Colombia at the 2012 Summer Olympics
| Colombia at the 2012 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | COL | ||||||||
| NOC | Colombian Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website |
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| in London | |||||||||
| Competitors | 104 in 18 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer | Mariana Pajón (opening and closing) | ||||||||
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Medals Ranked 38th |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Colombia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's eighteenth appearance at the Olympics, having not competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
Comité Olímpico Colombiano sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games, surpassing the record by having more than a quarter more athletes than represented Colombia in Beijing. A total of 104 athletes, 48 men and 56 women, competed in 18 sports. Women's football was the only team-based sport in which Colombia was represented in these Olympic Games. There was only a single competitor in fencing, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo and triathlon.
This was Colombia's most successful Olympics (until Rio 2016), winning a total of eight medals (one gold, three silver, and four bronze). BMX rider and world champion Mariana Pajón, who was Colombia's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, won the nation's first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics. Freestyle wrestler Jackeline Rentería became the first Colombian female athlete to claim two Olympic medals, while triple jumper Caterine Ibargüen won the nation's second medal in the track and field after 20 years. Other notable accomplishments included the nation's first ever Olympic medals in road cycling, judo and taekwondo.
Colombia has qualified for the following events
Colombian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard):
* Palomeque was initially suspended and later excluded from the games after testing positive for exogenous testosterone.
Colombia has qualified boxers in the following events.
Colombia has so far qualified cyclists for the following events
Colombia has qualified three places in the men's road race, subsequently filled by Fabio Duarte, Sergio Henao, and Rigoberto Urán. Urán only competed in Beijing before, but was unable to finish the race. The route for the race was 250 km (155.3 mi) in length and included nine climbs of the famous Box Hill. A large breakaway – which at its peak contained 32 riders – formed off the front of the peloton early on in the race. No Colombians were part of the initial move, but Henao and Urán joined later on in the race. The peloton, led by the Great Britain Team, kept the breakaway relatively closer for the latter 100 km (62.1 mi) of the race. As the race reached its end, however, the peloton could not close the gap to the large leading breakaway. Clearly, the breakaway would contain the eventual winner, and as the breakaway went under 10 km (6.2 mi) to go in the race, the riders began to attack. Urán and Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov were the first two riders to mount a sizeable distance between the main breakaway and themselves. As Urán and Vinokourov worked together to stay away, the main breakaway did not work collectively to pull back the two leading riders. With 200 meters left in the race, Urán swept across to the left side of the road until Vinokourov's attack became good enough to win the race. Urán, however, crossed the line in second place, earning him the silver medal. Sergio Henao crossed the line in sixteenth place with the main breakaway, while the other Colombian Fabio Duarte did not finish the course.
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