London 2012 Olympics 10 years on: The best moments from the Games

Callum Boyle

Looking back at the 2012 Olympics, 10 years on

It’s been 10 years since London hosted the Olympic Games in what was one of the most memorable sporting events of this century.

From the opening ceremony, to capacity crowds and record-breaking victories, we look back at some of the best moments from the 2012 games.

James Bond and Queen Elizabeth parachute into the Olympic Stadium

In arguably the most entertaining sketch, fictional character James Bond – played by Daniel Craig – interacted with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace.

To see both in the same room was one thing, but to parachute out of a helicopter? That’s just madness. The pair flew over the stadium before Bond jumped out, closely followed by our Liz, and parachuted their way down into the stadium. It was breathtaking and easily one of the best moments in the Games’ history.

Super Saturday

Probably one of, if not, the greatest nights in British sporting history. It was quite literally gold medal after gold medal for the hosts.

We’d already won three gold medals earlier in the day in the cycling and rowing, but the Olympic Stadium witnessed a track and field masterclass courtesy of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford.

In the space of 44 minutes all three won golds in their respective events and cemented themselves as legends of athletics and the Games forever.

One of the greatest nights in British Olympic history happened six years ago today

What a 'Super Saturday' it was pic.twitter.com/4AxPQs3PJz

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 4, 2018

Nicola Adams makes history

London 2012 was the first time women’s boxing was introduced to the Games and quite fittingly, a British athlete claimed the inaugural gold.

Nicola Adams produced a series of sensational performances inside the ring and claimed victory in front of a home crowd at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. Her win led to further victories in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Adams defending her title at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

A win to remember!
Great Britain's Nicola Adams celebrates after she became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion! #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/NJ92yXxcGR

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 29, 2021

Mr Bean’s hilarious ‘Chariots of Fire sketch’

As one of the crown jewels of British comedy Mr Bean was always going to be included in a celebration of Great Britain. The famous character, played by Rowan Atkinson, performed a hilarious comedy sketch based on the famous song “Chariots of Fire.”

Playing the famous song on the piano, Bean is required to play one note and despite initially enjoying his role, soon becomes frustrated. After looking towards other forms of entertainment such as his phone and umbrella, Bean eventually falls into a dream.

Within that dream, Bean is running with British runners but eventually falls behind. In true Bean style he jumps into a car and can be seen telling the driver to go faster as he passes the runners.

Paul McCartney’s singalong

There’s nothing more iconic than a good old sing song at the end of an event and Danny Boyle pulled out all the stops to bring in Paul McCartney in to close the opening ceremony in some style.

As a former member of the Beatles, his significance in British history isn’t to be ignored and what better song to pick than “Hey Jude?” – a song guaranteed to get people off their seats and singing their hearts out, and a perfect way to say Welcome to the Games.

Hey Jude!
Rock and roll royalty @PaulMcCartney gets the crowd going at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony! #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/j0UDfCvmQq

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) June 30, 2021

Boris’ zip wire failure

Although this wasn’t an official moment from the sporting events or the opening ceremony this is simply too good not to reminisce on.

Long before his time as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was making a fool out of himself as the Mayor of London by testing out one of the capital’s landmarks used to celebrate the Olympics.

But while zip wiring through Victoria Park, Johnson got stuck on the line and was seen waving about a Union Jack flag and a hardhat.

We would say it wasn’t one of his finest moments but then again, there’s a lot of them to choose from.