Great Britain London
XXX Summer International Olympic Games

The opening ceremony was celebrated on July 27 in the new Olympic Stadium, accommodating 80,000 spectators, built especially for the Games. The ceremony was called “Isles of Wonder”. Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle was its artistic director. The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Thereafter live music was performed by Mike Oldfield who rearranged 20-minute segments from “Tubular Bells”. At the end of the ceremony, Sir Paul McCartney sang the songs “The End” and “Hey Jude”.
The Olympic Programme had been revised. On August 13, 2009, the IOC Executive Committee for the first time included women’s boxing. Female boxers competed in three weight classes (51, 60 and 75 kg), 12 athletes in each. Meanwhile one men’s class was dropped. For the first time the female athletes could compete in all sports. In the canoeing format, the men’s C-2 500-m race was replaced by the women’s K-1 200-m sprint. Besides, all men’s 500-m sprints (K-1, K-2, C-1) were replaced by a 200-m race. In the tennis format, for the first time since 1924, mixed doubles were officially included. In the sailing format, the Tornado Class Catamaran competition was dropped, and the Elliot race replaced the Yngling competition. In the cycling format, the men’s and women’s individual pursuit and points race, as well as the men’s Madison were removed. Team sprint, team pursuit and keirin were added to the women’s programme, while Omnium became a new race for both men and women.
The handball programme was also slightly revised – a tournament for 5–8 places between the teams lost in the quarterfinals was dropped. The modern pentathlon format was revised too – the running and shooting events were combined. In general, the 2012 Summer Olympic programme featured 26 sports encompassing 39 disciplines. 

COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL