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 keeps it for eight or nine months. The trophies for second and third place, and for the other awards, are smaller imitations of the main trophy, but have in the past been silver salvers. For the two special awards celebrating the 50th Anniversary, and for the Sports Personality of the Century award, similar miniature trophies were presented but they were gold in colour. The three BBC national regions of BBC Wales, BBC Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland each hold individual sports personality awards. Respectively, they are BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year, BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year,