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The Olympics through the eyes of the Creative Commons.
Introduction
Perhaps my strongest memory of the Olympics is standing in John Lewis in the TV department and watching Team GB in a rowing event and everyone cheering as we crossed the line in first. Or perhaps seeing Gemma Gibbons finally overcome Audrey Tcheumeo in the semi-final and cry out ‘I love you Mum’. It could possibly be Andy Murray winning gold in Men’s tennis having just lost in Wimbledon to the very same opponent. Or just simply watching the opening ceremony. There were lots of great memories from the London Olympics in 2012 so I decided to focus my Twenty magazine efforts on just the one event as a small commemoration to the Olympics and just how great they were. And with Andy Murray’s recent Wimbledon success, and Great Britain’s Lions rugby success, there’s still plenty of great sport happening all the time.
7/7
W
hen the olymPICs finally arrived in London they did so under a cloud of cynicism and doubt. Could Britain afford these games in a time of austerity? And if we could would they be anything more than an embarrassing poor man’s games when compared to the opulent splendour of China’s? ContInued.
Yet not only did we pull them off, we did so with a unique blend of British eccentricity and gusto in keeping with the ideals of the Olympics that made me truly proud of what we had achieved, and most of the country to boot. Beneath the tumultuous clouds of the British Summer the opening ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle, ushered in the 30th Olympics with a dramatic retelling of British history and culture. From the Industrial Revolution through to a tribute to the NHS and children’s stories there was something for everyone. It captured and uplifted the public’s spirit and brought out the best support that the audiences could muster for the coming games.
“I’ll never forget that summer, so many emotions, such an amazing time, that and it rarely stopped raining for the rest of it.” It didn’t hurt that the Great Britain Olympic team won a record 29 gold medals, 17 silver and 19 bronze throughout; an amazing result. The Paralympics which followed also helped redefine what many people thought it took to make a great athlete with each paralympian showing an unbreakable will in competition. I simply hope that the legacy is as lasting as we were promised, I know I still take great joy in watching the opening ceremony, but the funding has to be there to back up the extra interest it generated. I’ll never forget that summer, so many emotions, such an amazing time, that and it rarely stopped raining for the rest of it.
9/9
London Olympics 2012 Timeline Construction of the Olympic Stadium is concluded with the final piece of turf laid. MARCH 2011
Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, London is selected as the host city. The Lee Valley White Water Centre is finished.
6th JULY 2005
9th DECEMBER 2010
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Construction begins with ground being broken for the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is founded to oversee the success of the Games. 7th OCTOBER 2005
MAY 2008
2010
2011
The Velodrome became the first sporting venue to be completed. FEBRUARY 2011
The Olympic flame is officially handed over as part of the closing ceremony in China. 24th AUGUST 2008
The Aquatics Centre is completed, the last to be finished. 27th JULY 2011
2012
10/11
The Olympic flame is lit in the Temple of Hera, Olympia, home of the Ancient Olympic Games. The torch travels around Greece. 10th MAY 2012
The torch arrives in Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens for the handover ceremony.
A torch relay handover in Oldham, Greater Manchester on day 37.
The National Theatre set up a ‘Fire Garden’ to celebrate the torch relay.
24th JUNE 2012
17th MAY 2012
25th JULY 2012
The torch relay begins in the United Kingdom starting at Land’s End.
The torch flies to Jersey, the most southerly part of the relay.
19th MAY 2012
15th JULY 2012
MAY
JUN
JUL
The flame reaches the Shetland Isles, the furthest north part of the relay. 10th JUNE 2012
Each night the flame was transferred into a lantern for safe keeping.
The flame is flown to Cornwall abroad ‘The Firefly’ flight number BA2012. It wasn’t extinguished and was carried in four Davy lamps.
7th JULY 2012
18th MAY 2012
A close up of the London 2012 logo on the Olympic torch.
London Olympics 2012 Timeline South Korean fencer Shin A-Lam sits on the piste for over an hour while her coach lodged a complaint after a clock error led to her defeat. She eventually conceded defeat.
A football match is delayed after the South Korean flag is displayed for the North Korean team.
