2012 Fact Sheet

2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games Facts

• Olympic Games Dates: July 27 - August 12, 2012
• Paralympic Games Dates: August 29 - September 9, 2012
• Official Motto: Live as One

OLYMPIC GAMES BY THE NUMBERS

• 2 New disciplines on the Olympic Program in 2012 - women’s boxing & mixed doubles tennis
• 26/38 Number of Olympic sports/disciplines
• 34 Number of Olympic venues
• 205 Countries expected to participate
• 300 Number of events
• 600 Estimated number of U.S. athletes to compete
• 1,800 Estimated size of U.S. delegation
• 10,500 Athletes expected to participate
• 20,000 Media expected to participate
• 9 million Tickets expected to be sold (Olympic + Paralympic)

PARALYMPIC GAMES BY THE NUMBERS

• 20 Number of Paralympic venues
• 20/21 Number of Paralympic sports/disciplines
• 150 Countries expected to participate
• 213 Estimated number of U.S. athletes to compete
• 400 Estimated size of U.S. delegation
• 500 Number of medal events
• 4,200 Athletes expected to participate

OLYMPIC PROGRAM CHANGES

• Dropped sports: baseball, softball
• Added sports: none
• Added disciplines: women’s boxing, mixed doubles tennis
• Program Changes
• Track Cycling -- eliminated men’s & women’s points races, men’s Madison,
4,000-meter individual pursuit for men and 3,000-meter pursuit for women. The
new Olympic program includes: men’s and women’s competition in individual
sprint, team sprint, keirin, team pursuit and the five-race omnium event. The omni-
um combines performances in a 3-kilometer individual pursuit, 200-meter sprint,
1-kilometer time trial, 15-kilometer points race and 5-kilometer scratch race.
• Canoe Sprint -- replacement of men’s C2 500m with women’s K1 200m; replace-
ment of the remaining three men’s 500m sprint events with 200m sprint events.
• Modern Pentathlon -- implementation of a new combined run-shoot format.
• Fencing -- due to the team event rotation, men’s team epee and women’s team
sabre will not be contested.

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 LONDON GAMES FACTS
• London becomes the first city to stage the Olympic Games three times
(1908, 1948 and 2012). Athens, Los Angeles and Paris have hosted the summer
Games twice, while Lake Placid and St. Moritz have hosted the Olympic Winter
Games twice.

• The London 2012 Games will be centered around the Olympic Park in east London, which will be the site of a
number of new sports venues. Up to 180,000 spectators a day will enter the Park to enjoy the Games, making it the
principal focus of Olympic activity in summer 2012.

• The main venues – the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and BMX Circuit, as well as the hockey, hand-
ball and basketball arenas – will be easily accessible through a network of footbridges and walkways within the
Olympic Park. The Olympic Village will be within walking distance of all the venues in the Park, enhancing the ex-
perience for athletes and officials. The use of other prestigious venues – such as Wembley Stadium for football, the
All-England Club in Wimbledon for tennis, Lord’s Cricket Ground for archery and Horse Guards Parade for beach
volleyball – is also a feature of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• Logo: The brand and vision for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was unveiled on June 4,
2007. The London 2012 brand was designed to be dynamic, modern and flexible. The Olympic emblem is based on
the number 2012 - the year the Games take place and includes the Olympic Rings and the word London. For the
first time the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games emblems have been based on the same core shape. Available
in four colors – pink, blue, green and orange - the new emblem symbolizes the Olympic spirit and the ability of the
Games to inspire people to take part - not just as spectators, but as volunteers, in the Cultural Olympiad and more.

• Mascots: London 2012 unveiled its mascots on May 19, 2010. Wenlock and his Paralympic companion Mandeville
were created from the last drops of steel left over from the construction of the final support beam for the Olympic
Stadium. The mascots’ names reflect the UK’s rich Olympic and Paralympic histories. Wenlock’s name is inspired
by the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock, which helped inspire the founder of the modern Olympic Movement,
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, to create the Olympic Games. Mandeville’s name is inspired by Stoke Mandeville in
Buckinghamshire. The Stoke Mandeville Games, widely recognized as a forerunner of the modern Paralympic
movement, were first held at the hospital there.

• Torch Relay: Lit in Olympia, Greece, the Olympic Flame will arrive in the UK on May 18, 2012. Eight thousand Torch-
bearers will carry the Flame on a 70-day journey throughout the nations and regions of the UK. There will be a Torch-
bearer nomination process due to be announced in May 2011. Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung are the Present-
ing Partners for the Torch Relay.

