The athletics competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held during the last 10 days of the Games, on 3–12 August. Track and field events took place at the Olympic Stadium in east London. The road events, however, started and finished on The Mall in central London.
Over 2,000 athletes from 201 nations competed in 47 events in total, with both men and women having a very similar schedule of events. Men competed in 24 events and women in 23, of which 21 were the same for both. The women's schedule lacked the 50 km race walk and included 100 m hurdles and heptathlon as opposed to the men's 110 m hurdles and decathlon. The youngest participant in the athletics competition was Andorran 15-year-old Cristina Llovera while the oldest was 46-year-old Ukrainian Oleksandr Dryhol.Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 13 August 2012. South African Oscar Pistorius became the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics.
Competition schedule The venue for the track and field events was the Olympic Stadium while the walks and the marathons started and finished on The Mall. In the tables below, M stands for morning and A for afternoon.
+MenOlympic sport competition schedule. Date → 3 Aug 4 Aug 5 Aug 6 Aug 7 Aug 8 Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug 12 AugEvent ↓ M A M A M A M A M A M A M A M A M A M A 100 m Q H F 200 m H F 400 m H F 800 m H F 1500 m H F 5000 m H F 10,000 m F 110 m hurdles H F 400 m hurdles H F 3000 m steeplechase H F 4 × 100 m relay H F 4 × 400 m relay H F Marathon F 20 km walk F 50 km walk F Long jump Q F Triple jump Q F High jump Q F Pole vault Q F Shot put Q F Discus throw Q F Javelin throw Q F Hammer throw Q F Decathlon F +Women Date → 3 Aug 4 Aug 5 Aug 6 Aug 7 Aug 8 Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug 12 AugEvent ↓ M A M A M A M A M A M A M A M A M A M A 100 m H F 200 m H F 400 m H F 800 m H F 1500 m H F 5000 m H F 10,000 m F 100 m hurdles H F 400 m hurdles H F 3000 m steeplechase H F 4 × 100 m relay H F 4 × 400 m relay H F Marathon F 20 km walk F Long jump Q F Triple jump Q F High jump Q F Pole vault Q F Shot put QF Discus throw Q F Javelin throw Q F Hammer throw Q F Heptathlon F
Medal summary (WR = World Record, OR = Olympic Record)
Medal table
Note: Three competitors tied for silver in the men's high jump event.
Men 100 metres 9.63(OR) 9.75 9.79 200 metres 19.32 19.44 19.84 400 metres 43.94 44.46 44.52 800 metres 1:40.91 (WR) 1:41.73 1:42.53 1500 metres 3:34.08 3:34.79 3:35.13 5000 metres 13:41.66 13:41.98 13:42.36 10,000 metres 27:30.42 27:30.90 27:31.43 110 metres hurdles 12.92 13.04 13.12 400 metres hurdles 47.63 47.91 48.10 3000 metres steeplechase 8:18.56 8:19.08 8:19.73 4 × 100 metres relay Nesta Carter Michael Frater Yohan Blake Usain Bolt Kemar Bailey-Cole* 36.84 (WR) Keston Bledman Marc Burns Emmanuel Callender Richard Thompson 38.12 Jimmy Vicaut Christophe Lemaitre Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux Ronald Pognon 38.16 4 × 400 metres relay Chris Brown Demetrius Pinder Michael Mathieu Ramon Miller 2:56.72 Bryshon Nellum Joshua Mance Tony McQuay Angelo Taylor Manteo Mitchell* 2:57.05 Lalonde Gordon Jarrin Solomon Ade Alleyne-Forte Deon Lendore 2:59.40 Marathon 2:08:01 2:08:27 2:09:37 20 kilometres walk 1:18:46(OR) 1:18:57 1:19:25 50 kilometres walk 3:36:53(OR) 3:37:16 3:37:54 High jump 2.33 2.29 not awarded (tie for silver) Pole vault 5.97(OR) 5.91 5.91 Long jump 8.31 8.16 8.12 Triple jump 17.81 17.62 17.48 Shot put 21.89 21.86 21.23 Discus throw 68.27 68.18 68.03 Hammer throw 80.59 79.36 78.71 Javelin throw 84.58 84.12 83.34 Decathlon 8869 8671 8523 *Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats. Tyson Gay was stripped of his silver medal due to a doping violation. The United States team was disqualified. On 24 