Sweden at the 2012 Summer Olympics | |
---|---|
IOC code | SWE |
NOC | Swedish Olympic Committee |
Website | www |
in London | |
Competitors | 134 in 20 sports |
Flag bearers | Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (opening) Fredrik Lööf (closing) |
Medals Ranked 37th |
|
Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Other related appearances | |
1906 Intercalated Games |
Sweden competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 25 July to 12 August 2012. Swedish athletes have competed at every edition of the Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. The Swedish Olympic Committee (Swedish: Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté, SOK) sent a total of 134 athletes to the Games, 55 men and 79 women, to compete in 20 sports. For the second consecutive time in its Olympic history, Sweden was represented by more female than male athletes.
Sweden left London with a total of 8 Olympic medals (1 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze), tying with Tokyo and Atlanta for the overall highest medal count. Two medals each were awarded to athletes in sailing and wrestling, and one each in equestrian, handball, and triathlon. For the first time since 1992, Sweden won more than a single Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Among the nation's medalists were Star sailors Fredrik Lööf and Max Salminen, who together won Sweden's only gold medal in London, the nation's first in eight years. Lisa Nordén, who finished eighteenth in Beijing, became the first Swedish athlete to win an Olympic medal in women's triathlon. Meanwhile, equestrian eventing rider Sara Algotsson Ostholt won the nation's only silver medal in her sport. Sweden's team-based athletes also equalled their previous best Olympic results after 12 years, as they achieved a silver medal in men's handball. Several Swedish athletes narrowly missed out on the medal places in their events, including long jumper Michel Tornéus, singles sculls rower Lassi Karonen, swimmers Sarah Sjöström and Therese Alshammar, and sprint kayakers Sofia Paldanius and Anders Gustafsson.