Summer Olympic Games Jacques Rogge described the Games as "Happy and Glorious". The host nation won 29 gold medals, the best haul for Great Britain since the 1908 Games in London. The United States returned to the top of the medal table after China dominated in 2008. The IOC had removed baseball and softball from the 2012 program. On a commercial level the Games were successful as they were the first in history to completely sell out every ticket, with as many as 1 million applications for 40,000 tickets for both the Opening Ceremony and the 100m Men's Sprint Final. Such was the
Handball at the 2012 Summer Olympics Handball at the 2012 Summer Olympics The handball tournaments at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held from 28 July to 12 August in the Olympic Park. Preliminary rounds and the quarter-finals were held in the Copper Box while the semi-finals and final took place in the larger Basketball Arena. Medals were awarded in a men's tournament and a women's tournament. The gold medals were won by France (men) and Norway (women). Two sets of medals were awarded in the following events: The executive committee of the International Handball Federation appointed 17 referee pairs for the 2012 Games: Each