Top 10 World Records broken at Olympic 2012
Patriotism and athleticism go hand in hand at the Olympic Games. The feeling to represent your country at such a large stage is absolutely priceless. Here champions are made, dreams are lived and greatness is achieved. This year as we all know the Olympics were hosted by London. We witnessed history in the making, many records made and broken. The London Olympics 2012 itself has made many records like most expensive Olympic Games, most expensive beer print at an Olympic Games, most expensive Olympic ticket, most modern summer Olympic Games hosted, most Olympic drug tests planned and a lot more. From the athletics perspective, here are the top 10 World records shattered at the London Olympics 2012.
10- Fastest coxless pairs rowing (men’s class)
New Zealand rowers Eric Murray and Hamish Bond shattered the decade-old record for the men’s coxless pairs by almost six seconds as they crossed the finish line in a time of 6:08.50, on 28 July 2012 on the first day of competition at the 2012 Olympic Games.
9- Fastest swim long course 400 meters medley (female)
Ye Shiwen (China), 16, swam the 400 m medley in a record breaking time of 4:28.43 at the Aquatics Centre, London, UK, on 28 July 2012. The teenager beat the previous record of 4:29.45 held by Stephanie Rice (Australia) at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
8- Heaviest weightlifting 53 kg clean & jerk (female)
The greatest weight lifted in the women’s 53 kg clean and jerk category is 131 kg, by Zulfiya Chinshanlo (Kazakhstan) at the London 2012 Olympic Games on 29th July. Chinshanlo, the youngest ever weightlifting gold medalist (female) and Kazakhstan’s first gold medalists in the sport, broke her own record of 130 kg, set at the World Championships in Paris, France, on 6 November 2011.
7- Most consecutive Olympic beach volleyball sets won, team (female)
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh (both USA) have won a record 32 consecutive sets in Olympic beach volleyball competition, a winning streak that dates back to the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004. The pair collected gold medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and won their first two matches at London 2012 without dropping a set, extending their winning run to 16 consecutive matches.
6- Longest Olympic tennis set (duration and number of games)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Milos Raonic (Canada) 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 in 3 hr 57 min in the second round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon, London, UK, on 31 July 2012. The 180-minute third set lasted 48 games – the longest set of tennis at the Olympic Games, both in terms of duration and games played.
5- Longest Olympic tennis match (duration)
World number one Roger Federer (Switzerland) defeated Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 3-6, 7-6, 19-17 in a time of 4 hours 26 minutes in the men’s singles semi-final at Wimbledon, London, UK, on 3rd August 2012.
4- Cycling – Fastest unpaced 500m from a standing start (women’s team)
Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang (both China) clocked a recording making 32.422 seconds for the 500 m (unpaced, standing start) at the Velodrome in London, UK, on 2 August 2012.
3- Heaviest weightlifting 77 kg snatch (male)
Lu Xiaojun (China) lifted 175 kg in the 77 kg snatch category to break his own world record of 174 kg and claim an Olympic gold medal at London 2012 on 1 August.
2- Most points scored by a team in an Olympic basketball match (male)
The USA defeated Nigeria 156-73 in a group match at London’s North Greenwich Arena, UK, on 2 August 2012. These were the most points scored by a team in a basketball match at the Olympic Games.
1- Heaviest weightlifting 94 kg clean & jerk (male)
Ilya Ilyin (Kazakhstan) retained his Olympic gold in the men’s 94 kg division with a lift of 233 kg in the clean and jerk at the ExCeL centre, London UK, on 4th August 2012. Ilyin lifted a combined score of 418 kg (233 kg clean and jerk, 185 kg snatch) to set another world record at London 2012.
