Who won the 2012 Olympics? No real answer, but the United States, again, won more medals than anyone else, beating China to the top spot in the overall rankings and the gold medal count, but Great Britain, the hosts, had a sensational two weeks, finishing third in the medal table, overtaking Russia with 29 gold medals.
In total, 85 nations won an Olympic medal, including a first ever medal for Bahrain, Montenegro, Guatemala, Gabon, Cyprus, Botswana and Grenada.
Number 10 – Australia
A disappointing Olympic experience for Australia, winning a total of 35 medals – 7 of gold, 16 of silver and 12 of bronze. They won gold in athletics (Sally Pearson in the Women’s 110 meters hurdles), canoeing, cycling and sailing, but the biggest disappointment came in the pool, winning only one gold medal through the women’s 4×100 meters freestyle relay.
Number 9 – Hungary
A vast improvement for Hungary in comparison with the 2008 games, finishing with 17 medals – 8 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze. Their most successful events were the Canoeing, taking three golds there, and the swimming pool, with Dániel Gyurta winning the 200 meters breaststroke and Éva Risztov winning the women’s marathon (10 kilometers).
Number 8 – Italy
Italy had a very similar Olympiad to 2008, moving up one spot in the rankings and winning one more medal, 28 in total – 8 gold, 9 silver, 11 bronze. Fencing, as expected, brought 3 gold medals, Elisa Di Francisca winning in both the individual and team foil events. The shooting range also brought two gold medals, while the usually successful swimming crew managed only one bronze medal.
Number 7 – France
France did drop in the totla number of medals, but saw a vast improvement in their rankings (from 11th) and in the gold medals, winning 11 of them in London. They won four in the swimming competitions through Camille Mouffat, the men’s 4×100 freestyle team, Yannick Agnel in the 200 meters freestyle and Florent Manaudou in the men’s 50 meters freestyle. Renaud Lavillenie brought a track & field gold in the pole vault while Judo, as always, yielded two more gold medals. The men’s handball team continued their world domination with another gold medal.
Number 6 – Germany
Germany won more medals than in 2008 (44 to 41) but won only 11 of gold, compared with 16 last time, dropping them one spot in the rankings. The Germans didn’t win a single medal in the pool, but came up with 8 medals in Atheltics including Robert Harting’s gold (discus throw). Three gold medals came in Canoeing events and two more in Equestrian, while the men’s Beach Volleyball team surprised many by taking the gold against Brazil in the final.
Number 5 – South Korea
Continued their rise in Olympic sports by moving up two spots from Beijing, winning two less medals (30 to 28) and keeping their golds at 13. Archery and Shooting each brought three gold medals to South Korea, with Ki Bo-Bae winning two golds in Archery competitions. Men’s Judo brought two more gold medals and fencing events added two more.
Number 4 – Russia
Russia dropped a spot but did win nine more medals in total than Beijing and improved their gold count by one, finishing with 24. The final athletics days were huge for the Russian team, winning 8 gold medals in those events. Gymnastics brought a disappointing count of only three gold medals, but they won three in Judo and four in the wrestling competitions, while the men’s volleyball team made an incredible comeback against Brazil to grab gold.
Number 3 – Great Britain
The host nation set a goal of overtaking Russia in the rankings and achieved that with a fantastic performance, winning 65 medals, 18 more than in Beijing, and 29 of gold, 10 more than 4 years ago. The Athletics competitions brought 4 gold medals, two of them to Mo Farah in the 5000 & 10,000 races. Boxing added three more but the big achievement was in Cycling, winning 12 medals, surpassing the expectations, 8 of them of gold. Rowing was also a huge success with four gold medals and 9 in total.
Number 2 – China
Fell from the top spot in Beijing, winning 12 less medals in total (100 to 88) and 13 less in gold (51 to 38). The big three for China were the Swimming (10 medals, 5 of gold), Diving (10 medals, 6 of gold) and Gymnastics (12 medals, 5 of gold) competitions. They swept the table tennis events and in Badminton, and also had a fantastic weightlifting two weeks, winning 5 gold medals and two of silver.
Number 1 – United States
Back to number one with gold (46) and in total, despite falling from 110 to 104. They took both Basketball events and also the women’s soccer tournament. They won three gold medals, including the women’s all-around in the Gymnastics competitions. Swimming was a huge hit, winning 16 gold medals and placing in the top 3 in 30 out of the 32 events, while track & field also went very well with nine gold medals.
