London 2012 - Team GB Gold Medals Quiz

Answer: Bradley Wiggins

The victory by Wiggins in the 2012 Tour de France meant that he was a national hero even before winning an Olympic gold (actually his seventh Olympic medal in total). On the day of the time trial, some British newspapers printed "cut out and wear" sideburns for their readers, to match Bradley's resplendent facial hair.

Answer: Swimming, cycling, running

Contestants in the Triathlon start with a 1,500-metre outdoor swim, followed by a 43-kilometre cycle ride and finishing with a ten-kilometre run. Had Jonny Brownlee not been given a 15-second penalty for getting on his cycle too early after the swim, he would probably have picked up the silver medal instead of the bronze.

Answer: Boxing

Nicola Adams won the gold medal in the Flyweight Boxing, after picking up a silver medal in the world amateur championships earlier in 2012. Incidentally, it was calculated that if the county of Yorkshire had been an independent nation, it would have finished 11th in the medal table at the 2012 Olympics, with eight golds (more than Australia), although admittedly four were in team events.

Answer: Jessica Ennis

The weight of expectation on her shoulders was enormous. Jessica Ennis had been the "poster girl" of "Team GB" in the run-up to the London 2012 Games, with her image plastered over everything from bus stops to billboards. Over two days, she held her nerve in the seven events and took the gold by a margin of 306 points over the second-placed Lilli Schwarzkopf (Germany).

Answer: Ben Ainslie

Right until the last race, it looked as if Ben Ainslie might be beaten into second place by the Danish sailor Jonas Hogh-Christensen. By winning his fourth consecutive gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, he became Great Britain's most successful Olympic sailor.

He was chosen to carry the Union flag at the closing ceremony, having said that he was "99.99% certain" that this would be his last Olympic performance.

Answer: Three silver medals in 2000, 2004 and 2008

Coming into the London Olympics, everyone knew that Katherine Grainger had been disappointed to have been beaten into second place at the three previous Olympics. It seemed too much to hope that she could make it gold at her fourth attempt, aged 36, at her home Games in London 2012. Even hardened commentators had to choke back the tears when she finally managed it.

Answer: Mo Farah

Born in Somalia, Mohamed Farah came to the UK at the age of eight, becoming a naturalised British citizen. For a British athlete to win even one, let alone two, long-distance running gold medals was a real achievement, especially with only a week between them. After the 5,000 metres, his coach said that he thought Mo had run out of steam in the final sprint, but that the roar of the crowd seemed to give him the extra strength to hold off the rapidly-accelerating silver medallist, Dejen Gebremeskel (Ethiopia).

Answer: Long jump

On this extraordinary evening, the crowd was just getting over the excitement of seeing a British gold medal in the women's heptathlon, when out of the blue Greg Rutherford jumped 8.31 metres, and took the gold medal in the men's long jump. Shortly afterwards a third British gold came in the men's 10,000 metres (won by Mo Farah) - and Great Britain was suddenly in third place in the overall medals table, with 14 golds at the end of Day 9.

Answer: Victoria Pendleton

Already the holder of an Olympic gold medal (Beijing 2008), Victoria Pendleton made the error of starting too soon during the opening lap, overlapping her partner, Jess Varnish's, wheel too early, which was against the rules and led to their disqualification.

While Pendleton was clearly devastated, she at least had a second chance at a medal the next day, while poor Jess Varnish was not in any further events.

Answer: Chris Hoy

Chris Hoy had previously won a gold medal at Athens in 2004 and three more at Beijing in 2008. At the London 2012 Games he added two more, in the team sprint and the keirin, taking him to six (plus silver in 2000). It should perhaps be pointed out, however, that Steve Redgrave won his five golds in five consecutive Games, between 1984 and 2000, giving him a longevity that is especially impressive.