2012 things to remember the London Olympics by - Part 2, 1109 - 2012

 

Tuesday 14 August 2012 11:31 BST
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DAY 12: 8.8.12

1109 David Cameron finds time in his busy Games-watching schedule to join the debate of the moment: "It is not OK to pee in the pool."

1110 In the individual showjumping, some late faults put an end to Nick Skelton's hopes of a second equestrian gold - or even a medal.

1111 Switzerland take gold instead.

[ Back to Part 1 - 1 to 1108 ]

1112 A victory parade for Team GB's athletes is announced. An open-top bus tour through London will take place on Monday 10 September.

1113 Jessica Ennis tells reporters that David Cameron still hasn't called to congratulate her.

1114 Perhaps he was too busy watching the Games. The Prime Minister has been seen at (at least): the Opening Ceremony, the road cycling, the diving, the handball, the judo, the Velodrome, the athletics (for "Super Saturday"), the sailing, the women's beach volleyball, the boxing, and the open-water swimming.

1115 Residents of Emsworth in Hampshire cover their postbox in silver foil in honour of the silver medal won by Iain Percy in the Star class sailing. Had he won gold, the Royal Mail would have painted it gold.

1116 In Sheffield, meanwhile, a postbox painted gold for Jessica Ennis is daubed with graffiti saying "Go Jess".

1117 The Royal Mail paints it over a few hours later.

1118 The Wall Street Journal calculates that British athletes are the ones most likely to cry during medal ceremonies. Overall, 16 per cent of winners have wept on the podium in these Games. For Team GB, the figure is 37 per cent.

1119 Allyson Felix wins the women's 200m with apparent ease.

1120 Hailed as a rising force in women's athletics, Felix has been called "the female Carl Lewis".

1121 Carmelita Jeter wins bronze, becoming the first woman to win medals in both sprints at the same Olympics since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.

1122 Aries Merritt, of the US, wins the 110m hurdles.

1123 Team GB's Lawrence Clarke comes fourth.

1124 Clarke, 22, is the heir to a baronetcy, and is known as "the toff of the track".

1125 He later claims that going to Eton put him at a competitive disadvantage, because he was made to focus too much on academic work.

1126 Mo Farah qualifies in the 5,000m heats, but looks tired.

1127 "I didn't feel great," he says.

1128 Matthias Steiner, a German weightlifter, escapes with nothing worse than bruising after dropping a 196kg barbell on his neck.

1129 Jacques Rogge says that London has laid on "a very good Games" so far. The President of the IOC adds: "I think everybody is very happy."

1130 Russia's Natalya Antyukh wins the 400m hurdles.

1131 China beats South Korea 3-0 in the men's table tennis team final.

1132 This completes a second successive Chinese clean sweep of Olympic table tennis gold.

1133 Sophie Hitchon breaks her own British record to reach Friday's hammer-throwing final.

1134 Her effort of 71.98m beats her previous best by 37cm.

1135 "I knew it was there but you only have one throw left. It was all or nothing," she says.

1136 A former ballet dancer, Hitchon says she has been dubbed "the girl who puts the glamour in the hammer".

1137 Some newspapers inadvertently illustrate yesterday's triumph by the British dressage team with pictures of the Dutch bronze medallists.

1138 Brooke Caine of the US comes eighth in her BMX seeding race.

1139 This is despite spending at least a minute lying motionless on the track after a mid-race crash.

1140 Merve Aydin, of Turkey, completes her 800m heat in tears, having injured herself halfway through the race.

1141 The crowd roars its encouragement as she hobbles to the finish.

1142 Sarah Attar comes last in her 800m heat, but makes history by becoming the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in an Olympic track and field event.

1143 She, too, is warmly cheered.

1144 At the beach volleyball, Laura Trott and Jason Kenny are seen kissing in the audience. It is the first time they have publicly revealed that they have more in common than a pair of gold medals each.

1145 An online poll shows that 70 per cent of French sports fans think Team GB's cyclists are cheating.

1146 USA Today reports that London is "the happiest place on Earth", claiming that Team GB's success has "loosened London's stiff upper lip".

DAY 13: 9.8.12

1147 There are reports that tens of thousands of people have been queuing in London outside the box offices that some visiting Olympic nations have set up across the capital, in the hope of securing last-minute tickets for the remaining events.

1148 Thousands of tickets are becoming available, as Locog claws back unwanted ones from members of the Olympic "family".

1149 Up to 23,000 tickets a day are being sold. But they are mainly the highest priced ones.

1150 France, Hungary and the Netherlands are among those selling tickets - ostensibly to their own citizens but in practice to anyone who comes along.

1151 Many would-be spectators have been sleeping on the streets, and the London Evening Standard reports that some have had to queue for 18 hours.

1152 The Africa Village - set up in Hyde Park by Africa's 53 Olympic committees to promote the continent in London - closes prematurely, reportedly leaving £395,000 of unpaid bills in its wake.

1153 A bottle of "Olympic atmosphere" - allegedly collected at Eton Dorney - attracts a bid of £5 on eBay.

1154 The BBC - which has been leading news bulletins with Team GB's latest standing in the medals table - is warned by director-general Mark Thompson that he is "increasingly unhappy" at the apparent focus on Team GB to the exclusion of all else.

1155 In sporting terms, Thrilling Thursday is even more sensational than Super Saturday, at least from a global perspective. There are two historic finals - in the 200m and the 800m (won by Usain Bolt and Kenya's David Rudisha) - and a clutch of medals won by local heroes, including the first ever Olympic medals in women's boxing.

1156 For Team GB, as so often in these Games, it is the women who make the running.

1157 Charlotte Dujardin wins the day's first gold with a near-perfect routine in the dressage final.

1158 To the uninitiated, this seems to consist largely of her horse tap-dancing to "Land of Hope and Glory" and the theme from The Great Escape; but those in the know are very impressed.

1159.Dujardin, a former stable hand, has already won gold in the team dressage.

1160 So the elite group of British women who have won two Olympic golds at the same Games gets another new member: Kelly Holmes (2004), Rebecca Adlington (2008), Laura Trott (2012) - and now Charlotte Dujardin.

1161 When her winning score is announced, she covers her face and weeps for joy.

1162 As a further boost for British dressage, Laura Bechtolsheimer takes the bronze medal.

1163 "I am just so proud," says Dujardin's mother, Jane. "She could make a donkey do anything."

1164 Dujardin herself pays tribute to her horse. "Valegro is unbelievable. He could not have done any more."

1165 Sadly, Olympic gold has added so much to Valegro's value that his owner - not Dujardin - may be unable to resist the temptation to sell him.

1166 "It's very emotional for her," says Dujardin's sister, Emma Jayne, "because it could be the last ride on Valegro. We want to win the Lottery and buy him for her."

1167 Shortly afterwards, Nicola Adams makes history in the ExCel Centre by winning the first ever gold medal for women's boxing.

1168 Adams, 29, defeats China's three-time world champion, Ren Cancan, in four high-pressure rounds.

1169 Earlier this year, Cancan beat Adams in the world championships final.

1170 When the judges' verdict is announced, the cheering is deafening. "It gives me goosebumps," says Adams later, "and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck."

1171 Adams, from Leeds, pushes Yorkshire's medal tally still higher.

1172 Known in her family as "Babyface", she endured a long struggle to become a boxer.

1173 She won her first fight at 13, but then had to wait four years for another bout.

1174 To fund her training, she used to work as an extra in Coronation Street and EastEnders.

1175 In 2009, she was bedridden for three months after falling down a flight of stairs.

1176 Her dog, Dexter, watches her fights on television, with a Team GB toy meerkat for company. He appears to be interested in what he sees.

1177 Adams's assessment of what it was like to receive a gold medal deserves a medal of its own for understatement: "It made my day."

1178 But she also says, later: "I have been dreaming about this since I was 12 years old."

1179 Later still, in the same venue, another British woman fights her way to gold. Jade Jones, from Flintshire, narrowly defeats China's Hou Yuzhuo in the 57kg taekwondo.

1180 Jones, 19, throws away her headguard in delight after landing the winning blow.

1181 "It feels crazy," she says. "I've dreamt about this for ages."

1182 Like Adams, Jones had lost to her final opponent the last time they met in a major final: in this case, in last year's world championship final.

1183 She is the first ever Briton to win an Olympic taekwondo medal.

1184 Earlier, the much-fancied Keri-Anne Payne comes a disappointing fourth in the 10km open water swim.

1185 There are 30,000 people in Hyde Park to watch the swimming.

1186 The Serpentine has been cleared of all sorts of wildlife to accommodate the event.

1187 According to Payne: "The swans are on holiday at a holiday camp. They take their families."

1188 But the bird-free water is not enough to win Payne her expected medal.

1189 She blames the loss on a mix-up at a mid-race feeding station that prevented her from taking on fluids.

1190 She also remarks on the sheer physical roughness of the race: "With all the fighting, I got hit in the face quite a few times."

1191 "I'm not really a fighter," she concludes, "I'm more of a lover."

1192 Ryan Lochte tells the BBC that he and his arch rival Michael Phelps have been out clubbing together. "It is nice to get outside our usual comfort zone… The last four years, I have been training every day. Now it is time to just relax and not see a swimming pool for a month."

1193 Boris Johnson calls for two hours of compulsory sport a day in school - "the kind of regime I used to enjoy at Eton."

1194 BBC basketball commentator Mike Carlson takes a painful ball to the head during Argentina's quarter-final victory over Brazil.

1195 Tempers flare in the basketball, as Spain beat France 66-59 in the quarter-final A series of crude fouls prompts former NBA star John Amaechi to describe the game as a "disgrace" to sport.

1196 Gretta Taslakian, the Lebanese sprinter, is reprimanded by her national Olympic Committee for wearing what looked like an Irish team jacket while warming up.

1197 On the BMX track, there are 10 crashes in 20 races.

1198 One of them involves all the riders except one.

1199 Team USA took 3D mapping scanners when they practised on the track, so that they could build an identical one at home.

1200 The Dutch also built a replica track, in Arnhem.

1201 Danuta Kozak, of Hungary, wins the women's kayak single 500m.

1202 Josefa Idem, of Italy, comes fifth.

1203 Idem, 47, is competing in her eighth consecutive Olympics - a record for a woman.

1204 Meanwhile, it's another vintage night in the Olympic stadium, starting with what many consider to be the greatest 800m race of all time.

1205 Kenya's David Rudisha leads from the off and, despite a high-class field giving chase, pushes on to victory in 1min 40.91sec.

1206 This beats his own world record by a tenth of a second.

1207 "That's the greatest 800m race that anyone has ever run, or that I have ever seen," says Steve Cram on the BBC "What a privilege to be here."