27th JUL
28th JUL
29th JUL
A technical official in boxing is expelled after communicating with others about the competition.
Bradley Wiggins wins the men’s cycling road time trial, briefly becoming Britain’s most decorated Olympian.
30th JUL
31st JUL
1st AUG
Jessica Ennis wins the women’s heptathlon.
2nd AUG
3rd AUG
4th AUG
Eight badminton players are ejected after purposefully trying to lose their matches.
A boxing referee is expelled after giving the win to a boxer who had been knocked down five times in the last round. The Olympic cauldron is lit as part of the Opening Ceremony; officially commencing the Games of the 30th Olympiad.
Great Britain wins six gold medals, the most golds for Team GB on a single day ever.
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MEDAL TABLE
Victoria Pendleton wins a silver in the women’s cycling sprint in her last professional event, retiring from the sport afterwards.
1
United States of America
46
29
29
104
2
People’s Republic of China
38
27
23
88
3
Great Britain
29
17
19
65
4
Russian Federation
24
26
32
82
5
Republic of Korea
13
8
7
28
Andy Murray beats Roger Federer, having just lost to him at Wimbledon, to earn a gold.
5th AUG
6th AUG
7th AUG
The London Olympics are officially brought to an end with the closing ceremony.
8th AUG
9th AUG
10th AUG
In the men’s 4 x 400m relay, USA’s leadoff runner breaks his leg near the 200m mark but manages to finish the race, successfully qualifying for the final. Usain Bolt runs 9.63 seconds in the men’s 100 metre, an Olympic record, to retain his gold medal in a race that featured the four fastest men in history.
TOTAL
Chris Hoy wins the men’s Keirin bringing his tally to six golds and seven total, tying with Bradley Wiggins.
11th AUG
12th AUG
Mo Farah wins his second gold medal in the 5,000 metres.
In total 66 Olympics records were broken at the London Olympics, 30 were world records.
London Olympics 2012 Contributors
Iwillbehomesoon Olympic stadium aquatics centre Olympic sailing venue, weymouth pg. 1, 6, 12, 46 & 59 Poliphilo Oldham, Manchester pg. 11 Cristiano Betta National Theatre, London pg. 11 Marc Van Loo Zaventem, Brussels pg. 11 Jon Candy Cardiff, Wales pg. 11 Cmglee Cambridge pg. 11 Martin Samuels Olympic Stadium pg. 12
David Pilbrow Olympic Stadium pg. 12, 31, 36, 61, 62 & 63
Erg0 Olympic Park pg. 22
Sum_of_marc Olympic Stadium pg. 12
steve Calcott Olympic Park pg. 23
CarlosVanVegas London velopark pg. 12
David Ian Roberts Olympic Park pg. 24
Amanda Slater Trafalgar Square pg. 16
Swamibu The British Museum aquatics centre pg. 26 & 44
Muffinn Olympic Park pg. 17 Ed_Needs_a_BiCycle Olympic Park pg. 18 Adam Bowie Olympic Park pg. 20
Alexandre Moreau The Mall, London Olympic Stadium olmypic park pg. 26, 40, 60, 64 & 72 NASA London from the ISS pg. 27 Maykal Olympic Stadium pg. 28
14/15
Al King Olympic Stadium pg. 30
robert nunn aquatics centre pg. 47
ian duffy velodrome pg. 59
Duncan Rawlinson Riverbank arena north greenwich arena excel venue pg. 32, 52 & 56
peter mooney victoria embankment pg. 48
JBizzzay hampton court pg. 66
Aurelien Guichard london wall pg. 49
j-fi near epsom pg. 67
Matt Deegan wimbledon pg. 50
Michael Jones bmx track pg. 68
Will Johann wimbledon pg. 51
Richard Herbert olympic stadium pg. 69
Henry Bucklow greenwich park pg. 54
kin chan olympic stadium pg. 70
Cennydd Bowles Box Hill, Surrey pg. 34 Sum_OF_Marc Wimbledon pg. 35 Tab59 Olympic Stadium pg. 38 & 39 Mike Rolls Tower Bridge pg. 42 Dean Ayres Olympic Stadium pg. 43
korea.net lord’s cricket ground pg. 55 & 58
The countdown timer was situated in Trafalgar Square. It began counting down with 500 days to go. The Olympic Stadium was the centrepiece of the Olympic Park and home to the track and field events.
