jump Final – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Olga Rypakova
KAZ
14.98
2
Caterine Ibargüen
COL
14.80
3
Olga Saladuhka
UKR
14.79
4
Hanna Khnyazheva
UKR
14.56
5
Yamilé Aldama
GBR
14.48
6
Kim Williams
JAM
14.48
7
Trecia Smith
JAM
14.35
8
Viktoriya Gurova-Valyukevich
RUS
14.24
Women’s Shot Put Final⁸ – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Valerie Adams
NZL
20.70
2
Yevgeniya Kolodko
RUS
20.48
3
Gong Lijiao
CHN
20.22
4
Li Ling
CHN
19.63
5
Michelle Carter
USA
19.42
6
Liu Xiangrong
CHN
19.18
7
Geisa Arcanjo
BRA
19.02
8
Irina Tarasova
RUS
19.00
⁸ Note: Belarus’ Nadezhda Ostapchuk (winner of the Shot Put final) and Russia’s Yevgeniya Kolodko (bronze medallist) were stripped of the medals following doping violations. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Women’s Discus Throw⁹ – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Sandra Perković
CRO
69.11
2
Li Yanfeng
CHN
67.22
3
Yarelis Barrios
CUB
66.38
4
Nadine Müller
GER
65.94
5
Melina Robert-Michon
FRA
63.98
6
Krishna Poonia
IND
63.62
7
Stephanie Brown Trafton
USA
63.01
8
Zinaida Sendriūtė
LTU
61.68
⁹ Note: Russia’s Darya Pishchalnikova, initially silver medallist of the women’s Discus Throw event, was later stripped of the bronze medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
Women’s Hammer Throw¹⁰ – London 2012
Position
Athlete
Country
Performance
Notes
1
Tatyana Lysenko
RUS
78.18
2
Anita Włodarczyk
POL
77.60
3
Betty Heidler
GER
77.12
4
Zhang Wenxiu
CHN
76.34
5
Kathrin Klaas
GER
76.05
6
Yipsi Moreno
CUB
74.60
7
Oksana Menkova
BLR
74.40
8
Stéphanie Falzon
FRA
73.06
¹⁰ Note: The original winner of the women’s hammer throw event Tatyana Lysenko (RUS) was later stripped of the gold medal medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
¹¹ Note: Russia’s Tatyana Chernova, initially silver medallist of the women’s heptathlon, was later stripped of the medal following a doping violation. The final results shown reflect the official reallocation of medals.
World Athletics, Tokyo 2020 Statistics Handbook. Produced in Collaboration with ATFS, edited by Mark Butller
World Athletics, IAAF Statistics Handbook (Special Edition), Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Rio 2016. Produced in Collaboration with ATFS, edited by Mark Butller