• Opening Ceremony: Oscar award-winning director Danny Boyle is serving as the

Artistic Director for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. Boyle won
Best Director for the 2008 film “Slumdog Millionaire” -- a film that captured a total of
eight Academy Awards.

STORYLINES
Olympic Inclusion: The 2012 Olympic Games will mark the Olympic debut of women’s
boxing. The IOC announced that three women’s weight classes – flyweight (112 lbs),
the lightweight (132 lbs), and the middleweight (165 lbs) divisions – will be contested
in London. Several top athletes have made changes to their competition weights to fit
into one of the three Olympic weight classes following the IOC decision. With a total of
36 spots (12 in each of the three weight classes), available to women from around the
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 globe; the competition for the Olympic berths will be highly competitive both
nationally and internationally.

Pentathlon Remodeled: Some radical changes to the equipment and compe-

tition format await the modern pentathlon competitors at the 2012 Olympic
Games in London. The first notable change has been the reduction of the
competition from five separate events to four, with the running and shooting events now combined into one event
much like the Winter Games biathlon. In the new format, competitors begin the run/shoot at staggered intervals based
on their point totals heading into the last event.

Suits vs. Swimmers: For the last few years, suits, not swimmers, have ruled the pool. More than 200 world records have
fallen since the birth of the high-tech suit in 2008, just months before the Olympic Games. Swimming fans everywhere
debated whether it was the suit or the swimmer that led to the new times in the history books. But now the days of
debate are behind us, as polyurethane suits have been banned from competition by FINA. The men will sport jammers,
and the women will wear suits cut off at the knee.

Mixed Doubles Returns: Mixed doubles will make its return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1924, and
top-ranked Americans Andy Roddick (Austin, Texas) and Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) have already
Tweeted about the possibility of partnering together.

Tracking Changes: Four events were taken off the Olympic track cycling slate: the men’s and women’s individual pur-
suit, points race, scratch race and men’s Madison. In place of the four eliminated events, the IOC added the team sprint,
team pursuit and the multi-event omnium competition. This indreases the number of women track cyclists competing
to 84 -- up from 35 in Beijing. While the elimination of the individual pursuit is a hit to the American squad who has
won nearly half of the world championships in that event over the last four years; the mandate that no more than one
start spot per country will be awarded for each event is likely to have an even larger effect on traditional track cycling
powerhouses like Great Britain and Australia, leaving them with the possibility of far fewer representatives in 2012.

Canoe/Kayak Replacements: On the canoe/kayak Olympic program for London, the men’s C2 500m has been re-
placed with women’s K1 200m, and the remaining three men’s 500m sprint events with 200m sprint events. The 1000
meter distances will remain for men as the traditional ‘blue ribbon’ events and 500 meter for the women. There will be
more women represented at the 2012 Games in canoeing and the 200 meter kayaking for men will provide a more
watchable and entertaining format presenting some nail-biting finishes.

Fencing Rotation: Since the introduction of Women’s Saber to the Olympic Program in 1996, the fencing team dis-
ciplines contested at each Games rotate. While the International Fencing Federation
(FIE) seeks to accomadate every fending discipline, the IOC has elected not to add more
medals for fencing. The FIE has chosen to rotate which fencing disciplines will not have
the team event and for 2012 the disciplines to feature the individual competition but
no team competition are Men’s Epee and Women’s Sabre. This leaves 10 total events for
the London Olympic competition: Men’s & Women’s Individual Epee; Men’s & Women’s
Individual Foil; Men’s & Women’s Individual Saber; Men’s & Women’s Team Foil; Women’s
Team Epee; and Men’s Team Sabre. Overall, a total of 102 men and 102 women will com-
pete in London. Team USA captured bronze in the Women’s Team Saber in Beijing after
going 1-2-3 in the individual event.

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 TEAM USA STORYLINES
Streaking: The U.S. women’s basketball team is riding a current 33-0 Olympic
winning streak, which dates back to the 1992 Olympic bronze-medal game. As
the winners of the last four Olympic gold medals, the USA Basketball squad be-
came the first traditional team sport to capture four consecutive gold medals.

Troy Dumais: Will three-time Olympian Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) become the first U.S. male diver to compete in
four Olympic Games? Dumais, now 30, remains one of the top male divers in the United States. A 30-time national
champion (second only to Greg Louganis), Dumais won the silver medal on 3-meter at the 2009 World Championships
and sixth on 3-meter at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Should he compete in London, he would be the first
U.S. male to dive in four Olympic Games (Louganis made four Olympic teams, but did not compete in 1980).

