Women from across the globe have made their mark in Olympic history, with London 2012 being the first Olympic Games to feature women from all 204 national teams and all 26 sports.
For the first time, female athletes from the Islamic nations of Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar were able to compete in the Games.
OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS 2012
Seen as a breakthrough in the Olympic movement, it has highlighted the determination of female athletes to represent the women of their countries and hoping to inspire the younger generation to continue in their footsteps.
It may come as a surprise that the US, China and Russia took more female athletes to the Games than male. These women further dominated in the medal tables, scooping more golds than their male team mates. US women were awarded 29 of America’s 46 golds and the women of China took 20 of the 38.
Team GB's girls also put in a fantastic showing as it was reported they would be seventh in the Olympic gold medal table if they had competed without men.
Go girls!
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The wonder women of the Olympics
By Loriley Sessions - Monday 13 August 2012
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