Going for Gold - India at the London Olympics
By Pooja Kamboj
The London Olympics 2012 has been officially named as the Games of the XXX Olympiad. These games will be held in London, United Kingdom and the events will take place from 27 July 2012 to 12 August 2012. The opening and the closing ceremony of the event will be held in Olympic Stadium. Post this big sports event, London will be recognized as the first city to officially host the Olympic Games three times. London was elected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC session in Singapore, defeating Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris after four rounds of voting.
The motto of the London Olympics 2012 is "Live as one". The mascots of this edition are Wenlock and Mandeville, two figures with one eye each with a metallic finish. Both of them are designed with deep implied meaning and convey various messages to the world. The London games features 26 sports and a total of 38 disciplines. The major sports events that will draw the attention of the spectators and media in 2012 edition are swimming, archery, football, table tennis, volleyball, boxing and weightlifting.
The number of countries participating in the Olympics 2012 goes up to more than 200 with the count of athletes touching the 18,000 mark.
India made its debut in the Paris Olympics in 1900 and has won a total of 20 medals, nine of them gold.
Eying more laurels in the London Olympics, India have already started its preparations in three disciplines - shooting, archery and hockey. India is eyeing to qualify in about 16 disciplines in the London Olympics. The 16 disciplines which are on India's radar for the London Olympics are archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.
Major Indian medal hopes expected to compete in London include Saina Nehwal, Tejaswini Sawant, Gagan Narang, Sushil Kumar, Vijender Kumar and Mary Kom. India will be hoping that Mary Kom wins the gold in 2012 London Olympics, where women's boxing will make its debut.
India is targeting around 10-12 medals during London games.
An Olympic flag was raised outside City Hall on Friday, 26 September 2008 to celebrate the start of the cultural Olympiad. The flag will continue to fly outside City Hall until the day of the Olympic opening ceremony. On the same day, the Paralympic flag was raised outside City Hall.
Find out everything you need to know about London Olympics 2012 at The Sports Mirror.
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