2012 things to remember the London Olympics by 2 Combined with the Paralympic Games, which begin on 29 August, the Olympics have brought more than 14, 000 athletes to the UK, along with 21, 000 members of the media, and around 800, 000 spectators. 7 A further 2bn has been raised privately by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games(Locog), through sponsorship and ticket sales, merchandising and media rights.This covers the actual running of the games. 8 Of the 10, 500 athletes competing in the main Olympics, 4, 688 were women and 5, 802 were men. 9 Great Britain, which was the only team to compete in all 26 sports, contributed 542 athletes:280 men and 262 women. 10 Some four billion people around the world are reported to have seen at least a moment of the Games on television. 11 This figure includes 90 per cent of the UK population. 12 In addition, several million Britons are assumed to have been among the 8.8m people who were lucky enough to get tickets to see events ... Read more »