London 2012
The Olympic Games in London, UK, in 2012 were the 30th in the modern era.
In the games, 10,500 athletes from 204 countries participated, competing in 26 different sports.
The USA won the most medals – 103 in total, followed by (88 medals) and the host Britain with a respectable number of 65 medals.
Most of the records in the games were broken in the swimming competitions (9 world records) and athletics (4 world records).
The American swimmer Michael Phelps finished the Olympics with 6 medals, thus becoming the most decorated athlete in the history of the Olympic Games ever.
The Israeli team for London included 37 athletes (the third largest in history), but this team returned without a medal, for the first time after 5 Olympics in which it won at least one medal.
Israel requested the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jack Rogge, to hold a ceremony during the opening ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes in Munich ’72.
However, despite the heavy pressure exerted on the matter by both U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President of the International Olympic Committee decided not to accede to the request.