1208 Before the race, bookmakers were offering odds of 1/8 on Rudisha winning.

1209 He has now run the three fastest times on record for the distance.

1210 Rudisha is one of the extraordinary stable of Kenyan runners who learnt their trade from the Irish priest, Brother Colm O'Connell, at St Patrick's High School in Kenya's Rift Valley.

1211 "Today the weather was beautiful and I decided just to go for it," says Rudisha.

1212 He is a member of the Masai tribe.

1213 His father won Olympic silver in the 4x400m relay in Mexico City in 1968.

1214 Lord Coe (whose 1981 800m world record of 1min 41.73sec stood for 16 years) calls it "an unbelievable performance I feel privileged to have witnessed it in London."

1215 Nijel Amos, a teenager from Botswana, takes silver in a world junior record.

1216 It is the first Olympic medal that Botswana has ever won.

1217 Team GB's Andrew Osagie comes last, but still manages an impressive personal best - 1min 43.77sec.

1218 This is the fastest time run by a Briton for 20 years - and the fourth fastest time ever run by a Briton.

1219 It would also have been fast enough to win any of the previous three Olympic finals.

1220 Later, Osagie tweets: "All I can say is I bet David can't clean off a double breasted pitta mango * lime with pineapple and halloumi in 1:41 so we'll call it 1-1!"

1221 Rudisha's triumph would make bigger headlines if it weren't followed by another sensational appearance by Usain Bolt, who wins the 200m final in 19.19sec.

1222 Bolt, who was easing up at the finish, misses his world record by 0.13sec.

1223 He puts a finger to his lips as he crosses the line - perhaps in reference to those who have recently suggested that he is past his best.

1224 No other athlete has ever won both the 100m and the 200m in two consecutive Olympics.

1225 Bolt's fellow Jamaicans, Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, take silver and gold respectively.

1226 Bolt beats Blake by 0.12 sec - exactly the same margin as in the 100m.

1227 His average speed is 23.31mph - only fractionally slower than his 23.35mph average for the 100m.

1228 He celebrates with, among other things, some press-ups on the track, apparently to prove his freshness.

1229 Then, draped in a Jamaican flag, he snatches a camera from Swedish photographer Jimmy Wixtrom and takes photos of spectators, cameramen and athletes.

1230 "As a photographer, he is pretty good," says Wixtrom "He is charming and took several pictures of Blake."

1231 "I'm now a living legend," declares Bolt.

1232 Jacques Rogge disagrees, insisting that: "The career of Usain Bolt has to be judged when the career stops."

1233 A few days later he will concede, following protests, that "Usain Bolt is an active performance legend, an icon and the best sprinter of all time."

1234 Bolt is still only 25 His 26th birthday is next Tuesday.

1235 "I'm not ready to retire For the rest of the season I'm going to have fun."

1236 He does find time, however, to declare that he has "no respect" for Carl Lewis.

1237 Lewis made some remarks before that Games that appeared to cast doubt on the rigour of Jamaica's drug-testing.

1238 Bolt says: "He is just looking for attention because nobody really talks much about him."

1239 Almost as a bonus, Ashton Eaton - widely considered the world's greatest all-round athlete - wins the decathlon comfortably, with 8,869 points.

1240 He beats his fellow American Trey Hardee by 198 points.

1241 In the triple jump, Christian Taylor wins gold for the US with a leap of 17.81m

1242 This is the same as the personal best with which Phillips Idowu won gold in the European Athletics Championships two years earlier.

1243 In the 4x400m relay, the US are joint-fastest qualifiers in the heats.

1244 The remarkable thing about this is that one of their runners, Manteo Mitchell, feels his leg break halfway through his lap

1245 He staggers on, and still completes his lap in 45 seconds.

1246 "I didn't want to let those three guys down, so I just ran on it," he said, adding: "It just hurt so bad."

1247 An X-ray confirms a broken left fibula.

1248 At Wembley, in the final of the women's football, the US beat Japan 2-1 to take gold.

1249 A record crowd of 80,203 enjoys a thrilling match, with the US triumph owing much to a brilliant late save by Hope Solo.

1250 But boos ring out when it is announced that Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa, will present the medals.

1251 Blatter set out his views on women's football in 2004: "Let the women play in more feminine clothes, like they do in volleyball."

1252 The US has now overtaken China at the top of the medals table, with 39 golds (and 90 medals) to China's 37 golds (80 overall).

DAY 14: 10.8.12

1253 Items confiscated by security staff from spectators entering Olympic events so far include knives, scissors, corkscrews, a bullet and a power saw.

1254 Britain's Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell win silver in the men's 470 sailing.

1255 Lutalo Muhammad wins bronze in the 87kg taekwondo - which more or less but not entirely vindicates his controversial selection as Britain's representative at that weight ahead of world No 1 Aaron Cook.

1256 But Sarah Stevenson, the British athlete who read the Opening Ceremony oath on behalf of all the athletes, cannot manage a medal this time.

1257 Sousan Hajipour fights in the 67kg women's taekwondo She loses, but is pleased to have been allowed to fight in a hijab "It is very important to me… as a Muslim woman I can prove to everyone that the hijab does not stop me being a top athlete."

1258 The Netherlands take gold in the women's hockey.

1259 A French distance runner, Hassan Hirt, is sent home after testing positive for a banned substance: erythropoietin, or EPO.

1260 Later, Italian race walker Alex Schwazer - the defending Olympic champion - is also banned for doping.

1261 At a press conference, a tearful Schwazer explains how he hid EPO, bought from Turkey, in a box of vitamins, so that Carolina Kostner, the figure skater with whom he shared a house, would not find out.

1262 "I made a huge error," he says "I'm sorry."

1263 Ethiopia's Meseret Defar wins gold in the women's 5,000m in 15min 4.25sec.

1264 At the finish, Defar produces from her vest a sweaty picture of the Virgin Mary, and kisses it.

1265 Defar also won gold in 2004.

1266 Britain's Jo Pavey and Julia Bleasdale finish seventh and eighth respectively.

1267 Steve Lewis comes fifth in the pole vault, failing to match his personal best.

1268 Renaud Lavillenie takes gold for France with a new Olympic record of 5.97m.

1269 Shanaze Reade, who crashed when a medal was within her grasp in Beijing four years ago, suffers fresh disappointment in the BMX final, finishing sixth.

1270 "I felt like I was fast enough and I had done all the work that I needed to," says Reade afterwards "Unfortunately, I just didn't have the start I wanted or needed to win the race That was it."

1271 Caroline Buchanan, the Australian world number one, is equally distraught to come fifth.

1272 "It feels like a nightmare," says Buchanan "My house has burnt down and my brother's broken his neck - I've had setbacks in my life before - but nothing compared to this."

1273 Tatyana Lysenko, of Russia, sets a new Olympic record to win gold in the women's hammer.

1274 Sophie Hitchon comes 12th.

1275.Lysenko had previously served a doping suspension.

1276 The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reveals that, in a men-only medals table, China would come first, Britain second, the US third and South Korea fourth.

1277 In a women-only medals table, the US would come first, China second, Britain third and Russia fourth.

1278 Britain wins its first hockey medal for 20 years as Team GB beat New Zealand 3-1 for the bronze.

1279 The Duchess of Cambridge, a hockey fan, is seen jumping up and down enthusiastically among the spectators.

1280 It is her 19th Olympic-related engagement since the Games began, and the 10th time she has seen Team GB win a medal.

1281 Five of those 10 have been golds (including Nicola Adams the previous day) This is a much better strike rate than David Cameron.

1282 Russia win the synchronised swimming.

1283 Oussama Mellouli, of Tunisia, wins gold in the 10km men's open water swim.

1284 Mellouli, who won bronze in the 1,500m freestyle last week, is the first man to win an Olympic medal in both the open water and the pool.

1285 In 2007, he was banned for 18 months for a doping offence.

1286 In the Olympic stadium, Asli Cakir Alptekin, of Turkey, wins a slow, ugly 1,500m final.

1287 The BBC's commentary focuses mainly on her former suspension for doping.

1288 That makes three medals in one day for former dopers.

1289 The US win the women's 4x100m in magnificent style, shattering a 27-year-old world record.

1290 The previous record, 41.37sec, was set by East Germany in 1985 - at the height of their systematic doping programme.

1291 The US women run 40.82sec.

1292 In the 4x400m men's relay, the Bahamas inflict a surprise defeat on the US to take their first ever track-and-field gold.

1293 Chris Brown, of the Bahamas team, said: "No matter how small an axe, you can always bring down a big tree."

1294 Hopes of a British medal in the 4x100m relay are dashed by a baton mix-up in the heats.

1295 Adam Gemili sets off a fraction too early for the final leg, and receives the baton outside the handover area.

1296 It is the fourth time in five Games that such a mix-up has occurred.

1297 If world championships are included as well, it is the sixth time in seven that Team GB sprinters have failed to complete a relay successfully.

1298 This exactly matches the failure rate of England's footballers in penalty shoot-outs.

DAY 15: 11.8.12

1299 Just as we thought things couldn't get any better, Mo Farah produces a historic performance to win the 5,000m.

1300 He becomes one of only seven men to claim the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the same Olympics

1301 In a tactical race that was sometimes agonising to watch, Farah spends much of the 12½ lap race deep in the slow-moving pack.

1302 He takes the lead and steps up the pace with nearly two laps to go.

1303 In the last lap, he holds off repeated challenges from Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel and Kenya's Thomas Longosiwa to be roared home for, at last, an emphatic victory.

1304 In the BBC studio, Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson are jumping and screaming even more enthusiastically than they were the previous Saturday.

1305 After crossing the line Farah kisses the track and seems to pray.

1306 He does his famous "Mobot" gesture, forming the letter M above his head.

1307 He then shakes the hands of all the other athletes.

1308 He also does some sit-ups, in a light-hearted reference to Usain Bolt's press-ups after winning 200m gold.

1309 "Two gold medals?" he says later, "Who would have thought that? It's a dream, and everything worked out well The crowd were amazing They made an unbelievable noise."

1310 He dedicates his medals to the twins his wife is expecting "There's one medal for each."

1311 His medal is Team GB's 27th gold.

1312 Farah's winning time is 13min 41.66sec.

1313 This is more than a minute slower than the world record.

1314 His final lap takes 52.9sec.

1315 His final mile takes 4 min 0.5sec.

1316 Six athletes in the 15 man field had faster personal bests in the 5,000m than Farah.

1317 The only other men in history to have done the 5,000m-10,000m double are: Hannes Kolehmainen (1912), Emil Zatopek (1952), Vladimir Kuts (1956), Lasse Viren (1972 and 1976), Miruts Yifter (1980) and Kenenisa Bekele (2008).

1318 David Moorcroft, former 5,000m world record holder, says: "This is the best I've ever seen by a British athlete by miles We are privileged to be here."

