One cannot avoid the fact that the 2012 Olympic Games begin July 27 in London. In total there are thirty-one competition venues. Twenty-two in London with nine in other cities in Great Britain, including one in Scotland and one in Wales.

Twenty-nine sports and thirty-six disciplines will be contesting in 302 medal events – 162 men’s, 132 women’s and 8 mixed. Baseball and softball are not part of the Olympic program. They are the first sports to be cut from the Games since polo was dropped in 1936.

Earliest recorded Olympic Games were held in Greece in 776 B.C., and took place every four years for 1,000 years. The Games celebrated the human body and provided entertainment to Greek spectators.