The 2012 Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, also known informally as London 2012, is scheduled to take place in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July (when the opening ceremony is held) until 12 August 2012. The first event, the group stages in women's football, began two days earlier on 25 July. Over 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are expected to participate.
Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris. London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.
Construction in preparation for the Games has involved considerable redevelopment, particularly themed towards sustainability.The main focus of this is a new 200 hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford in the east of London. The Games also make use of many venues which were already in place before the bid.
Mascots
The official mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled on 19 May 2010; this marks the second time (after Vancouver) that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time. Wenlock and Mandeville are animations depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks inBolton. They are named Wenlock, after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games, and Mandeville, afterStoke Mandeville, a village in Buckinghamshire where a forerunner to the Paralympic Games were first held. The writer Michael Morpurgo wrote the story concept to the mascots, and an animation was produced; it is intended that this will form part of an ongoing series concerning the mascots in the run-up to the Games in 2012. Two stories have been created about the mascots: Out Of A Rainbow, the story of how Wenlock and Mandeville came to be, and Adventures On A Rainbow, which features the children from Out Of A Rainbow meeting the mascots and trying out many different Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Medals
Approximately 4,700Olympic and Paralympic medals have been produced by the Royal Mint.They were designed by David Watkins (Olympics) and Lin Cheung (Paralympics). Virtually all the gold, silver and copper was mined in Salt Lake County. Each medal weighs 375–400g, has a diameter of 85mm and is 7mm thick, with the sport and discipline engraved on the rim.The obverse, as is traditional, features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stepping from thePanathinaiko Stadium that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, with Parthenon in the background; the reverse features the Games logo, the River Thames and a series of lines representing "the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together". The medals were transferred to the Tower of London vaults on 2 July 2012 for storage.
Test events
Many test events will be held throughout 2011 and 2012, either through an existing championship such as 2012 Wimbledon Championships or as a specially created event held under the banner of London Prepares. Some events are closed to the public, others are ticketed. Basketball and BMX were the first events to be tested within the Olympic Park.
Torch relay
The Olympics torch relay runs from 19 May to 27 July 2012, before the games. Plans for the relay were developed in 2010–11, with the torch-bearer selection process announced on 18 May 2011. The Olympic Flame arrived on flight BA2012 on 18 May 2012 from Greece. The relay will last 70 days, with 66 evening celebrations and six island visits, involving about 8,000 people carrying the torch a distance of about 8,000 miles (12,800 km), starting from Land's End in Cornwall. The torch had one day outside of the United Kingdom when it visited Dublin on 6 June. The relay is focusing on National Heritage Sites, locations and venues with sporting significance, key sporting events, schools registered with the Get Set School Network, green spaces and biodiversity, Live Sites (city locations with large screens), festivals and other events.
Opening ceremony
The Opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics will be held on 27 July 2012 and be called "The Isles of Wonder". Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle will be the artistic director for the opening ceremony and the music directors will be Rick Smith and Karl Hyde of the electronic music duo Underworld.
The games will be officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. A short film starring Daniel Craig as secret agent James Bond will be screened during the television coverage of the ceremony. Sir Paul McCartney has announced he will perform at the end of the ceremony.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics will start on 12 August 2012. The ceremony will include a handover by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, to Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, the host city of 2016 Summer Olympics. The Spice Girls are rumoured to be reuniting for the first time since 2008 to perform in the closing ceremony.
URUGUAY DELEGATION:
http://www.london2012.com/athletes/country=uruguay/index.htmx
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