1319 Lord Coe acclaims Farah as Britain's greatest ever runner.

1320 Usain Bolt, meanwhile, hasn't finished making his mark on athletic history Not content with his "double double" in the 100m and 200m, he upgrades it to a "double treble" as Jamaica win their second successive Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay.

1321 The American sprinters are blown away as Jamaica shatters the world record to win in 38.84sec.

1322 Bolt celebrates by doing the "Mobot", in tribute to Mo Farah.

1323 Later, Yohan Blake explains the Jamaicans' success thus: "Basically, we are not human We dropped from space like Mr Bean Mr Bean is not a normal guy, he makes jokes We are not normal guys We are from space I am from Mars."

1324 "Yohan is crazy," says Usain Bolt "If he keeps talking like that, someone is going to put him in a straitjacket one day."

1325 Earlier, Ed "The Cleaver" McKeever has won Britain's 26th gold in the 200m kayak sprint.

1326 A 28-year-old trainee accountant, McKeever is known by some as the "Usain Bolt of canoeing".

1327 McKeever tends to play down the comparison, arguing that "he's tall and I'm short".

1328 He also takes nearly twice as long to cover 200m: 36.246sec compared with 19.32sec.

1329 But he is, to be fair, paddling into a substantial headwind.

1330 Asked about the "Bolt" tag, McKeever says: "Luckily I have the gold medal to go with it now I am more worthy of that tagline."

1331 He adds that he was up at 5.30am "like a kid at Christmas… waiting to get my present".

1332 McKeever wears an aerodynamic top adapted from those used by the British cyclists.

1333 In the mountain biking, Annie Last comes eighth in the cross-country.

1334 She is the first British female mountain biker to compete in the Olympics for more than a decade.

1335 "The crowd was unbelievable," she says "You can just feel them pushing you forward."

1336 In the football, Mexico beat Brazil 2-1 to win a surprise gold.

1337 South Korea beat Japan for the bronze.

1338 A South Korean footballer then holds up a political slogan that refers to a long-running territorial dispute between the two nations over the Dokdo Islands.

1339 The IOC tells South Korea to ban him from the medal ceremony.

1340 Britain's men's hockey team narrowly miss out on a bronze, after losing 3-1 to Australia.

1341 In the Mall, meanwhile, Dominic King is last to finish in the 50km race walk, 39 minutes behind the winner.

1342 He gets the best reception of the day, exchanging high-fives and thumbs-up signs with spectators.

1343 Russia's Sergey Kirdyapkin takes gold, in a new Olympic record of 3hr 35min 59sec.

1344 In the women's 20km walk, Britain's Jo Jackson is disqualified for failing to keep a foot on the ground at all times.

1345 For Team GB, meanwhile, there's more to come

1346 Bantamweight Luke Campbell, from Hull, wins gold.

1347 Campbell says: "I'm very emotional right now The plan was to stay calm and stick to the boxing and throw my punches down the middle."

1348 Campbell says he was determined to win gold for his infant son.

1349 The silver medal won by Campbell's opponent, John Joe Nevin, means that Ireland now has its biggest medal haul since 1956: one gold, one silver and three bronze.

1350 Anthony Ogogo takes bronze in the middleweight division

1351 Back in the Olympic Stadium, a little-remarked human drama plays out as Russia's Mariya Savinova beats off the challenge of South Africa's Caster Semenya in the women's 800m.

1352 Semenya, now 21, is best known as the haunted figure at the centre of a gender-related controversy at the world championships in Berlin in 2009.

1353 Semenya, who won the 800m there, was made to undergo an investigation - and unlimited innuendo - after tests showed high levels of natural testosterone

1354 Now thoroughly exonerated, she was honoured by South Africa as their Opening Ceremony flagbearer.

1355 She receives a huge ovation from the crowd, but is disappointed not to win gold.

1356 She dedicates her silver medal to Nelson Mandela, who, she says, helped her to turn her life around when she was at her lowest ebb.

1357 She says that he told her: "I believe in you Go out there and make me proud."

1358 Colin Jackson subsequently suggests on TV that she did not really want to win, for fear of causing another media storm.

1359 Semenya angrily denies this "The plan was to win gold," she says.

1360 At the Aquatics Centre, meanwhile, 17,500 people watch a final of breathtaking tension in the 10m diving.

1361 Tom Daley, who had dived nervously in qualification, is allowed to retake his first dive after judges uphold his complaint that he was unfairly distracted by camera flashbulbs.

1362 Thereafter, he dives impeccably, and takes bronze behind David Boudia of the US and Qui Bo of China.

1363 In fact, he is in first place going into the last round, but his final dive doesn't have the degree of difficulty required to fend off his older rivals.

1364 But 18-year-old Daley is thrilled, as is an audience that includes David Beckham.

1365 His team-mates throw him in the pool to celebrate.

1366 Earlier this year, Alexei Evangulov, Britain's diving performance director, had suggested that Daley was overweight and was devoting too much time to media activity The medal is an emphatic riposte.

1367 "The bad thing," confesses Evangulov, "is that I had a bet with Tom that I would shave my head if he won a medal So tomorrow I will have to do that."

1368 "I gave it absolutely everything," says Daley, who claims to have lost 8kg in weight this year "The main aim was to get a medal."

1369 His only regret is that his father, who died last May, was not there to see it happen "He would have been proud of me."

1370 Robert Daley died of brain cancer at the age of 40.

1371 Tom Daley had also suffered from bullying at school since his appearance at the Beijing Games, aged 14, made him a teenage heartthrob.

1372 "It was about time my family had some good news," says Daley.

1373 In other news, Carol Ann Duffy, the poet laureate, publishes an Olympic poem.

1374 It appears to claim for the British people the credit for the successes of Team GB.

1375 "We are Bradley Wiggins" is one memorable phrase.

1376 "For every medal earned,/ we want school playing fields returned."

1377 The independent Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 pronounces that the Games have been the greenest ever.

1378 It particularly praises the recycling and regeneration.

1379 The use of temporary venues is also praised.

1380 And, not least, London 2012 is applauded as the world's first public transport Olympics.

1381 Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, is more generous He says that the Games have been "a dream for sports lovers".

1382 They have, he adds, shown the "true spirit of Britain", where "huge crowds have cheered not just their athletes but those of the world".

1383 Lord Moynihan, departing chairman of the British Olympic Association, calls for the London 2012's volunteers to be nominated collectively Sports Personality of the Year

1384 It is revealed that a guard of honour made up of volunteers will applaud overseas athletes as they pass through a specially constructed Games terminal at Heathrow.

1385 And, in an attempt to capitalise on the swell of national enthusiasm for sport and volunteering, a government-funded charity called Join In Local Sport is launched.

1386 Its first action will be to arrange for more than 5,000 sports clubs to open their doors next weekend and encourage new members to take part.

DAY 16: 12.8.12

1387 All Team GB medal winners pose for a photo on the roof of team headquarters in Stratford Or almost all, because the Games aren't over yet.

1388 The remaining boxing finals take place in the shadow of remarks by Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, accusing Britain of using political pressure on judges to ensure a "happy ending" for Team GB.

1389 "Three of our boxers have been prevented from reaching the final," he claims.

1390 Cynics point out that Russia is facing its worst medals tally since 1952 (as the Soviet Union) - which might reflect badly on the sports minister.

1391 Stephen Kiprotich, of Uganda, wins the men's marathon, in the (for him) relatively slow time of 2hr 8min 1sec

1392 Kenya's Abel Kirui, 26 seconds behind, takes silver.

1393 Wilson Kipsang, also a Kenyan, takes bronze.

1394 Kiprotich's medal was only the second Olympic gold ever won by Uganda

1395 The other was won by John Akii-Bua in the 400m hurdles in 1972.

1396 Kiprotich moved to Kenya as a teenager, though, to train.

1397 Team GB's Lee Merrien came 30th, in 2hr 17min.

1398 Kiprotich, in his official London 2012 profile, lists his running club as "prisons".

1399 Forty-seven minutes after Kiprotich finishes, Tsepo Ramonene, of Lesotho, crosses the line.

1400 His time is 2hr 55min 54sec.

1401 He is, needless to say, cheered wildly all the way down the Mall.

1402 Gobi Sivanthan, a British Tamil who has been on hunger strike for 22 days in a tent near the Olympic Park, in protest against Sri Lanka's presence at the Games, calls off his fast.

1403 Ian Thorpe is spotted giving free swimming lessons to children at Tooting Bec Lido.

1404 David Cameron announces that Lord Coe will become the UK's "Olympics legacy ambassador".

1405 "I cannot think of a better person than Seb to be our ambassador to the global marketplace and make sure we achieve our ambitious legacy targets," he says.

1406 The Prime Minister also announces that funding for Olympic sports will be maintained at £125m a year until 2016.

1407 Early figures suggest that 15.9 million people watched Tom Daley's diving final on Saturday - more even than the 12.9 million who watched Mo Farah's 5,000m.

1408 Blur headline a pre-Closing Ceremony end-of-Games gig in Hyde Park.

1409 A firm sub-contracted to store athlete's doping samples in transit denies any wrongdoing after it emerges samples have been stored in the same cool room as van drivers' sandwiches.

1410 It emerges Rob Smith, a restaurateur, has spent a night in a police cell after painting a postbox gold in Lymington, Hants, in honour of Ben Ainslie

1411 The Royal Mail hadn't transformed a box as they have in the hometowns of other winning athletes, so Smith seems to have taken matters into his own hands.

1412 Jaroslav Kulhavy, of the Czech Republic, takes gold in the mountain-biking, outsprinting Nino Schurter from Switzerland in the final 200 metres.

1413 The 2004 and 2008 champion Julien Absalon, of France, suffers a puncture and never recovers.

1414 Liam Killeen's medal hopes are brought to an untimely end by a second-lap crash.

1415 He is later reported to have a suspected broken ankle.

1416 Russia wins its only boxing gold when light-heavyweight Egor Mekhontsev beats Kazakhstan's Adilbek Niyazymbetov.

1417 The fight is absurdly close Not only are the scores equal, but the fighters cannot even be separated by a countback So each judge has to declare a preference

1418 Russia also win their fourth successive rhythmic gymnastics gold.

1419 And Russia's men come back from two sets down to beat Brazil and take gold in the volleyball Is Team Russia finally coming good?

1420 Meanwhile, the medals keep coming for Team GB Fred Evans gets silver in the welterweight boxing.

1421 Anthony Joshua goes one better and wins gold in the super-heavyweight division.

1422 The 22-year-old beats Italy's Roberto Cammarelle after a countback.

1423 Five years ago, Joshua, who comes from Finchley, had never stepped in a boxing ring His cousin suggested he join a club

1424 He later turned down the chance to go professional "I didn't take up the sport for money I want to win medals," he said

1425 After winning, he says: "That medal represents my journey and the support from my team It is much more than a gold medal, it is a life experience."

