XXX Olympic Games 2012
27 July-12 August 2012 | London, United Kingdom
This was our fourteenth appearance at the Olympics.
Olympic Council of Malaysia sent a total of 29 athletes to the Games, 16 men and 13 women, to compete in 9 sports. This was also the youngest delegation in Malaysia’s Olympic history, with more than half under the age of 25, and many of them were expected to reach their peak in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Nine Malaysian athletes had competed in Beijing, including platform diver Pandelela Rinong, who was appointed by the council to carry the nation’s flag at the opening ceremony. Diver Yeoh Ken Nee, on the other hand, made his Olympic return in London, after a twelve-year absence. For the first time since its official Olympic debut, Malaysia did not qualify athletes in taekwondo.
Emblem
The poster, by artist Rachel Whiteread, named "LOndOn 2012", shows circles in the Olympic colours superimposed over each other. It is a clear reference to the five rings that make up the Olympic symbol. These circles, which appear as marks made by bottles or glasses left on a table, symbolise the memory of a social meeting, such as the gathering of Olympic Games spectators or the meeting of athletes in the stadium at the Opening Ceremony.
Mascot
WENLOCK
Wenlock takes his name from the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, which still hosts the traditional Much Wenlock Games. These were one of Pierre de Coubertin’s sources of inspiration for the modern Olympic Games. According to the story by Michael Morpurgo, Wenlock’s metallic look is explained by the fact that he was made from one of the last drops of steel used to build the Olympic Stadium in London.
The light on his head is based on those found on London’s famous black cabs. The shape of his forehead is identical to that of the Olympic Stadium roof. His eye is the lens of a camera, filming everything he sees. On his wrists, he wears five bracelets in the colours of the Olympic rings. And the three points on his head represent the three places on the podium for the medal winners.
The mascot was designed by the Iris Design agency.
DID YOU KNOW?
Streets, parks and underground station entrances in London were decorated with 84 sculptures of Wenlock and the Paralympic mascot Mandeville standing 2 metres 30 tall and each weighing a ton, to help guide tourists during the Games. These sculptures were decorated by 22 designers to reflect their surroundings.
The mascots were chosen in a competition launched in 2008. More than 100 designers, artists and agencies submitted proposals. Wenlock and Mandeville were chosen from a series of designs which included a humanised pigeon, an animated teacup and representations of Big Ben featuring arms and legs.
Torch
Number of torchbearers: around 500 in Greece and 8,000 in Great Britain
Total distance: 15,775km including 2,900km in Greece and 12,875 in Great Britain
Countries crossed: Greece, Great Britain
Athletes & Officials
Click on any of the sport’s icon to view the list of athletes & officials.
Medals
1
Silver
1
Bronze
Dato’ Sieh Kok Chi was born on the 8th of November 1938. After his retirement in 1991, as an Engineer in the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia, Dato’ Sieh chose to continue his involvement, full time, in the field of sports, where his life-long passion was, especially in the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).
Born on 21st March 1949, Y.A.M Tunku Tan Sri Imran is the second son of the late Tuanku Jaafar, an elected monarch of the Negeri Sembilan. Tunku Imran was educated in the UK at the King’s School, Canterbury and studied law at Nottingham University before being called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn, London in 1971 and qualifying as a Barrister at Law.