Top Six Most Memorable Moments of London 2012

Although the London 2012 Olympic Games have now finished, there are certain moments that people will never forget. Here we pick our six most memorable moments of the Games (with a slight British bias of course!). Click on the titles of each moment to watch them:
 

1) The Lighting of the Flame

Danny Boyle's entire opening ceremony could have been counted as one of the most memorable moments of London 2012. However, the crescendo of the evening came when the Olympic flame was lit in the Stadium. There had been huge amounts of speculation about who was going to light it. Would it be Sir Steve Redgrave- Britain's greatest ever Olympian? Or maybe even David Beckham?

In the end the truth was a huge surprise and better than anyone could have predicted. Seven British Olympic champions had each chosen a young athlete. Each champion passed a flaming torch to their chosen youngster, who then each lit a single tiny flame. These gradually ignited 205 ‘petals' as the Olympic flame grew and grew, rising up from the ground. Both beautiful and poignant.

2) Bolt Brings Home the Men's 4x100m

Usain Bolt had already become the first man to ever defend the Olympic 100m title. He had then defended his Olympic 200m title to prove beyond doubt he is one of the greatest sprinters of all time. However, in neither of these events had he broken a world record.

That all changed in the men's 4x100m relay, when the second fastest man in the world, Yohan Blake, stormed past the competitors before handing the baton to the fastest man in history. To claim your third gold medal of the Games, breaking a world record in the process, and then still have the awareness to use Mo Farah's celebration as a nod to the British crowd is just magical.

3) Magic 47 minutes for British Athletics

Team GB ended the Olympics with 65 medals and 29 golds. There were high points throughout the entire two weeks of the Games. However, one particular evening stands head and shoulders above the rest- Saturday 4th August will forever be remembered in Britain. After three golds earlier in the day, there came a staggering 47 minute period in the Olympic Stadium when British athletes won three gold medals.

Jessica Ennis (above) was first up, smashing her competitors to win gold in the heptathlon, before long jumper Greg Rutherford took an unexpected gold himself. Then came Mo Farah. In a thrilling race he became the first British man to ever win the 10,000m. All three athletes were cheered on by a wall of sound from the crowd and there was barely a dry eye in the house by the end of the evening. A night that changed British athletics forever.

4) Chad Le Clos and his Dad Bert

This is a kind of double moment tat summed up the sheer emotion that the Olympics create for everyone involved. South African swimmer Chad Le Clos had just beaten his hero and most successful Olympian of all time Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly swimming final by the tiniest of margins. Seeing his dad, Bert, celebrating wildly in the crowd, the BBC brought him up to their studio for an interview straight after the race. What followed was one of THE great interviews of all time, which you can watch here.

To make the moment even more poignant, during the medal ceremony, Chad Le Clos was visibly fighting back tears throughout the national anthem, before succumbing to the inevitable. To see quite what this gold medal meant to the family as a whole was touching, inspiring and hilarious all at the same time.

5) Team GB's First Gold Medal

Though Britain ended up with 29 gold medals, making this their most successful Olympics for over a century, at one point things looked a little worrying. London 2012 had reached Day 5 and still Team GB were without a gold medal. People were starting to get nervy. Was the pressure getting to the athletes? Were they simply not quite as good as we had hoped?

That all changed at the rowing lake at Eton Dorney when Helen Glover and Heather Stanning destroyed the rest of the field in the women's pair final. The sense of sheer relief and joy on their faces after they crossed the finish line set the tone for the rest of the Games.

6) Tears at the Rowing

The Olympics isn't all about the winners. For every elated gold medallist, there is a whole series of devastated athletes left in their wake. This was never more apparent during the Games than after the lightwieght men's double skulls rowing final.

British pair Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter had just lost their Olympic title, narrowly missing the gold. In the interview immediately afterwards both were in tears and couldn't stop apologising for losing. Such was the raw emotion, that the interviewer John Inverdale even began to cry. At no other time during the Olympics were you reminded of quite how much the medals mean to the athletes.

What do you think? What were your most memorable moments of London 2012? Let us know below.

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