1426 Scores had been level at the end of the bout so all of the judges scores were counted, not just the averages, giving Joshua victory

1427 An appeal by Italy is rejected.

1428 Mo Farah meets David Cameron at Downing Street

1429 "My story shows no matter what or where you come from, if you work hard at something you can achieve it," he says.

1430 Adidas releases a YouTube video in which members of Team GB, including Sir Chris Hoy and the gymnast Louis Smith, lip-synch to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"

1431 France's handball "dream team" just make gold, beating Sweden 22-21 in a nail-biting final.

1432 USA's basketball "Dream Team", meanwhile, make hard work of their final against Spain, fighting off a huge challenge to win 107-100.

1433 The American women are more dominant, beating France 86-50 to win their fifth consecutive Olympic gold.

1434 After two days of shooting, fencing, swimming and show jumping, Britain's Samantha Murray makes up lost time in the cross-country event of the modern pentathlon to win the country's 65th and final medal of the Games, a silver.

1435 Mhairi Spence, the British world champion, finishes 21st.

1436 David Cameron says after competition has finished: "You only need two words to sum up these Games: Britain delivered We showed the world what we are made of, we reminded ourselves what we can do and we demonstrated that you should never ever count Team GB down and out."

1437 Lord Coe says at the closing ceremony: "On the first day of these Games I said we were determined to do it right I said that these Games would see the best of us On this last day I can conclude with these words: When our time came - Britain we did it right Thank you!"

1438 The Queen says in a message: "I offer my congratulations to the athletes of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, whose efforts across the range of Olympic disciplines have truly captured the public's imagination and earned their admiration."

1439 Lord Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association, says: "We have seen performances which have created history It has been the greatest team we have ever sent to the Olympic Games."

1440 Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, says: "We have been reminded that an objective that is worth attaining, like a gold medal, requires years of hard work Success does not come overnight That is as true of our economy as it is of sport."

1441 Boris Johnson says a lot, including this in a newspaper column: "London has put on a dazzling face to the global audience For the first time since the end of the empire, it truly feels like the capital of the world."

1442 Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, declares London 2012 to be the "happy and glorious" Games, at the closing ceremony He stops short of calling them the "greatest", as his predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, did at every Games he closed except Atlanta 1996, which had been beset by organisational problems

1443 Asked for his moment of the Games, Rogge says: "If I would have to take one, not emotion, but a sentimental one, that would be the tears of Chris Hoy."

1444 Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband say nothing, leaving Britain for family holidays.

1445 The Queen is represented at the closing ceremony in the stadium by her second grandson, who is introduced by his rarely heard real name, Prince Henry of Wales.

1446 Ben Ainslie, Britain's four-time gold-medal-winning sailor, carries the Union flag as he leads Team GB through the aisle of the stadium.

1447 The American flag is carried by the sprinter Bryshon Nellum, who was shot four years ago in the legs in a gang-related incident.

1448 According to tradition, the last medal of the Games is awarded to the winner of the men's marathon, Stephen Kiprotich.

1449 In contrast to the Opening Ceremony, athletes from all the competing nations enter the stadium en masse, not divided by nation.

1450 This mingling of athletes inside the stadium has been traditional since the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, when a Chinese-Australian apprentice carpenter called John Ian Wing wrote an anonymous letter to the IOC suggesting it

1451 He was later recognised with an Olympic medal and a street was named after him in the athletes' village at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

1452 Some of the French athletes arrive waving small Union Jacks

1453 Some Germans are seen carrying bottles that may or may not contain beer.

1454 The handing of the Olympic flag between mayors of host cities, via the IOC president, is known as the Antwerp Ceremony because it started there in 1920 The flag was known as the Antwerp Flag but was replaced in Seoul in 1988 and is now named after that city.

1455 The Olympic Hymn or Anthem, sung by a Welsh men's choir, was heard for the first time in 1896 in Athens The English translation begins: "Olympian flame immortal, Whose beacon lights our way, Emblaze our hearts with the fires of hope, On this momentous day."

1456 In what will become one of the least-mad sections of the ceremony, Timothy Spall appears from the spire of Big Ben to recite lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest in character as Winston Churchill: "Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises."

1457 The same lines were recited by Kenneth Branagh in the Opening Ceremony.

1458 Not long after this, a would-be rocket man played by Monty Python Eric Idle falls out of his cannon and leads a rendition of "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" accompanied by Morris Dancers and roller-skating nuns.

1459 Confusion among foreign observers perhaps peaks when men dressed as David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst dressed as Del Boy and Rodney dressed as Batman and Robin appear from an exploding Reliant Robin in a recreation of a scene from Only Fools and Horses.

1460 Footage of John Lennon shot in July 1971 is screened in its entirety for the first time The sound was remastered by Yoko Ono.

1461 Freddie Mercury also returns from the dead, via large screens, to lead the crowd in a back-and-forth rendition of "deyo, deyo" before Queen's Roger Taylor and Brian May join Jessie J for "We Will Rock You".

1462 The opening scene features 108 vehicles, including four white vans and eight skateboards.

1463 The 637,191 LED "pixels" mounted in panels by each seat in the stadium turn the stands into a giant screen.

1464 An enormous representation of the union flag covering the floor of the stadium was conceived by Damien Hirst.

1465 Aerial photographs of the work appear on the front pages of 10 national newspapers the following day.

1466 Boris Johnson and David Cameron are shown dancing enthusiastically to - but out of time with - The Spice Girls.

1467 Jessie J performs in a flesh-coloured leotard with sparkly bits.

1468 Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland tweets: "Why is Jessie J dressed as a vajazzle?"

1469 Kate Moss leads models also including Naomi Campbell and Lily Cole in a tribute to British fashion

1470 The models are introduced by a musical compilation in tribute to David Bowie, leading many to expect him to appear.

1471 The girl band's performances of "Wannabee" and "Spice up Your Life" from the tops of London taxis are their first for more than four years

1472 The section of the ceremony reserved for the future host city begins with Renato Sorriso dressed as a road sweeper It had been his real job, in Rio de Janeiro, before he became a professional dancer.

1473 Pele appears at the climax of the Rio sequence

1474 Gary Barlow sings with fellow members of Take That.

1475 It had been thought that Barlow, who lost his baby to a stillbirth the previous week, would not appear.

1476 The rock band Muse plays "Survival", the official song of London 2012 a song written for the Olympics.

1477 It includes the lyrics "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" and "Win! Win! Win! Win!".

1478 The cauldron is finally extinguished It will be dismantled and the 204 petals sent to each of the competing nations.

1479 The Who deliver the finale, well past midnight, with renditions of "Baba O'Riley" and "See Me, Feel Me" as a montage of faces, including volunteers.

1480 Danny Boyle had no hand in the closing ceremony.

1481 Kim Gavin was creative director.

1482 The former ballet dancer made his name directing Take That's Circus and Progress tours.

1483 He also organised Help for Heroes concerts in 2010 and the Concert for Diana in 2007

1484 "My approach was to say, 'let's not over think it'," he says "This is the disco at the end of the wedding."

1485 Sets were designed by Esmeralda Devlin, who has worked on a production of Les Troyens by Berlioz at the Royal Opera House.

1486 She has also designed productions for Lady Gaga and Kanye West.

1487 The production designer, Mark Fisher, has worked on gigs for Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and U2.

1488 Gavin's crew were allowed into the stadium at 2am on Sunday, leaving them with 17 hours to transform the stadium.

1489 The closing ceremony cost £20m

1490 Artists were paid a token £1 each for contractual purposes.

1491 Tickets cost from £20.12 to £1,500.

1492 The cast included 4,100 performers, including 3,500 volunteers and 380 children.

1493 Composer David Arnold was responsible for the soundtrack.

1494 Hours after the ceremony, Universal Music released the soundtrack of 38 songs:

TAKING STOCK

1495 The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games were the most ambitious logistical exercise ever undertaken in the UK in peacetime.

1496 This year's Games were the single largest movement of people after the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

1497 More than 2.4 million people have visited the Olympic Park.

1498 More than 7.4 million people have visited venues across the UK.

1499 Over the past 17 days, athletes at the Olympic village have eaten 45,000 meals.

1500 This includes 100 tonnes of meat, 25,000 loaves and 300 tonnes of fruit and vegetables.

1501 More than 4.5 million people travelled on the Tube on August 7, its busiest day ever.

1502 During the Games, the Tube carried over 60m passengers, an increase of 30 per cent compared to last year.

1503 The DLR carried over 6 million passengers, an increase of over 100 per cent compared to last year.

1504 London Overground carried almost 6 million passengers, an increase of 47 per cent compared to last year.

1505 20 million spectator journeys were made in London during the Games.

1506 600,000 pieces of luggage were handled at Heathrow Airport.

1507 On the busiest day (13 August), the volume of luggage was 35 per cent greater than usual.

1508 A 300 truck fleet made 15,000 deliveries to the Olympic Park.

1509 Around 1 billion people have visited the london2012.com website.

1510 10,000 police were available during the Games.

1511 13,500 members of the armed forces were on duty for security roles.

1512 The security budget rose from £282m to £553m.

1513 Athletes set 31 world records in seven sports.

1514 Most of the records set at London 2012 were set in swimming (nine).

1515 Most of these were set by the USA (six).

1516 Forty-three world records were broken in Beijing in 2008 and 31 in Athens in 2004.

1517 British athletes broke three world records, all of them in the velodrome (men's team sprint and men's and women's team pursuits).

1518 The Olympic Park includes 1,000 picnic benches.

1519 BMW plans to sell its 3,200 Games courtesy cars in phases to avoid flooding the market.

1520 Italian canoeist Josefa Idem, 47, competed in her eighth Games, a record for a woman.

1521 Analysis of British and US athletes found 8 per cent of rowers go into banking, eight times more than their nearest rivals in swimming and sailing.

1522 Saeid Mohammadpourkarkaragh has the longest non-hyphenated surname at the Games.

1523 Two couples a day on average have become engaged at the big screens at the centre of the Olympic Park.

1524 85 per cent of Iceland's population of 320,000 people watched their men's handball team lose to Hungary in the quarter-finals.

1525 The heaviest athlete in London is Ricardo Blas Jr, a judoka from Guam He weights 34st 5lb.

1526 The lightest is Yadan Hu, a Chinese diver who weighs 5st 9lb.

1527 The tallest is Zhaoxu Zhang, a Chinese basketball player who is 7ft 3in.

1528 The smallest, Venezuelan sprinter Necerly Soto, is 4ft 4in.

1529 Grenada tops the medals table adjusted for population and for GDP, followed by Jamaica in both.

1530 Australia had 59 athletes per gold medal to Britain's 21 and China's 11.

1531 Team GB's cyclists sleep on personalised pillows and memory foam mattresses covered in hypo-allergenic sheets.

1532 Chris Hoy eats an average 6,000 calories a day, compared to 2,550 for an average man.

1533 His resting heart rate is 33 beats per minute. The average is twice as much.

1534 His thighs are 27in in circumference, slender compared to the 34in some of his rivals pack.

1535 An early version of handball is described by Homer in the Odyssey as a game called Urania.

1536 Keirin, the track cycling even with the weird motorbike, is a popular betting sport across Japan.

1537 Swimmers apparently wear two caps to keep their goggles firmly on.

1538 Andrew Osagie's personal best time in the 800-metres final, in which he came last, would have won gold at the last three Games.

