the London 2012 Olympic Games­
— which would end today—
who put up super-human
performances to keep the entire
universe in awe.
From world’s fastest man ever
Usain Bolt to Kenyan David
Rudisha, it was a tale of records
broken here and there.
The Games is not all about
winning, but about participation,
they say. And the likes of South
African blade runner Oscar
Pistorius and the Saudi Arabian
duo of Sarah Attar and Wodjan
Shahrkhani though did not win
medals, deserved a mention for
adding their own glamour to the
Games, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA
Michael Phelps: USA, swimming
The six feet, four inch and 185-
pound Phelps ruled the pool at
the last two Olympics in Athens
and Beijing, winning 16 medals,
14 of them gold.
He needed just three medals at
London to claim the Olympics
career record of most medals
won from Larisa Latynina, the
Soviet gymnast who won 18
medals from 1956 to 1964.
But a disappointing fourth-place
finish was not how Phelps
envisioned the start of his 2012
Olympic Games.
However, Phelps expectedly got
his acts together, kicked into
high gear, then finished the
Olympics as the most decorated
Olympian in history. He left the
30th Olympic Games with four
gold and two silver medals,
taking his final total to 22.
He finished on a high note by
helping the Americans to gold in
the 4x100m medley relay.
Usain Bolt: Jamaica, sprints
At the last Olympics Bolt became
the first man to win three
sprinting events at a single
Olympics since Carl Lewis in
1984, and the first man to set
world records in all three at a
single Olympics.
But before the London Olympics,
Bolt came second in the 100m
and 200m at the Jamaican trials,
beaten by his close friend and
rival Yohan Blake.
The world looked forward to a
titanic 100m men’s final that
included Bolt, Blake, Justin Gatlin
and Tyson Gay in London. Who
would win? Lightning Bolt did,
bolting to the 100m gold medal
in the fiercely contested race in a
time of 9.63 seconds, a new
Olympic record, ahead of
second-place Blake.
The sprinter’s victory was the
right recipe for the Jamaicans to
celebrate their 50th
independence anniversary a few
hours later.
With his win, Bolt became the
first man to defend an Olympic
sprint title since Lewis in 1988,
and only the third man in history
to do so. He followed up the
impressive performance by
defending his 200m gold with a
time of 19.32 seconds, pushing
Blake again to second place. It
made the tall Jamaican the first
man in history to successfully
defend the 100m and 200m
Olympics sprint titles.
Serena Williams: USA, tennis
Williams won the gold in the
women singles after defeating
Maria Sharapova 6–0, 6–1 in the
final and the world no.1, Victoria
Azarenka, 6–1, 6–2 in the semi-
finals
In winning gold, Williams lost a
total of just 17 games in six
matches, winning 81 per cent of
the games and did not lose a
single set in the entire Olympics.
With the victory, she completed a
Career Golden Slam in singles;
becoming only the second
woman to do so, after Steffi Graf.
Along with her sister Venus,
Williams also won the doubles in
London. The sisters became the
only tennis players in Olympic
history to win four medals.
Ye Shiwen: China, swimming
Two finals, two gold medals and
all anybody wants to know
about Chinese teen swimming
sensation Ye is whether she’s
doping.
After shattering the world record
in the 400 Individual Medley on
the opening day of the pool
competition, the 16-year-old
broke her own Olympic record to
take the 200 Individual Medley
title.
But the achievements of Ye, who
is smaller than most swimmers at
her level, were tainted by
accusations of doping.
She has never failed a drug test
before and Olympic Games
organisers spent time to defend
the youngster describing the
suspicions as “crazy and
motivated by jealousy.”
Oscar Pistorius: S’Africa, 400m
With a sporting motto that reads:
“You’re not disabled by the
disabilities you have, you are
able by the abilities you have,”
Oscar Pistorius made history
when he emerged as the first
disabled runner to compete in
the Olympic Games when he
represented South Africa in both
the 400m and the 400m relay
races in London.
Nicknamed the ‘Blade Runner’,
Pistorius is a double amputee
and uses prosthetic carbon fibre
limbs. The 25-year-old has set a
new standard for amputated
athletes, and watching him make
history just by being “the fastest
guy on no legs” competing with
people with both legs was one
of the memorable moments of
the Olympics.
David Rudisha: Kenya, 800m
Rudisha became the first athlete
to set a new world record on the
track in London on the way to
winning the 800m gold.
The 23-year-old Kenyan stormed
to victory in his debut Olympic
final to become the first man to
run inside one minute 41
seconds, clocking 1:40.91.
His pace was consistent
throughout, clocking 23 seconds
for the first 200m, 25 for the
second, 25 for the third, and
26.1 for the final quarter.
Sarah Attar, Wodjan
Shahrkhani: Saudi Arabia, 800m
and judo
These two did not win any
medal but they won a challenge
that was harder than what they
faced in London — getting a ban
lifted on participations by
women from Saudi Arabia at the
Olympic Games.
Attar, 18, a student at an
American university, finished last
and more than a half-minute
slower than her nearest
competitor in the women’s 800m
heat in the Olympic Stadium on
Wednesday, yet hundreds of
spectators rose to give her a
standing ovation as she crossed
the finish line.
Covered in clothing from head to
toe, she emerged as the first
woman from Saudi Arabia to
compete in track and field at the
Olympics, five days after a Saudi
judoka, Shahrkhani, became the
country’s first female competitor
at any Olympics.
Shahrkhani is from Mecca and
took part in the women’s judo
78kg category. She did not meet
Olympic standards but she
received special invitation from
the International Olympic
Committee.
Christian Taylor: USA, triple
jump
Christian Taylor leapt to the
Olympic triple jump title with the
biggest effort in the world this
year.
The American, 22, won the world
title in Daegu last year and was
in trouble when he fouled his
first two efforts, but came up
with 17.81m in round four.
Kirani James: Grenada, 400m
The 19-year-old became the
youngest ever 400m World
Champion in Daegu last year. He
followed it up by winning the
400m— Grenada’s first ever
Olympic medal— at London
2012.
His feat sparked wild jubilations
back home in Grenada, as the
government declared a public
holiday to celebrate James’
performance.
Extraordinary from a young age,
he ran the fastest 400m times
ever by a 14-year-old and a 15-
year-old.
Since 2008, James has won
Commonwealth Youth gold,
World Youth gold, the World
Juniors, World Championships
and now the Olympics.
With this display, he becomes the
eighth fastest man in history
over one lap.
Sally Pearson: Australia, hurdles
World 100m hurdles champion,
Pearson arrived London with an
aim to win the event after she
managed silver four years ago in
Beijing.
She won gold with a new
Olympic record time of
12.35secs.
Taoufik Makhloufi: Algeria,
1,500m
Makhloufi’s story is truly
amazing. Now regarded as the
man who won Olympic gold
after being thrown out for not
trying, the Algerian caught
everyone in awe as he romped
to the 1,500m gold 24 hours
after he was excluded from the
Games.
Before his triumph, Makhloufi
had stopped at the end of the
back straight during the 800m
event and the International
Association of Athletics
Federations referee
subsequently banned him from
the rest of the athletics
programme for not providing “a
bona fide effort”.
But he was reinstated and he
celebrated his comeback with a
stunning performance to win
gold.