Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics of medals won to 51. Great Britain finished 4th overall in the medal tables, a target previously set by UK Sport, the public body responsible for distributing funding to elite sport, for the 2012 Games. UK Sport considered whether to target 3rd place in the 2012 Games, which was hosted by the United Kingdom in London. Cyclist Chris Hoy became the first British athlete in 100 years to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games. Because London was to be host city of the 2012 Summer Olympics, a British segment was performed during the closing ceremony. The following
BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortened to one year after complaints by ITV and RadioCentre caused the BBC Trust to rule in that "Editorial Guidelines were breached and the editorial integrity of the BBC compromised by giving the impression to licence fee payers via Sports Personality of the Year that part of a BBC service had been sponsored." They decided that the 2008 awards should not be broadcast as a sponsored event, and no new sponsorship deal was negotiated after the Britvic deal expired. In , the BBC announced that the 2008 Sports Personality of the Year event would be held at the Echo Arena,