1539 Mo Farah's "Mobot" symbol made with arms over the head was conceived earlier this year by Clare Balding on Sky 1's A League of Their Own, presented by James Corden, who said Farah needed a move with which he could celebrate Olympic victory.

1540 Farah was the first person to win the £250,000 top prize (for charity) on ITV gameshow The Cube. He said it was harder than running.

1541 In the UK, 50.2m people have watched at least 15 minutes of Olympic action, 87 per cent of the population.

1542 The opening ceremony gained a record-breaking audience of 40.7m in the US.

1543 The audience for the opening ceremony peaked in the UK at 26.9m.

1544 20m people watched Usain Bolt win the 100m final.

1545 16.3m people watched Jessica Ennis win the heptathlon.

1546 17.1m people watched Mo Farah win the 10,000m.

1547 Twenty-two women won two gold medals or more, including Britain's Charlotte Dujardin and Laura Trott.

1548 Ten of the multiple gold medal winners were swimmers or divers.

1549 The average age of the Chinese team is 24.3, the youngest among the major teams (ie, with 100 members or more).

1550 187 athletes were over the age of 40.

1551 Dressage was the "oldest" event, with an average age of 38.

1552 Gareth Goh from Sutton scored perhaps the best volunteer job of the Games - driving the remote-controlled mini Minis used to fetch javelins and other missiles from the field in the stadium.

1553 Lost property included Lizzie Armitstead's sunglasses, Team Australia's sails, a Russian high jumper's vest and Bradley Wiggins' training gear.

1554 Injuries included fractured jaws, lacerated livers and, during the 4x400m relay heats, a broken leg (Manteo Mitchell completed his lap regardless).

1555 Horse names at the equestrian arena included Mister Pooh, Gin & Juice and Damon Hill.

1556 The 5,000 tonnes of sand at the beach volleyball arena will be used to make 36 new courts.

1557 The waterpolo arena will be dismantled, foundations and all, an relocated.

1558 The future of the basketball arena is uncertain after plans to ship it to Rio fell through.

1559 The aquatics centre will be reduced in size and opened to the public in 2014.

1560 The Copper Box arean for handball and other events will be preserved as an arena, fitness club and home of basketball team the London Lions.

1561 The stadium's future is unknown after wrangling between local football clubs West Ham remains the most likely to use it.

1562 Locog is auctioning off hundreds of items of 2012 Olympic memorabilia in a bid to balance its books The eBay style auction site is run by Innovative Sports.

1563 The highest-value item at the time of going to press is a torch from the 1948 London Games, with a highest bid of £14,000.

1564 Next most valuable is a 2012 torch signed by Bradley Wiggins (bid yesterday: £7,000).

1565 The lowest-value item is one of the national team placards worn over the shoulders of people leading nations into the opening ceremony Several have had no advance on £1.

1566 There has been a bidding war for the Barbados placard, reaching £155 yesterday.

1567 The official results sheet from the men's basketball final was going for £505.

1568 The most valuable piece of opening ceremony memorabilia is a cone-shaped LED dress (£1,300).

1569 The most expensive piece of equipment is the ball used in the men's basketball final, going for £3,000.

1570 The cheapest: a warm-up bib used before the men's footbal final (£184).

1571 A hammer was going for £460, not including delivery.

1572 A pair of signed Tom Daley trunks seems to be a steal at £505.

1573 Seventeen large sculptures of the Wenlock mascot placed at key points across London are on sale The highest bidding (£5,080) surrounds a union flag Wenlock placed on Westminster Bridge.

1574 Of the national flags being sold, Australia is most coveted (current bid: £1,655) and Chad the least (£125).

1575 Some of the more obscure lots include a peasant girl's outfit worn in the Opening Ceremony and a "work for women" banner carried by a suffragette.

1576.The Olympic Park incorporates 250 acres of parkland.

1577 They include: 4,000 semi-mature trees…

1578 …more than 300,000 wetland plants…

1579 …more than ten football fields worth of nectar-rich annual and perennial meadows designed and sown to flower during the London 2012 Games…

1580 …more than 15,000 square metres of riverside spectator lawns, seating, frog ponds, wetlands and woodlands.

1581 … habitats for species including otter, kingfisher, grey heron, bee, lizard, newts and toads, eel, grass snake, swift, and invertebrates.

1582 A riverside London 2012 Garden stretches for half a mile between the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium, featuring 120,000 plants from 250 different species across the world.

1583 A 'de Coubertin oak' grown at Kew Gardens from an acorn collected from the tree that Baron Pierre De Coubertin planted in 1894 to thank the citizens of Much Wenlock in Shropshire for inspiring the founding of the modern Olympic Games.

1584 Salaries for security guards, construction workers and IT professionals who worked at the Games were 38 per cent above the national average for their professions.

1585 The London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded the national anthems of all 205 nations.

1586 Anyone streaking at the Games would have been fined up to £20,000.

1587 Rainwater collected from the handball arena's roof was used to flush lavatories.

1588 This reduced water usage by 40 per cent.

1589 The games were broadcasted on 22 big screens across the UK.

1590 The McDonald's restaurant in the park was the chain biggest outlet in the world.

1591 It covered 30,000sqft and seated 1,500 customers.

1592 Chobham Academy, a school for 1,800 pupils aged 3-19, will open in the Athletes Village site September 2013.

1593 Foreign Olympic athletes and coaches have restricted visas and were not allowed to marry or form civil partnerships while on British soil for the Games.

1594 There were more than 800 victory ceremonies for medals to be presented.

1595 The podiums were designed by students from the Royal College of Art.

1596 Estimated number of Coca-Cola drinks served at the Games: 23 million.

1597 Coca-Cola has been sponsoring the games since 1928.

1598 Denis Clayton, an 82-year-old retired bricklayer from Cheshire, had been to every Olympics since 1960 but didn't get a ticket for London 2012

1599 To accommodate the size of the athletes, all doors in the basketball arena were built to be at least 2.4 metres high.

1600 London 2012's anti-doping programme was the biggest in Olympic history.

1601 5,000 anti-doping samples were taken during the Games.

1602 Every competitor who won a medal was tested One, Nadzeya Ostapchuk, was stripped of her gold medal.

1603 At the time of going to press, 13 positive test results from the "competition period" had been declated

1604 Eighteen athletes failed tests during the Beijing competition period.

1605 The 70,000 Games Makers underwent 1 million hours of training.

1606 Some 24,000 schools and colleges participated in the Get Set programme.

1607 Forty-four companies were domestic sponsors for the Games.

1608 There were 2,012 official pin-badge designs used for the Games.

1609 Temporary venues built for the Olympics included 3,500 cabins and 1.7m sq ft of tent structures.

1610 200,000 temporary seats were used.

1611 350 miles of cabling were used.

1612 Seventy-six miles of temporary fencing were used.

1613 10,000 temporary toilets were used - roughly equivalent to the toilet population of Malta.

1614 More than 250km of copper cable was used in the Athletes' Village alone.

1615 The 5,000-seat dining facility in the Village will serve 14m meals during the Olympics and Paralympics.

1616 Yohan Blake, the Jamaican sprinter, eats 16 bananas a day.

1617 Almost 5,000 square-meteres of turf to be reinstated at Lord's after the Games and cricket season ends.

1618 Locog has sourced more than a million items of sports equipment They include:

1619 510 hurdles used on the athletics tracks…

1620 …541 life jackets...

1621 …more than 600 basketballs…

1622 …2,700 footballs…

1623 …53 sets of lane ropes for swimming…

1624 …6,000 archery target faces…

1625 …356 pairs of boxing gloves…

1626 …12 pairs of goalposts for handball…

1627 …120 head protectors for taekwondo…

1628 …99 training dolls for wrestling and judo…

1629 …140 shot puts…

1630 …135 relay batons…

1631 …117 hammers…

1632 …80 high jump crossbars…

1633 …75 starting blocks…

1634 … but only three starter pistols.

1635 The maximum degree that the Olympic running track can deviate by is 1mm.

1636 The Games Makers' uniforms used 766 miles of fabric.

1637 The Olympic Park is as big as 357 football pitches.

1638 In addition to nine major competition venues, it included 11 sponsor showcase areas.

1639 There were 1,000 picnic benches in the park.

1640 … and 362 toilet blocks…

1641 … and 4,000 bins …

1642 … and 273 temporary buildings.

1643 It was the largest planting project ever undertaken in the UK.

1644 The Paralympic Games, which begin on 29 August, will see 4,200 athletes compete in 20 sports over an 11-day period.

1645 There are 503 medal events.

1646 They will be held in 19 venues.

1647 Two million tickets for the Paralympics have been sold.

1648 Some 6,500 media and broadcasters are expected to attend.

1649 There will also be 1,200 technical officials and 2,300 team officials.

1650 There are 170 National Paralympic Committees.

1651 The Olympic Development Authority claims that 75p in every £1 spent on creating the Olympic Park was used to regenerate and transform one of the most deprived areas of the UK.

1652 The Olympic Stadium used 10,000 tonnes of steel.

1653 This made it 75 per cent lighter in terms of teel use than other stadiums.

1654 The stadium is 53m high - three metres taller than Nelson's Column.

1655 The Basketball Arena has a 1,000-tonne steel frame.

1656 It is 35m high.

1657 The aquatics centre includes 10m litres of water.

1658 180,000 tiles in two 50m swimming pools.

1659 Four skeletons were removed from a prehistoric settlement discovered on the site.

1660 The track in the velodrome was laid by 26 specialist carpenters.

1661 35 miles of Siberian pine was laid…

1662 …and fixed with 300,000 nails.

1663 21,000 accredited media covered the Games.

1664 The Copper Box venue for handball includes 88 rooftop sun-pipes to allow the field of play to be naturally lit

1665 Britain's final tally of medals - 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze - is its highest for 104 years.

1666 On average, however (if you exclude the Games of 1980 and 1984, which were affected by boycotts), the nation hosting the Olympics improves its medal haul by 13.2 gold medals relative to the previous Games.

1667 Team GB, by contrast, has won only 10 more golds than it did in 2008 So strictly speaking we should be asking what went wrong rather than congratulating ourselves

1668 For Charles van Commenee, head coach of UK athletics, there is another problem He vowed to quit if Britain won fewer than eight medals - one gold - in track and field.

