Ten years ago Great Britain won 65 medals – 29 golds, 18 silvers and 18 bronzes – to clinch third place in the table at London 2012.
Team GB claimed three gold medals in one athletics session for the first time in Olympic history on ‘Super Saturday’ as Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah delighted a capacity crowd of 80,000 with three triumphs in the space of a barely-believable 45 minutes.
Here, the PA news agency looks back on that special night among other triumphs ahead of the 10th anniversary of the London Games.
There were fireworks during the London Olympics opening ceremony (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)Jessica Ennis celebrated winning gold in the heptathlon at the Olympic Stadium (Dave Thompson/PA) (PA Archive)Greg Rutherford was crowned Olympic men’s long jump champion (Stephen Pond/PA) (PA Archive)The middle Saturday of the London Olympics saw Mo Farah complete an athletics gold hat-trick in the space of 48 minutes (Dave Thompson/PA) (PA Archive)Usain Bolt won the men’s 200 metres final – amongst two other golds – at the Olympic Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)Laura Kenny (nee Trott) claimed two gold medals for Team GB in London (Tim Ireland/PA) (PA Archive)Bradley Wiggins won the men’s individual time trial (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)Andy Murray (pictured) beat Roger Federer to claim gold (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge cheered on Great Britain with Prince Harry (right) from the Velodrome (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)Kenyan David Rudisha was roared to victory in the 800m final as he beat his own world record (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)Helen Glover (left) and Heather Stanning won the coxless pairs for Team GB’s first gold of the Games (Stephen Pond/PA) (PA Archive)Jason Kenny claimed two gold medals for Britain in the velodrome at Olympic Park (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)Former Prime Minister David Cameron (left) cheered Great Britain on with members of the team (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (right) and Yohan Blake celebrated a new world record with gold in the men’s 4×100m relay (Dave Thompson/PA) (PA Archive)Victoria Pendleton won gold in the women’s keirin (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)Alistair Brownlee (left) celebrated triathlon gold as brother Jonny claimed bronze (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)Anthony Joshua (centre) toasted super heavyweight gold with Audley Harrison (left) and Lennox Lewis (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)Chris Hoy became emotional after winning gold in the men’s keirin (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)Little-known 15-year-old Ruta Meilutyte from Lithuania won gold in the 100m breaststroke (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)Boxer Nicola Adams would not be beaten to gold in the women’s flyweight (Ian West/PA) (PA Archive)Ben Ainslie celebrated on the podium after winning gold in the Finn class (Chris Ison/PA) (PA Archive)Charlotte Dujardin (centre) won gold in the team dressage with Carl Hester (left) and Laura Bechtolsheimer, plus the individual event (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)Jade Jones claimed gold against China’s Yuzhuo Hou in the women’s -57kg taekwondo final (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)Team GB won their first London 2012 medal, with cyclist Lizzie Deignan (nee Armitstead) taking silver in the women’s road race (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)Michael Jamieson claimed silver in the men’s 200m breaststroke (Julien Behal/PA) (PA Archive)Michael Phelps won four gold medals in the pool at the London Olympics (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (far left) won women’s 470 class sailing silver as did Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (far right) in the men’s event (Chris Ison/PA) (PA Archive)Tom Daley – then 18 – claimed bronze in the men’s 10 metre individual platform (Anthony Devlin/PA) (PA Archive)Rebecca Adlington picked up bronze in the 400m and 800m freestyle (Tim Ireland/PA) (PA Archive)Beth Tweddle also won bronze, in the women’s uneven bars (Stephen Pond/PA) (PA Archive)Daniel Purvis (left to right), Max Whitlock, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas and Sam Oldham won bronze in the gymnastics team final (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)Great Britain ensured bronze in the women’s hockey with victory over New Zealand (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)Fireworks over the Olympic Stadium and Orbit marked the end of the closing ceremony (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)
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