Theathletics competitions at the2012 Olympic Games inLondon were held during the last 10 days of the Games, on 3–12 August. Track and field events took place at theOlympic Stadium in east London. The road events, however, started and finished onThe Mall in central London.[3]
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 andheptathlon as opposed to the men's 110 m hurdles anddecathlon. The youngest participant in the athletics competition was Andorran 15-year-oldCristina Llovera while the oldest was 46-year-old UkrainianOleksandr Dryhol.[4] South AfricanOscar Pistorius became the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics.[5]
The venue for the track and field events was theOlympic Stadium while the walks and the marathons started and finished onThe Mall.[6] In the tables below,M stands formorning andA forafternoon.
50 kilometres walk On 24 March 2016, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport has issued decision that all competitive results obtained bySergey Kirdyapkin of Russia from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified for doping use.[11] 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,[12] with Si claiming silver and Heffernan bronze.
high jump Gold medalistIvan Ukhov of Russia was disqualified for doping in 2019. Medals were reallocated in 2021.[13]
javelin throw Original silver medalistOleksandr Pyatnytsya of Ukraine was stripped of his silver medal and result following a positive finding in a retest of his 2012 anti-doping sample.[14][15] On 24 February 2017Antti Ruuskanen received the silver medal in Finland.[16] On 28 June 2017Vítězslav Veselý received the bronze medal in Czech Republic.[17]
*Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats.
800 metres On 10 February 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a four-year ban that effectively stripped of the gold medal ofMariya Savinova of Russia, based upon irregularities in her biological passport and doping.[18]Caster Semenya of South Africa was advanced to gold,Ekaterina Poistogova of Russia to silver, andPamela 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.[19] On 6 June 2025, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Guliyev's appeal and revoked her medal, almost certainly leading to the IOC upgradingPamela Jelimo to the silver andAlysia Montano to the bronze.[20]
1500 metres On 17 August 2015, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport says it approved a settlement agreed to by Turkish athleteAslı Çakır Alptekin and theIAAF. Alptekin has agreed to forfeit her1500 metres Olympic title and serve an eight-year ban forblood doping.[21][22] On 29 March 2017, Turkish athleteGamze Bulut was banned for doping and lost her Olympic silver medal.[23]Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain was advanced to gold, the silver medal was awarded toTatyana Tomashova of Russia, and the bronze medal was awarded toAbeba 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 andShannon Rowbury to bronze.[24]
400 metres hurdles 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.[25] Medals were reallocated.
20 kilometres walk On 24 March 2016, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport has issued decision that all competitive results obtained byOlga Kaniskina from 15 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified for doping.[11][29] Qieyang Shenjie of China was advanced to silver, and Liu Hong of China to bronze.
shot put The original winner,Nadzeya Ostapchuk ofBelarus, 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.[30] Gong Lijiao of China was advanced to silver, and Li Ling of China to bronze.
discus throw The original silver medalist,Darya Pishchalnikova ofRussia, was stripped of her silver medal after failing drugs tests. The rest of the competitors were elevated by one position accordingly.[31]
hammer throw The original gold medalist,Tatyana Lysenko ofRussia, was stripped of her gold medal after failing drugs tests.[32] Medals were reallocated.
heptathlon On 29 November 2016, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport has issued decision that all competitive results of original bronze medalistTatyana Chernova of Russia between 15 August 2011 and 22 July 2013 are annulled due to failed drug tests.[33][34] The bronze medal was awarded toAustra Skujytė of Lithuania.
China'sChen Ding was the first Olympic record breaker, improving the men's 20 km walk record.[35] All three Olympic walk records were broken in London asSergey Kirdyapkin bettered the Olympic 50 km walk time andElena Lashmanova set a new world record in the women's 20 km walk.[36][37] However, both records from Russian racewalkers were later rescinded due to doping.
David Rudisha improved his own800 metres world record to 1:40.91 minutes, becoming the first man to break that record at the Olympics sinceRalph Doubell did so at the1968 Games.[42]Renaud Lavillenie was the only man to break a field event record, as he cleared an Olympic best of 5.97 m to win thepole vault competition.[43]
Syrian hurdlerGhfran Almouhamad became the first track-and-field athlete to be suspended following a positive in-competition doping sample.[54]Nadzeya Astapchuk was stripped of the women's shot put title after her sample came back positive for the banned anabolic agentmetenolone.[55]Karin Melis Mey was withdrawn before the long jump final when an earlier failed doping test was confirmed.[56]
The women's 1500 m final has been dubbed "one of the dirtiest races in athletics history", after five of the twelve runners were disqualified for doping offences, including the original first and second-placed finishers, and the fourth-placed finisher who subsequently moved up to second place following the previous two disqualifications.[57]
Multiple medalists were found guilty of doping after the Olympics. Russia has the most (9) medals stripped.
United States
Jamaica
Great Britain
Ethiopia
Kenya
China
Australia
Poland
Germany
Russia
Trinidad and Tobago
Czech Republic
France
Dominican Republic
Algeria
Bahamas
Bahrain
Croatia
Grenada
Hungary
Kazakhstan
New Zealand
South Africa
Tunisia
Uganda
Cuba
Botswana
Canada
Colombia
Finland
Guatemala
Iran
Qatar
Slovenia
Ukraine
Estonia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Lithuania
Morocco
Puerto Rico
Spain
Media related toAthletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics at Wikimedia Commons