1669 Instead, Team GB won just six - although four, to be fair, were gold.

1670 Van Commenee is now considering his position.

1671 He has, however, been urged not to quit (Four golds isn't bad.)

1672 In real terms, Britain's Olympic medal haul is its greatest ever.

1673 In 2012 there are five times as many athletes, nearly 10 times as many countries.

1674 Before the Games, the British Olympic association predicted that Team GB would win a total of 47 medal, of all kinds.

1675 Britain has won medals in 15 sports

1676 Michael Phelps' 22 medals, including 18 golds, places him 47th on the accumulative national medals table, one place above Ireland.

1677 More than 4,700 Olympic and Paralympic medals have been made by the Royal Mint.

1678 They were the biggest ever given at a Summer Olympics.

1679 Gold medals are 1.34 per cent gold and 92.5 per cent copper, with the rest made up of copper.

1680 The bronze medal is made up of 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc and 0.5 percent tin.

1681 Virtually all the metal for medals was mined in Salt Lake County, Utah in the U.S.

1682 The last time Olympic gold medals were made of solid gold was in Stockholm in 1912.

1683 Originally, the medal awarded to Olympic winners was silver, not gold.

1684 Gold medals were only introduced in St Louis, in 1904.

1685 The first ever Olympic medal was awarded to James Connolly, a US triple jumper, in 1896.

1686 Each medal weighs up to 400g and has the sport and discipline engraved on the rim.

1687 One side features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stepping from the Panathinaiko Stadium that hosted the first modern Olympics 1896.

1688 The reverse features the Games logo, the River Thames and lines representing "the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together".

1689 Each takes 10 hours to make on a giant press called Colossus

1690 Medals were designed by David Watkins, special effects model maker on 2001: A Space Odyssey.

1691 The approximate market value of the materials in the medals is, from gold to bronze, £400, £200 and £3.

1692 The Sunday Times calculates that the typical male British gold medallist (based on the 2012 Games) is 30 years old, 6ft 1/2in tall, weighs 12st 6lb and comes from Scotland.

1693 Chris Hoy is 34 years old, 6ft 1in tall, weighs 14st 7lb and comes from Scotland.

1694 Hoy also has 27in thighs, and a lung capacity of 8 litres.

1695 The typical British female gold medallist is 25 years old, 5ft 7in tall, weighs 9st 8lb and comes from Yorkshire.

1696 Bradley Wiggins was born in Belgium.

1697 Londoners' contribution to the cost of the Games has been estimated (by the London Councils 2012 Team) at £625m.

1698 The synthetic turf of the Olympic hockey pitches was blue, to improve visibility This was the first time any colour but green has been used for an event of this importance has used synthetic turf of any colour but green.

1699 At Greggs shops close to Olympic venues, sales of pasties and savouries increased by up to 80 per cent during the Games period.

1700 Maximum "side width" permitted for briefs worn by women competing in the beach volleyball event was 3in.

1701 Locog's marketing team have a database of 5 million people whom it considers to be Olympic fans.

1702 According to the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Association, only 14 of the 10,500 athletes competing at the Games were openly gay.

1703 UK Sport spent £264,143,753 on funding elite British athletes for London 2012.

1704 This works out at more than £4.5m per medal.

1705 In swimming, the average cost was £8.4m per medal (none of them gold).

1706 For cycling, the cost was £2.2m per medal.

1707 The most subsidised sports were rowing (£27m) and cycling (£26m).

1708 Swimming and athletics got £25m each.

1709 The most cost-effective investment was in boxing, where five medals were won at a cost of £1.9m each.

1710 The least cost-effective was in hockey, where £15m produced a solitary bronze medal.

1711 Britain's all-conquering cyclists wear heated shorts that prevent muscles from stiffening as they cool.

1712 They also employ a team of 16 Marginal Gains specialists, who find ways of shaving hundredths of seconds off times by small technological improvements.

1713 Nearly 90 per cent of the 542 athletes who competed for Team GB have received Lottery funding.

1714 Early estimates by bookmakers suggest that a record £30m has been bet on the Olympics, in the UK alone.

1715 Mo Farah's coach is Cuban-American former marathon runner, Alberto Salazar.

1716 He also coaches Galen Rupp, silver medallist in the 10,000m.

1717 Salazar is credited with perfecting Farah's "kick" in the final stretch.

1718 He turned to coaching when asthma cut his lung capacity by 30 per cent.

1719 Other foreign coaches who have helped win Britain gold include Jurgen Grobler in rowing, Jan van Eijden, Shane Sutton and Scott Gardner in cycling and Bill Sweetenham in swimming.

1720 Farah's agent is Irish former runner, Ricky Simms, has managed Usain Bolt since he was 15.

1721 A relationship between Scott Gardner and Victoria Pendleton almost ripped apart the British track cycling team before the Beijing Games.

1722 Charles van Commenee, the Dutch head coach of UK Athletics, started working in Britain after helping Denise Lewis win heptathlon gold in 2000.

1723 Hello Sanctos, the horse ridden by GB gold medallist Scott Brash, is worth more than £2m.

1724 Usain Bolt ran for a total of 99 seconds to win his three gold medals, including heats.

1725 Ben Ainslie sailed for more than 10 hours to win his gold medal.

1726 Jason Kenny was fastest man at the Games, averaging 46mph in the last 200m of his track sprint qualifying round. (Bolt's top speed was a mere 27.4mph).

1727.The German men's rowing eight reached 14mph.

1728 Ed McKeever averaged 12mph in the 200m kayak sprint final.

1729 Florent Manaudou hit 5.6mph in the 50m freestyle final.

1730 The US under-8 record for the 100m would have been a second off bronze in the 1896 Olympics.

1731 The London 2012 Games have inspired more than 150 million tweets .

1732 Usain Bolt triggered a spike of more than 80,000 tweets per minute after winning the 200m

1733 However, the biggest spike during the Games was prompted by the Spice Girls. Their appearance inspired 116,000 tweets per minute.

1734 Charles Gmelin was the first Brit to compete in the modern Games. He raced (unsuccessfuly) in a 100m heat in Athens.

1735 Jim Hines (USA) was the first sprinter to break the 10-second barrier in Mexico City in 1968.

1736 The 204 competing "nations" actually comprise a mixture of countries and geographical areas.

1737 There are National Olympic Committees for 192 UN member states plus a further 12 territories:.

1738 The territories are: Chinese Taipei (Taiwan); Palestine ; Virgin Islands (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and United States Virgin Islands); American Samoa; Guam; Puerto Rico; Bermuda; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Aruba; Hong Kong; Cook Islands.

1739 In addition, a handful of Independent Olympic Athletes from Netherlands Antilles and South Sudan competed under an IOC flag.

1740 Wenlock, the London 2012 mascot, has five friendship bracelets on his wrist.

1741 Each bracelet takes the colour of an Olympic ring.

1742 The three points on his head represent the three places on the podium.

1743 Mandeville, the Paralympic mascot, wears a helmet emblazoned with the red, green, and blue colors of the Paralympic logo.

1744 The Creative Review said after the mascots were unveiled: "Both are clearly of the digital age And we have to say, we think they look rather good..."

1745 A newspaper columnist, meanwhile, said they were the product of a "drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek".

1746 Day jobs of Olympians at 2012 include wealth manager, cleaner, barman, monk, accountant, rubbish collector and minor royal.

1747 Only four countries have won gold in the men's basketball at 17 Olympics: US (13), Soviet Union (two), Yugoslavia and Argentina (one each).

1748 The biggest single crowd was 86,162 for the men's football final More than 1.5m people attended football matches.

1749 Royal Mail has promised to paint postboxes gold in the hometowns of gold medal winners in the Olympics and the Paralympics.

1750 Royal Mail denied it painted a Wiltshire post box gold to honour Heather Stanning's Olympic victory It had already painted a post box in the rower's home town in Scotland.

1751 After a postbox was painted gold in Harlow, Essex for Laura Trott, the track cyclist pointed out she is in fact from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, 13 miles away.