March 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued decision that all competitive results obtained by Sergey Kirdyapkin of Russia from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified for doping use. Redistribution of the medals in this event occurred on 17 June 2016, with Tallent awarded the gold medal by the IOC at a ceremony in Melbourne, Australia, with Si claiming silver and Heffernan bronze. Gold medalist Ivan Ukhov of Russia was disqualified for doping in 2019. Medals were reallocated in 2021. Original silver medalist Oleksandr Pyatnytsya of Ukraine was stripped of his silver medal and result following a positive finding in a retest of his 2012 anti-doping sample.IOC sanctions 4 athletes for failing anti-doping tests. from Olympic.org On 24 February 2017 Antti Ruuskanen received the silver medal in Finland. On 28 June 2017 Vítězslav Veselý received the bronze medal in Czech Republic.
Women 100 metres 10.75 10.78 10.81 200 metres 21.88 22.09 22.14 400 metres 49.55 49.70 49.72 800 metres 1:57.23 1:57.59 1:57.93 1500 metres 4:10.74 4:11.03 4:11.26 5000 metres 15:04.25 15:04.73 15:05.15 10,000 metres 30:20.75 30:26.37 30:30.44 100 metres hurdles 12.35(OR) 12.37 12.48 400 metres hurdles 52.77 53.38 53.66 3000 metres steeplechase 9:08.37 9:09.84 9:09.88 4 × 100 m relay Tianna Madison Allyson Felix Bianca Knight Carmelita Jeter Jeneba Tarmoh* Lauryn Williams*40.82 (WR) Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Sherone Simpson Veronica Campbell-Brown Kerron Stewart Samantha Henry-Robinson* Schillonie Calvert* 41.41 Olesya Povh Hrystyna Stuy Mariya Ryemyen Elyzaveta Bryzgina 42.04 4 × 400 m relay DeeDee Trotter Allyson Felix Francena McCorory Sanya Richards-Ross Keshia Baker* Diamond Dixon* 3:16.87 Christine Day Rosemarie Whyte Shericka Williams Novlene Williams-Mills Shereefa Lloyd* 3:20.95 Alina Lohvynenko Olha Zemlyak Hanna Yaroshchuk Nataliya Pyhyda 3:23.57 Marathon 2:23:07(OR) 2:23:12 2:23:29 20 kilometres walk 1:25:16 (OR) 1:26:00 1:27:10 High jump 2.05 2.03 2.00 Pole vault 4.75 4.75 4.70 Long jump 7.12 7.07 6.89 Triple jump 14.98 14.80 14.79 Shot put 20.70 20.22 19.63 Discus throw 69.11 67.22 66.38 Hammer throw 77.60 77.13 76.34 Javelin throw 69.55 65.16 64.91 Heptathlon 6955 6649 6599 *Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats. On 10 February 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a four-year ban that effectively stripped of the gold medal of Mariya Savinova of Russia, based upon irregularities in her biological passport and doping. Caster Semenya of South Africa was advanced to gold, Ekaterina Poistogova of Russia to silver, and Pamela Jelimo of Kenya to bronze. In April 2024, Guliyev (formerly Poustogova) was banned by the Russian Athletics Federation for infractions in 2012 and 2013, voiding her results including the 2012 Olympic final.Poistogova-Guliyev set to lose London Olympics silver after Russia ban, Reuters, 8 Apr, 2024 On 6 June 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Guliyev's appeal and revoked her medal, almost certainly leading to the IOC upgrading Pamela Jelimo to the silver and Alysia Montano to the bronze. On 17 August 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport says it approved a settlement agreed to by Turkish athlete Aslı Çakır Alptekin and the IAAF. Alptekin has agreed to forfeit her 1500 metres Olympic title and serve an eight-year ban for blood doping. On 29 March 2017, Turkish athlete Gamze Bulut was banned for doping and lost her Olympic silver medal. Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain was advanced to gold, the silver medal was awarded to Tatyana Tomashova of Russia, and the bronze medal was awarded to Abeba Aregawi of Ethiopia. Tomashova was earlier found guilty of doping and missed the 2008 Olympics because of that, and was banned after the Olympics for failing another drug test. In 2024, Tomashova's silver medal was stripped by CAS after re-testing of her samples. If the IOC reallocates the medal, Aregawi stands to be upgraded to silver and Shannon Rowbury to bronze. In October 2022, more than 10 years and 2 months after the race, Natalya Antyukh's results from July 2012 to June 2013 were disqualified for doping after a retest of her samples, stripping her of the gold medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 2012 Summer Olympics.Nair, Rohith (24 October 2022). "Russia's Antyukh set to lose Olympic gold after AIU disqualifies her results". Reuters. Retrieved 30 October 2022. Medals were reallocated. On 30 January 2015, the IOC confirmed that runner Yuliya Zaripova, Russia, will be stripped of her gold medal in the 3000 metres steeplechase after testing positive for anabolic steroids. On 4 June 2016, the gold medal was officially reallocated to second place Habiba Ghribi from Tunisia by the IOC and IAAF updated the results. On 1 February 2017, the International Olympic Committee stripped the silver medal of the Russian team due to doping of Antonina Krivoshapka Medals were reallocated. On 24 March 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued decision that all competitive results obtained by Olga Kaniskina from 15 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified for doping. Qieyang Shenjie of China was advanced to silver, and Liu Hong of China to bronze. Bronze medalist Svetlana Shkolina of Russia was disqualified for doping in 2019. The bronze medal was then reallocated to Ruth Beitia of Spain in 2021. The original winner, Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus, was stripped of her gold medal shortly after the event after failing a doping test. The rest of the competitors were elevated by one position accordingly. On 20 August 2016, Yevgeniya Kolodko of Russia was also stripped of her silver medal after retested samples from the competition returned a positive doping result. Gong Lijiao of China was advanced to silver, and Li Ling of China to bronze. The original silver medalist, Darya Pishchalnikova of Russia, was stripped of her silver medal after failing drugs tests. The rest of the competitors were elevated by one position accordingly. The original gold medalist, Tatyana Lysenko of Russia, was stripped of her gold medal after failing drugs tests. Medals were reallocated. On 29 November 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued decision that all competitive results of original bronze medalist Tatyana Chernova of Russia between 15 August 2011 and 22 July 2013 are annulled due to failed drug tests. The bronze medal was awarded to Austra Skujytė of Lithuania.
Records
World and Olympic records A total of four world records in athletics and eleven Olympic records were broken during the competition. This was fewer than were set at the Beijing Olympics (5 world, 17 Olympic records) but greater than the number set at the 2004 Games in Athens (2 world, 10 Olympic records).
China's Chen Ding was the first Olympic record breaker, improving the men's 20 km walk record.Chen Race Walks home to gold . London 2012. Retrieved on 13 August 2012. All three Olympic walk records were broken in London as Sergey Kirdyapkin bettered the Olympic 50 km walk time and Elena Lashmanova set a new world record in the women's 20 km walk.Sergey Kirdyapkin wins Olympics 50km walk gold in record time . BBC Sport (11 August 2012). Retrieved on 13 August 2012.Aspin, Guy (11 August 2011). Russia's Elena Lashmanova sets new world record in thrilling finish to women's 20km race walk . The Independent. Retrieved on 13 August 2012. However, both records from Russian racewalkers were later rescinded due to doping.