OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.london2012.com
BIDDING: Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the 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 will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.
LOGO: There have been two London 2012 logos: one for the bidding process created by Kino Design and a second as the brand for the Games themselves. The former is a ribbon with blue, yellow, black, green and red stripes winding through the text LONDON 2012, making the shape of the River Thames in East London. The latter, designed by Wolff Olins, was unveiled on 4 June 2007 and cost £400,000. This new logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero. This will be the first time that the same essential logo is to be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
MASCOT: The official mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled on 19 May 2010; this marks the second time (after Vancouver) that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time. Wenlock and Mandeville are animations depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton. They are named Wenlock, after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games, and Mandeville, after Stoke Mandeville, a village in Buckinghamshire where a forerunner to the Paralympic Games were first held.
MEDALS: Approximately 4,700 Olympic and Paralympic medals have been produced by the Royal Mint. They were designed by David Watkins (Olympics) and Lin Cheung (Paralympics). Virtually all the gold, silver and copper was mined in Salt Lake County. Each medal weighs 375 to 400g, has a diameter of 85mm and is 7mm thick, with the sport and discipline engraved on the rim.
PARTICIPANTS: Over 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are expected to participate, 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 United Kingdom.
SPORTS: The 2012 Summer Olympic programme features 26 sports and a total of 39 disciplines. They are: Aquatics _ Diving (8), Swimming (34), Synchronized swimming (2), Water polo (2); Archery (4); Athletics (47); Badminton (5); Basketball (2); Boxing (13); Canoeing _ Sprint (12), Slalom (4); Cycling _ BMX (2), Mountain biking (2), Road (4), Track (10); Equestrian _ Dressage (2), Eventing (2), Jumping (2); Fencing (10); Field hockey (2); Football (2); Gymnastics _ Artistic (14), Rhythmic (2), Trampoline (2); Handball (2); Judo (14); Modern pentathlon (2); Rowing (14); Sailing (10); Shooting (15); Table tennis (4); Taekwondo (8); Tennis (5); Triathlon (2); Volleyball _ Volleyball (2), Beach volleyball (2); Weightlifting (15); Wrestling _ Freestyle (11), Greco-Roman (7).