Stars of 2012 London Olympic Games

1. Michael Phelps: The now retired American swimmer was already a legend before the London Olympic Games, and though Phelps had a slow start by his standards, he was quick to recapture his best form and win six medals - four gold and two silver - to end his career with 22 Olympic medals. Phelps is now not only the most decorated Olympian of all time, but also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (18, double that of the next highest record holders), Olympic gold medals in individual events (11), and Olympic medals in individual events for a male (13). To add to this impressive list, Phelps won the 200 metre individual medley at the London Games, and this made him the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics.

2. Usain Bolt: 'Lightning Bolt' came into the London Games under pressure and with many experts sceptical about his ability to repeat his heroics of Beijing. But, Bolt proved his detractors wrong, as he won the gold medal in the 100 metres, 200 metres and the 4x100 metre relay - the same as in Beijing. He is the first to achieve a "double double" by winning 100m and 200m titles at consecutive Olympics (2008 and 2012), and topped this through the first "double triple" (including 4x100m relays).

3. Missy Franklin: The 17-year-old American swimmer ensured her Olympic debut would be memorable as she won five medals - four gold and one bronze. She swept the women's backstroke events, winning gold in both the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke. Franklin not only set a new world record in the 200 metre backstroke, but she also became the first American female to win the event at the Olympics since Melissa Belote did in 1972. In her final event, the 400d7100-metre medley relay, Franklin won gold with Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Allison Schmitt. Swimming the backstroke leg, Franklin recorded a time of 58.50 seconds, and the U.S. team went on to set the world record with a time of 3:52.05, besting the Chinese-owned record of 3:52.19 set in 2009.

4. Sushil Kumar: He was India's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, and Sushil Kumar ended the Games on a historic note even though he missed out on a gold medal. Sushil lost to Japan's Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the 66kg freestyle wrestling final, but made history by becoming the the first Indian to win two individual Olympic medals. Sushil had won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

5. Ye Shiwen: China's Ye Shiwen stunned the swimming world by covering the penultimate, freestyle lap of the 400 metres individual medley faster than Michael Phelps in the men's final, and her last lap quicker than Ryan Lochte in winning the male equivalent. "I was trying my best to come from behind," said the 16-year-old, who won two gold medals and was forced to fend off doping insinuations that were unsupported by any evidence.

6. Laura Trott: Britain's Laura Trott emerged as the next big name in track cycling. At her first Games, she claimed two golds, in team pursuit and the six-event omnium, and at 20 was the youngest female track rider to win gold at any Olympics.

7. Mo Farah: On 4 August 2012, Farah won the 10,000 metre gold in a time of 27:30.42. This was Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in the 10,000m. On 11 August 2012 Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the 5000 metres in a time of 13:41.66.

8. Elisa Di Francisca: The 29-year-old Italian fencer won the gold medal in the individual foil event in the 2012 London Olympics, and then followed it up with a gold in the team foil event.

9. Dana Vollmer: The 24-year-old American swimmer set the world record on her way to the gold medal in the 100-metres butterfly and won gold in the 4x100-metres medley relay and 4x200-metres freestyle relay.

10. Kohei Uchimura: The first gymnast (male or female) to win three consecutive world all around titles, Uchimura won a gold medal in the men's all-around competition and a silver medal in the men's floor routine. In the men's team gymnastics final, Uchimura fell from the pommel horse during his dismount. The Japanese coaches appealed the scoring on this performance as he still landed on his feet and felt it should have counted as a full dismount, albeit with a large penalty. Before the appeal, Britain were to get silver and Ukraine bronze, but the appeal pushed Japan's points total up to get the silver and pushing Britain down to bronze.

11. Gabby Douglas: The 16-year-old US gymnast, nicknamed the Flying Squirrel, won both a team gold and the all-around individual competition. Douglas is the first African-American to take the all-around title.

12. Ranomi Kromowidjojo: She was part of Netherlands' silver medal-winning 4x100m freestly relay team in London, but the 21-year-old secured her place in Dutch swimming history by winning both the 50 metres and 100 metres freestyle events at the 2012 Olympics.