The Zagunis Era: Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) is on a quest to extend her streak of Olympic gold to three straight
Games. The two-time reigning Olympic champion in women’s saber is at the top of her game, and is one of the best
American fencers ever. In November 2010, she won her second consecutive world title, capturing gold in women’s
saber at the 2010 World Championships. Zagunis will not be able to add a team saber Olympic medal to her neck as it
is not a part of the 2012 Olympic program.

Beijing Olympians: 2008 Olympic team silver-medalist Alicia Sacramone (Winchester, Mass.) made a triumphant
comeback by winning the world vault title at the 2010 World Championships in October. She became just the second
U.S. woman to win the world vault title, and she now has one gold, one silver and two bronze world vault medals.
Sacramone’s career world medal total is now nine (three gold, four silver and two bronze), tying Shannon Miller and
Nastia Liukin as the U.S. women with the most world medals. 2008 Olympic all-around champion Liukin (Parker, Texas),
who has five Olympic and nine world medals, is considering a comeback, as is 2008 Olympic balance beam champion
Shawn Johnson (West Des Moines, Iowa), who has four Olympic and three world medals. Their 2008 Olympic team-
mates, Chellsie Memmel (West Allis, Wis.) and Samantha Peszek (Indianapolis, Ind.), are considering their elite competi-
tion options.

Changing Wind: 2008 Olympic gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), the first woman in 20 years to bring
home gold in sailing, has proven her sailing talent and versatility by switching boats for her next Olympic campaign.
She has transitioned from a singlehanded dinghy, the Laser Radial, to skippering a three-person keel boat in the new
Women’s Match Racing event, which makes its debut at the 2012 Games. Tunnicliffe joined forces with Molly Vande-
moer and 2008 Olympian Debbie Capozzi. The sailing venue in London -- the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing
Academy -- was the first venue completed for the 2012 Games.

Return of the King: No one is quite sure what events 14-time Olympic gold medalist
Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) will look to compete in come 2012. Will Phelps chal-
lenge backstroke kings Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) or Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach,
Calif.) in the backstroke events, or will he attempt to take back his world record in the
200m free and win another gold medal? Could he try his hand at some sprint freestyle
events, or will he stick to his tried-and-true 200m butterfly?

Return of Wambach: At forward, the U.S. will be relying once again on Abby Wambach
(Rochester, N.Y.) who has fully recovered from the broken leg that knocked her out of
the 2008 Olympic Games. The U.S. team’s all-time active leading scorer, Wambach was
also the top American scorer in the WPS for the 2009 season.

Synchro Comeback: Christina Jones (Fremont, Calif.) retired from synchro after the
2008 Olympic Games and headed to Las Vegas, Nev., where she joined the cast of
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 Cirque du Soleil’s The “O” Show. After performing for a year and a half,
Jones felt that she had unfinished business in the competition pool
and returned to training. She is the only Cirque performer to return to
competition, as most synchro athletes move on to Cirque shows after
retirement. She attributes this experience to helping her grow as a
performer and an artist. In September 2010, she placed fifth in the solo
competition at the FINA World Cup.

First Family of Taekwondo: Although all three of the Lopez siblings

(Steven, Mark, Diana) made history by medaling at the Beijing Games, the color gold was missing from their collection,
thus they feel there is some unfinished business to take care of in London. The trio will once again be coached by their
older brother, Jean.

John Isner: John Isner (Tampa, Fla.) hopes to make his Olympic debut at Wimbledon where in 2010 he competed
in the longest match in tennis history, defeating Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set of their first round match that
spanned 11 hours over three days.

Laying Down the Gauntlet: Team USA has set the bar at earning 30 clean track & field medals in London. After win-
ning 23 medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and 22 medals at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Team
USA is well on its way. The team is led by athletes like Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, Calif.), Sanya Richards-Ross (Austin,
Texas), Christian Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.) and Tyson Gay (Lexington, Ky.) and is looking far stronger across the board than
it did in Beijing. The pool of Olympic hopefuls for 2012 boasts 11 Olympic or World Championships gold medalists, 11
silver medalists and nine bronze medalists.

Fourth Time The Charm? Four water polo athletes on Team USA are preparing for their fourth Olympic Games. Only
USA Men’s Head Coach Terry Schroeder has been a four-time Olympian and his first trip in 1980 never took place due
to the Olympic boycott. That leaves Brenda Villa (Commerce, Calif.), Heather Petri (Orinda, Calif.), Tony Azevedo (Long
Beach, Calif.) and Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, Calif.) as the first water polo athletes in American history with a shot at play-
ing in four Olympic Games.

KEY WEBSITES
Team USA
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London 2012
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British Life & Culture
NBC Olympics