Team GB at the Olympics

From the 27th of July to the 12th of August, the Olympics 2012 were being held in London. Great Britain finished third in the medal rank table, but it was how they got there that gained the interest of British people across the nation.

With the opening ceremony having been on the 27th of July, it took Team GB five days until they bagged their first gold. Rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning brought home the gold with a time of seven minutes 27.13 second. They were the first British female rowers to win an Olympic title. It was cyclist Bradley Wiggins who won Team GB their second gold medal, giving the team two gold medals in one day.

A day later Tim Baillie and Etienne Scott take gold in the men's canoeing double, bringing the gold count up to three. Peter Wilson secured their fourth gold medal in the double trap shooting. He won with a total of 188 successful shots out of 200. And to take the third gold of the day, the men's team sprint saw the fifth gold of the Olympics for Team GB, brought home by Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes, setting a world recording while doing so.

The following day Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins gained Team GB their sixth gold in the women's double sculls. Two more golds were won in cycling, the first by Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas in the man's team pursuit, and the second by Victoria Pendleton in the women's keirin, taking the team's gold count up to eight.

The 4th of August saw Team GB's greatest gold win of the year. The first gold – and the team's ninth one – was by Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs-Hodge in the men's four in rowing, making it their fourth win in a row. The second gold was brought home by the women's lightweight double sculls team pair Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking. The third gold saw a world record being smashed for the sixth successive time by Danielle King, Joanna Rowsell and Laura Trott, the women's team pursuit in cycling. The fourth gold of the day was won by Jessica Ennis in the women's heptathlon, making the women dominate the wins for the day. The thirteenth gold – and the fifth of the day – was scored by Greg Rutherford in the men's long jump which was then followed by the sixth gold of the day which was won by Mo Farah in the men's 10,000 metres.

The following day saw Ben Ainslie win Team GB their fifteenth gold in sailing, crowning him the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. Winning the sixteenth gold was Andy Murray in tennis, a win that surely was welcomed incredibly by the British.

Scott Brash, Peter Charles, Ben Maher and Nick Skelton saw the seventeenth gold for the team in the team showjumping event, their first gold since 1952. On the same day Jason Kenny won gold in the men's sprint in cycling.

Then on the 7th, Team GB exceeded their amount of gold medals won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The nineteenth gold medal was won by Alistair Brownlee in the men's triathlon. The twentieth gold was the one that beat their previous Olympic haul of gold medals, being brought in by Laura Bechtolsheimer, Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester in the team dressage event. Laura Trott brought home the twenty-first gold medal in the women's omnium event in cycling. The twenty second gold was brought home by Chris Hoy in the men's keirin cycling event, a win that has named him as Britain's most successful medalist of all time.

It was two days later that the team won another gold. Charlotte Dujardin won the individual dressage in equestrian which bagged Britain their twenty third gold of the year. The second gold of the day was brought home in the women's flyweight in boxing by Nicola Adams, and the final gold of the day was brought in by Jade Jones in women's 57 kg taekwondo, allowing the women to dominate with gold for the day.

On the 11th of August, Ed McKeever won gold in the men's k-1 200 metres in canoeing, making the gold count for Team GB increase to twenty six. Mo Farah won his second gold of the year in the men's 5,000 metres in the athletics sport and Luke Campbell won the men's bantamweight in boxing, making the gold count for the day three and raising the gold count for Team GB up to 28.

On the final day of the Olympics, Anthony Joshua gave Britain their 29th– and last – gold medal of the year. He won the medal in the men's super-heavyweight in boxing. With the final total of gold medals at 29, this year became the most successful year for Great Britain in the Olympic Games since 1908. The closing ceremony followed that evening, with the Olympic Flame being extinguished, signalling the end of the Olympics 2012, and the Olympic Flag being handed over to Rio de Janeiro for the next Olympic Games in 2016.

The final total of medals all round stands at this: 29 Gold, 17 Silver, and 19 Bronze. The overall total rested at 65 medals for Team GB. In all, it was a good win for the team.