1752 She got a second gold postbox there after winning her second gold medal.

OLYMPIC HEROES

1753 Four British athletes - two male, two female - won not one gold medal but two at the Games.

1754 Four others - two male, two female - won two medals, only one of which was gold.

1755 Three - two male, one female - won two medals, neither of which was gold.

1756 Charlotte Dujardin won two gold medals (individual dressage and team dressage).

1757 Sir Chris Hoy won two gold medals (men's keirin and men's team sprint).

1758 Jason Kenny won two gold medals (men's sprint and men's team sprint).

1759 Laura Trott won two gold medals (women's omnium and women's team pursuit).

1760 Andy Murray won one gold medal (men's singles) and one silver (mixed doubles).

1761 Victoria Pendleton won one gold medal (women's keirin) and one silver (women's sprint).

1762 Laura Bechtolsheimer won one gold medal (team dressage) and one bronze (individual dressage)

1763 Edward Clancy won one gold medal (men's team pursuit) and one bronze (men's omnium).

1764 Nicola Adams won one gold medal (women's fly boxing).

1765 Ben Ainslie won one gold medal (men's finn class sailing).

1766 Tim Baillie won one gold medal (canoe slalom: men's canoe double).

1767 Scott Brash won one gold medal (equestrian team jumping).

1768 Alistair Brownlee won one gold medal (men's triathlon).

1769 Steven Burke won one gold medal (men's team pursuit).

1770 Luke Campbell won one gold medal (men's bantam boxing).

1771 Peter Charles won one gold medal (equestrian team jumping).

1772 Katherine Copeland won one gold medal (women's lightweight double scull).

1773 Jessica Ennis won one gold medal (women's heptathlon).

1774 Helen Glover won one gold medal (rowing women's pair).

1775 Katherine Grainger won one gold medal (women's double scull).

1776 Alex Gregory won one gold medal (rowing men's four).

1777 Carl Hester won one gold medal (team dressage).

1778 Philip Hindes won one gold medal (cycling men's team sprint).

1779 Sophie Hosking won one gold medal (women's lightweight double scull).

1780 Tom James won one gold medal (rowing men's four).

1781 Jade Jones won one gold medal (women's 57kg taekwondo).

1782 Anthony Joshua won one gold medal (men's super heavy boxing).

1783 Peter Kennaugh won one gold medal (men's team pursuit).

1784 Dani King won one gold medal (women's team pursuit).

1785 Ben Maher won one gold medal (equestrian: team jumping).

1786 Ed McKeever won one gold medal (canoe sprint: men's kayak single 200m).

1787 Pete Reed won one gold medal (rowing: men's four).

1788 Joanna Roswell won one gold medal (women's team pursuit).

1789 Greg Rutherford won one gold medal (men's long jump).

1790 Nick Skelton won one gold medal (equestrian: team jumping).

1791 Heather Stanning won one gold medal (rowing: women's pair).

1792 Etienne Stott won one gold medal (canoe slalom: men's canoe double).

1793 Geraint Thomas won one gold medal (men's team pursuit).

1794 Andrew Triggs Hodge won one gold medal (rowing men's four).

1795 Anna Watkins won one gold medal (rowing: women's double scull).

1796 Bradley Wiggins won one gold medal (cycling - road: men's individual time trial).

1797 Peter Wilson won one gold medal (shooting: men's double trap).

1798 Louis Smith won one silver medal (men's pommel horse) and one bronze (men's team gymnastics).

1799 Elizabeth Armistead won one silver medal (cycling - road: women's road race).

1800 Chris Bartley won one silver medal (rowing men's lightweight four).

1801 Stuart Bithell won one silver medal (sailing: men's 470).

1802 Peter Chambers won one silver medal (rowing: men's lightweight four).

1803 Richard Chambers won one silver medal (rowing: men's lightweight four).

1804 Saskia Clark won one silver medal (sailing: women's 470).

1805 Kristina Cook won one silver medal (equestrian: team eventing).

1806 Nick Dempsey won one silver medal (sailing: men's RS-X).

1807 Freddie Evans won one silver medal (men's welter boxing).

1808 David Florence won one silver medal (canoe slalom: men's canoe double).

1809 William Fox-Pitt won one silver medal (equestrian: team eventing).

1810 Gemma Gibbons won one silver medal (women's -78kg judo).

1811 Richard Hounslow won one silver medal (canoe slalom: men's canoe double).

1812 Mark Hunter won one silver medal (men's lightweight double scull).

1813 Michael Jamieson won one silver medal (men's 200m breaststroke).

1814 Mary King won one silver medal (equestrian: team eventing).

1815 Hannah Mills won one silver medal (sailing: women's 470).

1816 Samantha Murray won one silver medal (women's modern pentathlon).

1817 Christine Ohuruogu won one silver medal (women's 400m).

1818 Luke Patience won one silver medal (sailing: men's 470).

1819 Iain Percy won one silver medal (sailing: men's star).

1820 Zara Philips won one silver medal (equestrian: team eventing).

1821 Zac Purchase won one silver medal (rowing: men's lightweight double scull).

1822 Laura Robson won one silver medal (tennis: mixed doubles).

1823 Andrew Simpson won one silver medal (sailing: men's star).

1824 Rob Williams won one silver medal (rowing: men's lightweight four).

1825 Nicola Wilson won one silver medal (equestrian: team eventing).

1826 Rebecca Adlington won two bronze medals (women's 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle).

1827 Max Whitlock won two bronze medals (men's pommel horse and men's team gymnastics).

1828 Ashleigh Ball won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1829 Laura Bartlett won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1830 Jonathon Brownlee won one bronze medal (men's triathlon).

1831 Karina Bryant won one bronze medal (women's +78kg judo).

1832 Alan Campbell won one bronze medal (rowing: men's single scull).

1833 Crista Cullen won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1834 Thomas Daley won one bronze medal (diving: men's 10m platform).

1835 Alex Danson won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1836 Richard Egington won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1837 James Foad won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1838 Chris Froome won one bronze medal (cycling - road: individual time trial).

1839 Robert Grabarz won one bronze medal (men's high jump).

1840 Liam Heath won one bronze medal (canoe sprint: men's kayak double 200m).

1841 Phelan Hill won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1842 Matthew Langridge won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1843 Constantine Louloudis won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1844 Hannah Macleod won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1845 Emily Maguire won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1846 Lutalo Muhammad won one bronze medal (men's -80kg taekwondo).

1847 George Nash won one bronze medal (rowing: men's pair).

1848 Anthony Ogogo won one bronze medal (men's middle boxing).

1849 Sam Oldham won one bronze medal (men's team gymnastics).

1850 Anne Panter won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1851 Alex Partridge won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1852 Daniel Purvis won one bronze medal (men's team gymnastics).

1853 Tom Ransley won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1854 Helen Richardson won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1855 Chloe Rogers won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1856 William Satch won one bronze medal (rowing: men's pair).

1857 Mohamed Sbihi won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1858 Jon Schofield won one bronze medal (canoe sprint: men's kayak double 200m).

1859 Greg Searle won one bronze medal (rowing: men's eight).

1860 Elizabeth Storry won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1861 Kristian Thomas won one bronze medal (men's team gymnastics).

1862 Sarah Thomas won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1863 Elizabeth Tweddle won one bronze medal (women's uneven bars).

1864 Georgie Twigg won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1865 Laura Unsworth won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1866 Kate Walsh won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1867 Sally Walton won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1868 Nicola White won one bronze medal (women's hockey).

1869 Every British gold medallist has been honoured by the Royal Mail with their own postage stamp

1870 A full set of Olympic stamps , commemorating all 29 British gold medal winners, costs £139.20.

1871.Twenty-six athletes from overseas won two gold medals.

1872 Three won three.

1873 Two - one male, one female - won four.

1874 Michael Phelps (USA) won four gold medals (100m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay) and two silvers (200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay).

1875 Missy Franklin (USA) won four gold medals (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay) and one bronze (4x100m freestyle relay).

1876 Alison Schmitt (USA) won three gold medals (200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay), one silver (400m freestyle) and one bronze (4x100m freestyle relay).

1877 Usain Bolt (JAM) won three gold medals (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).

1878 Allyson Felix (USA) won three gold medals (200m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay).

1879 Dana Vollmer (USA) won three gold medals (100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay).

1880 Ryan Lochte (USA) won two gold medals (400m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay), two silvers (200m individual medley, 4x100m freestyle relay) and one bronze (200m backstroke).

1881 Sun Yang (CHN) won two gold medals (400m freestyle, 1,500m freestyle) and two bronzes (200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay).

1882 Nathan Adrian (USA) won two gold medals (100m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay) and one silver (4x100m freestyle relay).

1883 Yannick Agnel (FRA) won two gold medals (200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay) and one silver (4x200m freestyle relay).

1884 Matthew Grevers (USA) won two gold medals (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay) and one silver (4x100m freestyle relay).

1885 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) won two gold medals (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle) and one silver (4x100m freestyle relay).

1886 Rebecca Soni (USA) won two gold medals (200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay) and one silver (100m breaststroke).

1887 Alexandra Raisman (USA) won two gold medals (floor exercise, team event) and one bronze (beam).

1888 Zou Kai (CHN) won two gold medals (floor, team event) and one bronze (horizontal bar).

1889 Chen Ruolin (CHN) won two gold medals (10m platform, synchronised 10m platform).

1890 Elisa Di Francesca (ITA) won two gold medals (individual foil, team foil).

1891 Gabrielle Douglas (USA) won two gold medals (individual all-around event, team event).

1892 Feng Zhe (CHN) won two gold medals (parallel bars, team event).

1893 Natalia Ishchenko (RUS) won two gold medals (synchronised swimming)

1894 Jongoh Jin (KOR) won two gold medals (shooting - 50m pistol, 10m air pistol).

1895 Michael Jung (GER) won two gold medals (equestrian - individual eventing, team eventing).

1896 Bo Bae Ki (KOR) won two gold medals (archery - individual, team).

1897 Danuta Kozak (HUN) won two gold medals (canoe sprint - kayak single 500m and kayak four 500m).

1898 Xiaoxia Li (CHN) won two gold medals (women's table tennis, single and team events).

1899 Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) won two gold medals (400m and the 4x400 relay).

1900 Svetlana Romashina (RUS) won two gold medals (synchronised swimming).

1901.Serena Williams (USA) won two gold medals (women's tennis - singles and doubles).

1902 Minxia Wu (CHN) won two gold medals (women's diving - 3m springboard diving and synchronised 3m springboard).

1903 Shiwen Ye (CHN) won two gold medals (swimming - 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley).

1904 Jike Zhang (CHN) won two gold medals (men's table tennis - singles and team).

1905 Yunlei Zhao (CHN) won two gold medals (women's badminton -singles and mixed doubles).

1906 Alicia Coutts (AUS) won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay), three silvers (200m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay).

1907 Johan Blake (JAM) won one gold medal (4x100m relay), and two silvers (100m, 200m).

1908 Brittany Elmslie (AUS) won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay), and two silvers (4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay).

1909 Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (JAM) won one gold medal (100m), and two silvers (200m and 4x100m relay).

1910 Cullen Jones (USA) won one gold medal (4x100m medley relay) and two silvers (50m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay).

1911 Melanie Schlanger (AUS) won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay) and two silvers (4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay).

1912 Emily Seebohm won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay) and two silvers (100m backstroke and 4x100 medley relay).

1913 Kohei Uchimura (JPN) won one gold medal (gymnastics, individual all round) and two silvers (floor exercise and men's team).

1914 Aliya Mustafina (RUS) won one gold medal (uneven bars), one silver (women's team, gymnastics) and two bronzes (floor exercises and individual all-around).

1915 Carmelita Jeter (USA) won one gold medal (4x100m relay), one silver (100m) and one bronze (200m).

1916 Camille Muffat (FRA) won one gold medal (400m freestyle), one silver medal (200m freestyle) and one bronze (4x200m freestyle relay).

1917 Natalya Antyukh (RUS) won one gold medal (400m hurdles), (4x400m relay).

1918 Ricky Berens (USA) won one gold medal (4x200m freestyle relay) and one silver medal (4x100m freestyle relay).

1919 Niccolo Campriani (ITA) won one gold medal (50m rifle) and one silver (10m air rifle).

1920 Yibing Chen (CHN) won one gold medal (men's team gymnastics) and one silver medal (rings).

1921 Tina Dietze (GER) won one gold medal (500m kayak double) and one silver medal (500m kayak four).

1922 Ning Ding (CHN) won one gold medal (team table tennis) and one silver medal (singles).

1923 Arianna Errigo (ITA) won one gold medal (fencing, team foil) and one silver medal (team foil).

1924 Zi He (CHN) won one gold medal (synchronised 3m springboard), and one silver medal (3m springboard).

1925 Katalin Kovacs (HUN) won one gold (500m kayak four) and one silver (500m kayak double).

1926 Chad le Clos (RSA) won one gold medal (200m butterfly) and one silver (100m butterfly).

1927 Clement Lefert (FRA) won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay) and one silver medal (4x200m freestyle relay).

1928 Amaury Leveaux (FRA) won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay) and one silver medal (4x200m freestyle relay).

