Rewind: The London Games

The Guardian Weekend 29 Dec 2012

Rewind: London Olympics 2012

Olympic Games Infographic

Medals Medals Awarded

Top 16 Countries of 2012

964 104 17

88

82

17

Brazil

17

ain -B Sp S4

United Sta tes

46-G 29-S 29-B

10

1-G 5-S 1 2-B

26

Hun

German Britain y Great 7-S 19-B 11-G 19-S 1 4 Jap 9-G 1 a B 7-G B 2 ssi a Ru S 3214- n -

Canada

2012 6-G

17 -B

7-G

16

France 11-S 12-B alia B 11-G str Au -S 12

13-G 8-S 7-B

8-G taly 9 -S 11 -B

I

20

44

S

nds rla the S 8-B e N 6-

Ukraine

-S 9-B 6-G 5

18

65

C

hi 38G 2 na 7-S 23 -B -G 24

United King dom

gar 8-G 4-S y 5-B

3-G

-S 9-B 3-G 5

38

South Ko rea

35

20

28

34 28

Medal Total Per Country

302

306

Bronze

Gold 356 Silver

The Guardian Weekend 29 Dec 2012

Top 5 Medal Winners 2012

“Drop and give me 20!”

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In any case, weeping is now a recognised component of the narrative arc of competition, to be slotted in alongside the other familiar rituals: the pre-event strut and camera stare, the after-win airpunching and track-kissing.

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This may account for the pair’s tendency to lose verbal control during moments of high drama or, come to that, when asked a question by the silverysmooth John Inverdale. It was Inverdale who rather cattily pointed out why Jackson wouldn’t cut it as a commentator, by running the film of the former champion hurdler flicking his fingers and screaming: “Look at what’s his name!” & “Here comes the big man!” during the men’s 100m final. We learned that “what’s his name” * “the big man” referred to Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt, respectively the runner-up and winner of arguably the finest 100m ever staged.

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I say stretched out, although of course I sat up when Michael Johnson was talking. Partly out of respect for his studiously informed opinion, but mostly due to fear. Something about Johnson’s demeanour makes the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket seem like Graham Norton. Perhaps it’s his posture. Ramrod straight during his magnificent running days, his spine could still centre the bubble in a spirit level. The effect certainly focuses the attention. Both his fellow pundits, Jackson and Denise Lewis, are noticeably more anxious in the great man’s company, as though at any given moment they expect him to tell them to:

Oh yes, the sport, which has managed to be both epic and intimate – global in its scale but human in its sensibility. If there hasn’t been a lot of recordbreaking, the Games have been well-served by memory-making. The images of victory and defeat – designations often decided by the length of an ant – will remain charged with emotive power for many years to come.

Equally, some might see an almost sadistic interest in tears, with the placing of cameras and inquisitors in front of overwrought athletes who can scarcely breathe, let alone talk. But the result, has most often provided a moist glimpse of the exceptional emotional commitment required, win or lose, to go for gold.

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As I sat shivering under cold-damp skies, along with the other 80,000 lucky spectators, I experienced an epiphany: I’d much rather be at home watching on television. Say what you like about Gary Lineker’s taxing puns and Colin Jackson’s banal emphases, but there are few pleasures more gratifying than studying extreme physical effort close-up from the stretched-out comfort of one’s own sofa.

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Medals Awarded

Top 16 Countries of 1948

411 84 7

46

32

7

Belgium

8

tina gen -B Ar 3-S 1

-S 3-B 2-G 2

United Sta tes

38-G 27-S 19-B

6-G 2-S 3-B

2-G

6-

Gre at

alia str 5-B Au S

Turkey

-S 2-B 6-G 4

Hungary

10-G 5-S 13-B

28

Br 4G ita 16 in -S 7-B

-G 10

8

d lan Fin -S 6-B

27

2-S 6-B 5-G 1

erland Switz

5-G 8-S 9-B

Denmar k

he r la 5-G 2-S nds 9-B

Net

12

Italy

1948

11

2-S 10-B 9-G 1

Czechoslo vakia

6-

Au

nce Fra S 15-B

-G 11

2-G stria 2-S 4-B

3-G

31

Sw

e 17G 1 den 1-S 18 -B

13

24

16

23 22

Medal Total Per Country

138

135

Bronze

Gold 138 Silver

The Guardian Weekend 29 Dec 2012

Top 5 Medal Winners 1948

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What will be its legacy? So far the most authentic answer has come from the showjumper, Scott Brash.

Asked by Clare Balding, who has enjoyed a stand-out Games, how a gold medal at his first Olympics will change his life, Brash gave a sleepy-eyed, toothy grin and replied in an unexpectedly gritty Scots accent: “Well, I really hope it improves, eh, my pulling power with women, to be honest with you.”

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Yet what will linger longest in the imagination, a year on from the riots, is the dreamy sense of national unity across class, race and religious barriers that has characterised the past fortnight, right from the inclusive vision of Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening ceremony.

Left to speak for itself, sport can be surprisingly eloquent, but it does need the right context.

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Long may the Olympic flame keep burning.

Given the leg-up of gold medal significance, these extraterrestrial staples have presented a welcome respite from the national obsession of football, just as the smiling humility of their participants has made a telling contrast with the surly prima donnas who dominate the Premier League.

When 400m runner Martyn Rooney started talking about losing a life to training, after failing to qualify for the final, you got a sense of the unrewarded sacrifice that the great majority of athletes face.

While Jones has done a commendable job in treating the two impostors of triumph and disaster with the same hearty embrace, his work has been made considerably easier by the unusual preponderance of British triumphs.

Even after Super Saturday some broadcasters still had trouble adjusting to the new reality. With Andy Murray two sets up and leading 4-2 in the third in the tennis final against Roger Federer, Andrew Castle gathered himself to sound a note of jubilation. “This is…” he began promisingly, in a suitably elevated register.

But the poor man could go no further. The decades of defeat had taken their toll, reducing him to a superstitious silence. “Well,” he lamely concluded, “let’s not say anything.”

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Medals Awarded

Top 16 Countries of 1908

323 146 2

47

25

3

Great Bri tain

Africa South

4

a ssi Ru S 0-B

56-G 51-S 39-B

2-

8-G

n ede Sw S 11-B

2-G 2-S 0-B

Gr

6-

Italy

1-G

3-G

4

-S 3-B 2-G 3

13

1-G 5-S 2-B

Norway

tra 1-G la 2-S sia 2-B Aus

5

ry nga Hu -S 2-B

Fin

Ger

1-S

ma 3n G 5-S y 5-B

d lan -B 3

Canada

-S 3-B 0-G 2

16 3-G 3-S 1 0-B

rk Denma

France

-S 9-B 5-G 5

1908

4

19

Uni te

d 23G 1 Stat es 2-S 12 -B

0-G eece 3-S 1-B

1-G

-S 0-B 1-G 1

Belgium

5

9

5

8 8

Medal Total Per Country

110

107

Bronze

Gold 106 Silver

The Guardian Weekend 29 Dec 2012

Gender Equality: 2012 / 1948 / 1908

2012

1948

Athletes

1908

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Top 5 Medal Winners 1908

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Long May The Olympic Flame Keep Burning.