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Medal Table
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States (USA) |
46 | 29 | 29 | 104 |
| 2 |  China (CHN) |
38 | 27 | 23 | 88 |
| 3 |  Great Britain (GBR)* |
29 | 17 | 19 | 65 |
| 4 |  Russia (RUS) |
24 | 26 | 32 | 82 |
| 5 |  South Korea (KOR) |
13 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| 6 |  Germany (GER) |
11 | 19 | 14 | 44 |
| 7 |  France (FRA) |
11 | 11 | 12 | 34 |
| 8 |  Italy (ITA) |
8 | 9 | 11 | 28 |
| 9 |  Hungary (HUN) |
8 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| 10 |  Australia (AUS) |
7 | 16 | 12 | 35 |
| 11 |  Japan (JPN) |
7 | 14 | 17 | 38 |
| 12 |  Kazakhstan (KAZ) |
7 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| 13 |  Netherlands (NED) |
6 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| 14 |  Ukraine (UKR) |
6 | 5 | 9 | 20 |
| 15 |  New Zealand (NZL) |
6 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 16 |  Cuba (CUB) |
5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| 17 |  Iran (IRI) |
4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 18 |  Jamaica (JAM) |
4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 19 |  Czech Republic (CZE) |
4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 20 |  North Korea (PRK) |
4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 21 |  Spain (ESP) |
3 | 10 | 4 | 17 |
| 22 |  Brazil (BRA) |
3 | 5 | 9 | 17 |
| 23 |  South Africa (RSA) |
3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 24 |  Ethiopia (ETH) |
3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 25 |  Croatia (CRO) |
3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 26 |  Belarus (BLR) |
2 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 27 |  Romania (ROU) |
2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 28 |  Kenya (KEN) |
2 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| 29 |  Denmark (DEN) |
2 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 30 |  Azerbaijan (AZE) |
2 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 30 |  Poland (POL) |
2 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 32 |  Turkey (TUR) |
2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 33 |  Switzerland (SUI) |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 34 |  Lithuania (LTU) |
2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 35 |  Norway (NOR) |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 36 |  Canada (CAN) |
1 | 5 | 12 | 18 |
| 37 |  Sweden (SWE) |
1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 38 |  Colombia (COL) |
1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 39 |  Georgia (GEO) |
1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 39 |  Mexico (MEX) |
1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 41 |  Ireland (IRL) |
1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 42 |  Argentina (ARG) |
1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 |  Slovenia (SLO) |
1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 |  Serbia (SRB) |
1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 45 |  Tunisia (TUN) |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 |  Dominican Republic (DOM) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 47 |  Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) |
1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 47 |  Uzbekistan (UZB) |
1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 49 |  Latvia (LAT) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 50 |  Algeria (ALG) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 |  Bahamas (BAH) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 |  Grenada (GRN) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 |  Uganda (UGA) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 |  Venezuela (VEN) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 55 |  India (IND) |
0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 56 |  Mongolia (MGL) |
0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 57 |  Thailand (THA) |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 58 |  Egypt (EGY) |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 59 |  Slovakia (SVK) |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 60 |  Armenia (ARM) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 60 |  Belgium (BEL) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 60 |  Finland (FIN) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 63 |  Bulgaria (BUL) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 63 |  Estonia (EST) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 63 |  Indonesia (INA) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 63 |  Malaysia (MAS) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 63 |  Puerto Rico (PUR) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 63 |  Chinese Taipei (TPE) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 69 |  Botswana (BOT) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 69 |  Cyprus (CYP) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 69 |  Gabon (GAB) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 69 |  Guatemala (GUA) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 69 |  Montenegro (MNE) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 69 |  Portugal (POR) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 75 |  Greece (GRE) |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 75 |  Moldova (MDA) |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 75 |  Qatar (QAT) |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 75 |  Singapore (SIN) |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 79 |  Afghanistan (AFG) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 |  Bahrain (BRN) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 |  Hong Kong (HKG) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 |  Saudi Arabia (KSA) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 |  Kuwait (KUW) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 |  Morocco (MAR) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 |  Tajikistan (TJK) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total (85 NOCs) | 302 | 304 | 356 | 962 | |