1929 McKayla Maroney (USA) won one gold medal (team gymnastics) and one silver medal (women's vault).

1930 Kai Qin (CHN) won one gold medal (synchronised 3m springboard) and one silver medal (3m springboard).

1931 Jeremy Stravius (FRA) won one gold medal (4x100m freestyle relay) and one silver medal (4x200m freestyle relay).

1932 Nick Thoman (USA) won one gold medal (4x100m medley relay) and one silver medal (100m backstroke).

1933 Hao Wang (CHN) won one gold medal (synchronised 10m platform).

1934 Franziska Weber (GER) won one gold medal (500m kayak double) and one silver medal (500m kayak four).

1935 Ilya Zakharov (RUS) won one gold medal (3m springboard) and one silver medal (synchronised 3m springboard).

1936 Sandra Auffarth (GER) won one gold medal (team eventing) and one bronze (individual eventing).

1937 Victoria Azarenka (BLR) won one gold medal (tennis, mixed doubles) and one bronze (singles).

1938 David Boudia (USA) won one gold medal (10m platform) and one bronze (synchronised 10m platform)

1939 Mike Bryan (USA) won one gold medal (tennis, men's doubles) and one bronze (mixed doubles).

1940 Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) won one gold medal (10,000m) and one bronze (5000m).

1941 Brendan Hansen (USA) won one gold medal (4x100m medley relay) and one bronze (100m breaststroke).

1942 Jessica Hardy (USA) won one gold medal (4x100m medley relay) and one bronze (4x100m freestyle relay).

1943 Sandra Raluca Izbasa (ROU) won one gold medal (women's vault) and one bronze (team gymnastics).

1944 Anna Meares (AUS) won one gold medal (cycling, sprint) and one bronze (team sprint).

1945 Oussama Mellouli (TUN) won one gold medal (swimming, 10km marathon).

1946 Jin Hyek Oh (KOR) won one gold medal (men's individual archery) and one bronze (team archery).

1947 Yujie Sun (CHN) won one gold medal (fencing, women's team epee) and one bronze (team epee).

1948 DeeDee Trotter (USA) won one gold medal (4x400m relay) and one bronze (400m).

1949 Valentina Vezzali (ITA) won one gold medal (fencing, women's team foil) and one bronze (individual foil).

1950 Other heroes of 2012 who will not be receiving medals but who must surely be in line for some kind of additional honour include Lord Coe, Chairman of Locog.

1951 Already one of Britain's great Olympic heroes, Coe was a prime mover both in securing the right to host the Games and, more remarkably, making them such a resounding success.

1952 Lord Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association, might also expect some kind of recognition The difficulty, as with Lord Coe, is that he is already a lord.

1953 Roger Mosey, Head of BBC Olympic Coverage, planned the BBCs excellent Olympic overage, erasing the awful BBC coverage of the Jubilee celebrations.

1954 Garrett Emmerson, TFL Chief Operating Officer, will also be looking back on the Games with satisfaction A 30 per cent increase in public transport passengers was handled easily, while official Olympic traffic met 90 per cent of its targets.

1955 Dave Brailsford, performance director of British Cycling, will be basking in the success of Hoy, Wiggins and co.

1956 Brailsford faced criticism for allowing his cyclists to compete in the Tour de France just before the Olympics but with eight gold medals that now looks like good planning.

1957 And David Tanner, Performance director of British Rowing, will take credit for Team GB's nine rowing medals - 50 per cent more than their target.

1958.But the most popular choice for an honour would be the 70,000 volunteers, or Games Makers Don't be surprised if, following popular pressure, they are collectively issued with some kind of special medal.

GOOD-TIME GAMES

1959 Visa reported an increase in spending of over 24 per cent in London's nightclubs during the Games.

1960 The Chinawhite club in Fitzrovia has created a "Last Lap" club within the club during the Games.

1961 Guests have included Zara Phillips, Sir Chris Hoy, Ryan Lochte, Rebecca Adlington and Victoria Pendleton.

1962 The club claims it has welcomed 1,500 athletes during the Olympics, including 50 gold medalists.

1963 They have consumed 1,100 bottles of champagne, 800 bottles of vodka and more beer than the club usually sells in a year.

1964 Gold medallists have been offered a free Golden Cocktail, a £2,012 drink made of cognac and champagne flecked with gold with three gold rings sunk in the glass.

1965 DJs have included Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong and US gold medal winning swimmer Tyler Clary (without his shirt).

1966 Last week, Ryan Lochte, the US swimmer, celebrated his birthday with teammates at Planet Hollywood with mini burgers, pizza, beer and a cocktail called the Swimming Pool.

1967 Phelps, his rival in the US team, was instead at Omega House, a pop-up members' club on Greek Street in London.

1968 Omega House presented a Taste of Brazil night on Friday, attended by GB athletes including Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith.

1969 British cyclist Bradley Wiggins was photographed meeting his Mod hero Paul Weller at Kensington Roof Gardens in West London.

1970 Olympic cocktails have included the Five Rings Martini (The Dukes, Mayfair), United Dream (The Ritz) and False Start (Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts chain).

1971 The Dr Dre Beats headphones brand has hosted a pop-up bar inside Shoreditch House in East London Team GB athletes who attended were given a free pair of headphones, many of which appeared in coverage of the Games.

1972 Usain Bolt, not content with entertaining half the Swedish female handball team in his room in the Athletes' Village, also found the stamina for another marathon night when he left the Movida nightclub at 6am Earlier he was seen DJing at the Puma Yard bar on Brick Lane, east London.

1973 The Belgian track cyclist Gijs Van Hoecke had to be carried out of Mahiki nightclub, apparently, having spilt or drink - or worse - down his top and trousers.

1974 He had reportedly been drinking the club's notorious Treasure Chest cocktail, which is brandy and peach liqueur shaken with lime and sugar and topped up with Moet champagne.

1975 US Olympics veteran Ronda Rousey said last month: "There's a lot of beautiful people in the best shape of their lives coming together in one village My only advice is condoms Be safe, people."

1976 Ryan Lochte attempted to clarify a quote from his own mother, who had tried to explain hiss single status: "He goes out on one-night stands."

1977 She meant "dates" rather than one-night stands, Lochte claimed.

1978 When he was asked earlier in the year about sex in the Olympic village, he said: "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."

THE VERDICT

1979 Sebastian Coe, London organizing committee chief: "We lit the flame, and we lit up the world… When our time came, Britain, we did it right."

1980 David Cameron, Prime Minister: "You only need two words to sum up these Games: Britain delivered…."

1981 Boris Johnson, London Mayor: "Ireckon we have knocked Beijing - with all respect to our Chinese friends, and greatly though I admired those Games - into a cocked hat."

1982 Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee: "These were happy and glorious Games… Many young people will be inspired to take up a sport or to pursue their dreams."

1983 Aleksander Yakovenko, Russian ambassador to the UK: "In a word, it was not bad What impressed everyone, what was really moving, was of course the work of volunteers."

1984 Ricky Berens, two-time Olympic Gold medallist: "Thank you #London for those incredible Olympic games So sad that they are already over Really was incredible to be a part of 2012games!"

1985 Ed Miliband, Labour leader: "Long after the closing ceremony we will be telling stories to each other and our children about the summer of 2012."

1986 David Segal, New York Times: "The Games have hit this country like an extra-strength dose of a mood-enhancing drug."

1987 Ian Thorpe, former Olympic swimming champion: "Can't believe it's all over This has been one of the greatest Olympic Games Well done to all the volunteers and athletes."

1988 Tom Daley, diver: "What an absolutely amazing Olympic games!!! Britain should really be proud! RIO has a very tough act to follow in 2016!"

1989 Leo Gryner, chief executive of Rio 2016, said: "I have to congratulate London for putting on such a successful and well-managed Games and we hope we can achieve the same result…"

1990 Mike Wise, Washington Post: " London delivered a rousing Olympics.. The consensus is these were the most organized, enthralling and enjoyable Games since Sydney in 2000."

1991 Martin Amis Novelist: "We had a terrible shock this time last year when the riots broke out, so there will be a real change in the way we think about our lives Not just because we can cycle, swim and row, but because our armies of volunteers have given up their time to contribute so much."

1992 Rupert Murdoch, media tycoon: "London Olympics great lift to UK Low defeatist morale gone for now Can it last? Entire organisation shows what can be done."

1993 Paula Radcliffe, world marathon record holder: "The games makers, officials and helpers all over London have been the best and the nicest I have ever seen at five Olympics."

1994 Alastair Campbell, writing for CNN: "I always thought London 2012 would be a success, but never imagined it would be quite the triumph it has turned out to be.. The Games have given London two of the most remarkable weeks in a great city's rich history."

1995 Sally Gunnell, 1992 gold medallist: "The feeling in London is so great that I believe it has to continue in some way."

1996 Peter Wilson, London-based correspondent for The Australian: "As awful as it is to admit, London 2012 was bigger, slicker, almost as friendly and more thoughtfully planned than Sydney in terms of the legacy it will leave the host city."

1997 Chris O'Dowd, comedian and actor in Bridesmaids: "Really gonna miss da Olympics Amazing job London."

1998 Greg Baum, chief sports columnist and associate editor with The Melbourne Age newspaper, said "These Olympics had Sydney's vibrancy, Athens's panache, Beijing's efficiency, and added British know-how and drollery With apologies to Sydney, they might just represent a new PB for the Olympics."

1999 Sean Fitz-Gerald, Ottawa Citizen: "If London welcomed the world with a flurry of questions from security to traffic, weather and labour strife, it will send the world home with almost nothing bad to say."

2000 Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho: ‏"I don't believe in guilty pleasures but I love the closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics I love the Brits I can't help it."

2001 David Leggat, New Zealand Herald: "Hats off to the Lord Coe and his Locog planning chums They can put their feet up knowing London did itself, and the Olympics, proud."

2002 Kate Nash, singer: "To the athletes that made me laugh & cry & hopefully inspired a whole generation of young people Olympics were awesome GoLondon!"

THE FUTURE

2003 Whether or not the success of London 2012 can be converted into a lasting legacy of any kind is a question that will be debated by politicians and pundits for years to come.

2004 Meanwhile, the one thing that can be said with certainty is that the Olympic juggernaut itself will rumble on.

2005 The next Games, in 2016, will be held in Brazil, in Rio de Janiero, the first Olympics to take place in South America.

2006 Brazil plans to spend about £13bn on infrastructure - a considerable advance on London, but still much less than Beijing invested.

2007 There have been worries that residents of favelas being uprooted for construction are being badly treated Families forced to move get only $16,000 in compensation, far too little to buy a new home in the city.

2008 Despite the troubles that have dogged the planning process, Brazilians are bullish about their prospects for a successful Games.

2009 "We are less organised," one Rio resident was quoted as saying yesterday "But we will throw the better party."

2010 Sporting experts are warning us not to expect such a strong showing again from Team GB.

2011 But there will certainly be plenty of medal prospects The likes of Laura Trott and Tom Daley will be in their prime And Sir Chris Hoy said he was 99.99 per cent sure not to compete again - leaving himself just the same kind of wriggle room that Sir Steve Redgrave did at Atlanta in 1996."

2012 Coming soon: 2016 reasons to look forward to the Rio Olympics...

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