13. Chad le Clos: The South African swimmer won the gold medal in the 200 metre butterfly in 1min 52.96 sec, edging out the 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion and world record holder, Michael Phelps, by 0.05 seconds. Le Clos also won the silver medal in the 100 metre butterfly, tied with Yevgeny Korotyshkin in a time of 51.44 sec, at 0.23 sec behind Phelps.

14. Rebbeca Soni: The first woman to swim the 200-metres breaststroke in under 2 minutes 20 seconds, Soni successfully defended her Olympic title in the 200-metre breaststroke at the London Games in world record time, becoming the first woman to do so in the event. Soni also won the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke and was part of the gold medal-winning US 4x100 metre medley team.

15. Mahe Drysdale: New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale held on for victory in the men's Olympic single sculls to cement his position as one of the sport's mostsuccessful scullers and gain redemption for his bitter loss at the Beijing Games. Drysdale slowly moved through his fierce rival Ondrej Synek from the Czech Republic in a thrilling side-by-side race that was only settled in the final 200 metres of the clash.

16. Serena Williams: She demolished Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-1 to grab Olympic tennis singles gold, becoming the first player in the sport to win all four grand slams and an Olympic title in both singles and doubles. Serena then combined with her sister Venus to retain their Olympic tennis women's doubles gold as the sisters became the first tennis players ever to win four golds each.

17. Zhao Yunlei: The badminton player won two gold medals for China at the London Olympics - Mixed Doubles with Zhang Nan and Women's doubles with Tian Qing. She is the first player ever to win two gold medals in badminton at the same Olympic Games.

18. Jessica Ennis:The face of the Games, Ennis became the golden girl of the London Olympics when she won the heptathlon title; this was Britain's first track and field gold of the Games. Ennis finished like a champion by winning the 800 meters for a combined total of 6,955 points for the seven disciplines that make up the event. Only American world record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Sweden's Carolina Kluft and Russian Larisa Turchinskaya have scored more.

19. Sun Yang: He won the 400m and 1500m freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Chinese man ever to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. At the 2012 Olympics, he was one of two male swimmers to win two individual titles, the other being Michael Phelps. Sun also won the silver medal in the 200m freestyle and anchored the Chinese team to a bronze in the 400d7200 freestyle relay.

20. Lin Dan: China's Lin Dan overhauled Lee Chong Wei in the final of the men's badminton singles to become the first man to defend the title. Lee charged out of the blocks to raise Malaysian hopes of a first ever Olympic gold medal but Lin dug deep for a 15-21 21-10 21-19 victory in a 79-minute classic, denying his long-time rival in their second successive Olympic final.

21. Ben Ainslie: Britain2019s Ben Ainslie became the most successful Olympic sailor, winning gold in the single-handed Finn class to claim a record-breaking fifth consecutive medal. Ainslie added to his three golds and a silver in successive Games by beating Danish sailor Jonas Hogh-Christensen into the silver medal position on points.

22. Andy Murray: The Scot demolished Roger Federer 6-2 6-1 6-4 to win the gold medal in the men's tennis singles. From the moment that Murray moved 4-2 ahead in the first set he barely gave Federer a look-in, rattling off nine games in a row to seize complete control of the final. Murray also won silver medal with Laura Robson in the mixed doubles.

23. Oscar Pistorius: The first double amputee to take part in the Olympics, Pistorius didn't win any medals, but he won crowds over with his courage. Pistorius participated in the 400 metres sprint and the 4 00d7 400 metres relay. He was eliminated in the semi-final of the 400 metres sprint (finishing last with a time of 46.19 seconds), but, as part of South Africa's silver medal winning relay team, he became the first amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal although he was not selected for the final.

24. Sanya Richards-Ross: The 27-year-old Richards-Ross finished the women2019s 400m in 49.55 to win the gold medal; she also ran the anchor leg of the gold medal-winning US women's 4x400m relay team.

25. Arthur Zanetti: The Brazilian created a sensation when he won the gold medal bettering China's reigning champion in the men's rings final competition at the London Olympics. Zanetti is also Brazil's first Olympics gymnastics champion.