16/17
The Olympic Stadium takes shape whilst under construction.
18/19 19/19
The Velodrome in the foreground with the Olympic Stadium in the distance at sunset.
20/21
A shot of the Velodrome’s exterior. The Orbit; at 115 metres high it is the tallest art structure in Britain.
22/23
The Water Polo Arena was a temporary structure for the Olympics. London 2012 was the first Olympic Games whose guidelines included the recycling of the PVC used in construction.
24/25
26/27
The Gold Medals, a Police Officer at the Athlete Parade and an aerial view of London.
There were various themes explored during the opening ceremony, this scene shows the Industrial Revolution.
28/29
Jessica Ennis Jessica Ennis winning the 800 metre race and before the Javelin throw. She won gold in the heptathlon.
30/31
The Australian men’s Hockey team huddle before their victory over South Africa.
32/33
Crowds watch the men’s road cycling.
34/35
World number two Roger Federer competes.
The Olympic flame burns having been reignited after being moved from the centre of the Olympic Stadium.
36/37
38/39
Greg Rutherford
Greg Rutherford became the gold medal champion in the men’s long jump with a jump of 8.31 metres.
The men’s 200 metre gets under way. Usain Bolt (third from left) wins his second gold of the 2012 Olympics.
2012 saw the Union Jack out in force throughout.
The sun rises on Tower Bridge and the Olympic rings.
42/43
The women’s 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay gets under way.
44/45
46/47
Tom Daley Tom Daley and his 10 metre synchro diving partner Pete Waterfield, Tom Daley diving in the men’s 10 metre platform and with his bronze medal.
Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda competes in the men’s marathon, he won the event. Katarína Berešová of Slovakia competes in the women’s marathon, finishing 99th.
48/49
Andy Murray
Andy Murray won gold in the men’s tennis and a silver in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson. He went on to win his first Grand Slam at the US Open.
50/51
Basketball took place in the ‘Marshmallow’; a recyclable arena that will be demolished after the Olympics.
52/53
Zara Phillips and High Kingdom compete for Team GB in the Eventing.
54/55
Ki Bo-Bae competes in the women’s Archery team event, they went on to win gold.
56/57
Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of Egpyt and Miles Chamley-Watson of the USA compete in the men’s foil. Alaaeldin won 15-10.
58/59
Left: The South Korean women’s Archery team with their gold medals. Top: Anthony Kappes and Craig Maclean celebrate their gold medals in men’s cycling sprint. Bottom: Ben Ainslie receives his fourth gold medal after winning the Finn class sailing.
Usain Bolt Usain Bolt of Jamaica became an Olympic legend after successfully defending his 100 and 200 metre golds. He was also part of the 4 x 100 metre relay team which won.
60/61
Louise Hazel of Team GB competes in the Javelin as part of the women’s heptathlon, she finished 27th overall.
62/63
Oscar Pistorius, aka the blade runner, becomes the first athlete to compete in the Olympics and Paralympic games.
64/65
Keisuke Ushiro of Japan prepares before the high jump in the men’s Decathlon, he finish 20th overall.
Lizzie Armitstead of Team GB leading the women’s Olympic Cycling before going on to secure the silver.
66/67
Two competing riders in the men’s Olympic Cycling.
Shanaze Reade of Team GB leads the second run of Heat 1 of the women’s BMX cross semi-final.
68/69
Jessica Ennis sprints out of the starting blocks in the 200 metre heptathlon event.
The closing ceremony was called ‘A Symphony of British Music’, it included a handover to the next host city; Rio de Janeiro.
70/71
The Olympic Stadium is to be used by West Ham United for football and other sporting events.
72/73
Colophon
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Published by Peake Press peakepress.com Creative Commons creativecommons.org
Body copy set in Roboto. Titles set in London Olympics 2012. I would once again like to say thank you to everyone who has put their work under a Creative Commons license and made this whole project possible, every year I’m amazed by the generosity and quality.
12 Tw