The 2012 Summer Olympic Games
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Germany's Lilli Schwarzkopf, center, runs with Russia's Tatyana Chernova, right, and Canada's Jessica Zelinka, in the 800 meter of the women's heptathlon. Schwarzkopf captured silver in the grueling two-day event.
(© picture alliance / dpa)
About 400 athletes represented Germany at the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London from July 27 to August 12, each attempting to add to the 1,260 medals the country has won in Olympics history. In the end, Germany's athletes captured 44 medals in total, including 11 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze. While Germany finished in a respectable sixth position in the overall medals table, that was not the main point of this quadrennial festival of athleticism and goodwill. The fact is, most athletes don't win a medal, and therefore the larger lesson is actually as quaint as it is true: even when the point is winning, the redeeming value of the Olympics lies in learning about some 10,500 souls, how and why they compete and the cultures from which they originate.
Indeed, many times the game's play and its players' stories, the “how,” trump the result, or “what.” Below, Germany.info covered some of the “how,” as well as the “what,” with a German perspective.
The cruise ship MS Deutschland will enter Hamburg harbor flying the German flag and with 217 athletes aboard, returning from the London Olympics.
Athletes on Board
A service on the anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall was held in the Chapel of Reconciliation, located on what was once the death strip on the border between East and West Berlin.
Berlin Wall Anniversary
The German duo of Peter Kretschmer and Kurt Kuschela won the C2 men’s canoe event, while the competition could not best the showing of Germans Franziska Weber and Tina Dietze in the women’s K2 kayaking event.
Gold on the Water
In helping the quad earn Germany’s second rowing gold in London, Lauritz Schoof redeemed himself for a mistake at the 2011 World Championships.
Quad Sculls
Eight German men rowed their way to a gold medal at Dorney Lake at the 2012 London Olympic Games, as the German women's rowing team captured silver in the quad sculls.
Women Take Silver in Quad Sculls
Rider Michael Jung helped Germany break its gold-medal drought on July 31 in the equestrian team eventing competition, then celebrated what was his 30th birthday with a singles eventing gold in the afternoon.
Equestrian Gold
Germany may not be leading in the medal count, but its citizens are still extremely interested in catching each second of Olympics coverage, tuning in to transmissions split between two of the country's biggest providers.
Germans Watching Olympics
Meet Britta Heidemann, a fencer, China expert, book author on her way to the Olympic Games in London.
Fencer Britta Heidemann
At 16 he won bronze in Beijing, eighteen months ago he tore his Achilles tendon, forcing him to stop training, but before London he has achieved his personal best and feels stronger than ever. Meet rising star, Fabian Hambüchen.
Hambüchen Goes for Gold
In his fourth Olympics, table tennis player Timo Boll will look to claim his first medal in 2012. This time the European champion is bringing added determination, along with his family, to try to strike gold, silver or bronze in London.
Timo Boll
On 27 July the Summer Olympic Games kick off in London. It is the third time athletes will compete for Olympic medals in the British capital. With the help of Deutsche Welle we present ten of the most famous Olympic icons from Germany.
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