26. Mary Kom: The Indian boxing legend had to settle for bronze as she lost to Britain's Nicola Adams in her 51 kg semifinal bout. Facing the toughest bout of her life, Mary Kom was outclassed and outpunched by Nicola Adams as she lost the match 11-6. A five-time World Champion, Mary Kom created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic boxing medal. She was also India's flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

27. Epke Zonderland: "The flying Dutchman" won an Olympic gold medal in the high bar at the London Games with a personal best score of 16.533. His routine included a Cassina-Kovacs-Kolman combination. He is the first Dutch male gymnast to win a medal at the Olympics as well as the first Dutch gymnast (male or female) to win an individual Olympic medal.

28. Anna Meares: Australia's Anna Meares overcame arch-rival Victoria Pendleton to win the Olympic track cycling women's sprint title. It was Meares's second Olympic title after she won gold in the time trial in Athens eight years ago and exacted a modicum of revenge over Pendleton who beat her to the sprint title in Beijing.

29. Sir Chris Hoy: Great Britain's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the London Games, Hoy won gold in the team sprint with Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes, setting a new world record in the velodrome and becoming Team GB's joint gold record holder with Sir Steve Redgrave's tally of five gold medals with a total of six medals (5 gold, 1 silver). Hoy also won gold in the Keirin to overtake Sir Steve Redgrave and become the most successful British olympian ever, winning a total of 6 gold medals; this also made him the joint holder of most medals won by a British athlete in the Olympic Games with Bradley Wiggins.

30. Allyson Felix: The 26-year-old American won three gold medals at the London Olympics - 200 metres, 4x100 metres relay and 4x400 metres. It was third time lucky in the 200 metres for Felix after she won the silver medal in that event at Athens and Beijing. Felix said she had been inspired by American gymnastics gold medallist Dominique Dawes when she watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

31. Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor: The American beach volleyball queens won their third successive Olympic gold medal by beating compatriots Jennifer Kessy and April Ross. No other beach volleyball team, men or women, have retained an Olympic title, let alone won a third.

32. Evgeniya Kanaeva: Russian Evgeniya Kanaeva became the first rhythmic gymnast to win back-to-back individual Olympic all-around golds. Kanaeva, who owns a mind-boggling 17 world titles, was a class apart from her rivals as she picked up top scores on three of the four apparatus - hoop, ball and clubs - to run away with the title with 116.900 points.

33. Charlotte Dujardin: The British dressage rider won two gold medals (individual and team) at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

34. David Rudisha: Kenya's David Rudisha capped four years of dominance in the 800 metres by storming to gold in a world record time. The world champion scorched around the Olympic Stadium in one minute 40.91 to beat the mark of 1.41.01 he set two years ago in Italy. Rudisha's record-breaking run was later hailed by Games chairman and former record holder Seb Coe as the "stand out performance" of the London Olympics.

35. Oussama Melouli: Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli won the gold medal in the men's swimming marathon at the London Olympics to become the first swimmer to get medals in the pool and open water. Mellouli won the 1,500 metres freestyle gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and used his superior speed to burst clear of his rivals and win the gruelling 10-kilometre race in the Serpentine in London's Hyde Park. Mellouli entered the 1,500 in London and won a bronze medal, but was no match for China's Sun Yang, who smashed his own world record.

36. Ashton Eaton: The American deservedly took the unofficial title of the world's greatest athlete when he won gold in the Olympic decathlon with a total of 8,869 points. Eaton had virtually sealed the gold medal after nine of the 10 events.

37. Alexandra Raisman: She was captain of the gold medal-winning US Women's Gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympics and individually won a gold medal on the floor and a bronze medal on the balance beam. Raisman is the first American woman to win the gold medal on floor

38. Meseret Defar: The long-distance runner from Ethiopia won the gold medal in the 5000 metres edging out fellow countrywoman and favourite Tirunesh Dibaba. Defar pulled away from her tired rival to triumph eight years after taking gold in Athens, crossing the line with her arms in the air before kissing a religious picture she had carried in her top and falling to the track in tears.

39. Stephen Kiprotich delivered Uganda's first Olympic athletics gold medal in 40 years by stunning the Kenyan challenge in the London marathon. The 23-year-old followed in the footsteps of his late compatriot John Akii-Bua, 400 metres hurdles champion in Munich in 1972.

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