There are a total of 47 events on the Olympic program, more than any other sport.

All events, with the exception of the marathon and racewalk events, will take place at the Olympic Stadium located in the Olympic Park.  It will have a Games-time capacity of 80,000 spectators and will also host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.  The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace will be the primary location for the racewalk events and serve as the start-finish area for the marathons.

The Olympic program is identical for men and women, except where noted:

London 2012 Storylines:
The marquee event of the Games will be the men's 100m, headlined by Jamaica's Usain Bolt.  The question when Bolt races in big events is how low can he go?  He became the first man go under 9.7 seconds when he ran a 9.69 to win gold in Beijing 2008.  He improved his world record to 9.58 seconds in winning the 2009 World title.  The most likely challenger to Bolt's supremacy will be American Tyson Gay, who in August 2010 became the first man in two years to beat Bolt in the 100m and teammate Yohan Blake who won gold at the 2011 World Championships after Bolt was disqualified for a false start.

Bolt will also be the star attraction of the 200m and 4x100m relay, in which he is also the World and Olympic Champion as well as world record holder.  The Jamaican women are also capable of a large medal haul in the sprints, having swept the 100m podium and winning gold and bronze in the 200m in Beijing 2008.

South African Oscar Pistorius looks to make his own history by becoming the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympic Games.  Nicknamed the “Blade Runner” because of the two prosthetic limbs he wears while racing, Pistorius went to court in 2008 over the legality of using his running blades in able-bodied competition.  With the ban overturned, Pistorius, has the Olympic qualifying time for the 400m in his sights.

Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe is considered by many to be the best athlete never to win an Olympic medal.  The 37-year-old mother of two is the world record holder in the marathon and returned to competition in May 2011 after an 19-month absence, finishing third in the BUPA 10km race.

Chinese 110m hurdler Liu Xiang felt the disappointment of his entire country when he was forced to withdraw from his opening heat in Beijing 2008 due to an Achilles tendon injury.  The 2004 Olympic Champion is back amongst the world leaders in 2011 and captured silver at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Two Americans could be battling the title of "World's Greatest Athlete".  Bryan Clay will head to the Games as the defending Olympic Champion in the decathlon and looking to be the first decathlete to win three Olympic medals, having won silver in Athens 2004.  Injury kept Clay from competing at the 2009 World Championships and his absence was golden for compatriot Trey Hardee.  Hardee once again took advantage of Clay's absence once again at the 2011 Worlds where he once again claimed gold.

Canada's Outlook:
Canada has won more medals in athletics (52 – 12 G, 14 S, 26 B) than in any other sport at the Olympic Games and will be looking to add to this all-time total.

Two Canadian women could be battling for the podium in the 100m hurdles.  Priscilla Lopes-Schliep is the defending Olympic bronze medallist, but will have missed the entire 2011 season due to pregnancy.  She will look to return to top form after delivering her first child in September 2011.  Perdita Felicien is looking for the Olympic medal that has eluded her.  The 2003 World Champion tripped over the first hurdle in the final in Athens 2004 and missed Beijing 2008 due to injury.

Shot putter Dylan Armstrong came one centimetre short of reaching the Olympic podium in Beijing 2008, finishing an agonizing fourth.  In 2011 he improved on his own national record with a toss of 21.72 metres and captured gold at the first two Diamond League meets of the season.  He finished the season as the overall Diamond League Champion and earned consideration for the year-end Lou Marsh award as Canada's top athlete.

Heptathlete Jessica Zelinka finished fifth in her Olympic debut in Beijing 2008, the best-ever Olympic result by a Canadian in the event.  She missed the 2009 season to give birth to her first child and in 2011 is pushing herself to be amongst the world's best.

Both Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis have earned Olympic berths in the men's marathon after reaching the IAAF and Athletics standard at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October 2011.  All other athletes in individual events must meet the standard before the July 8th 2012 deadline while relay teams face a July 2nd deadline.

Other International Athletes to Follow:

MEN

Usain Bolt – Jamaica

• Won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at both the 2008 Olympic Games and 2009 World Championships, setting world records in the two individual events at both competitions
• Looks to become the first man to repeat as Olympic Champion in both the 100m and 200m
• Was disqualified from the 100m final due to a false start at the 2011 World Championship but rebounded to win gold in both the 200m and the 4x100m relay

Kenenisa Bekele – Ethiopia

• Won Olympic gold in the 10,000m in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008; also won gold in Beijing 2008 and silver in Athens 2004 in the 5000m
• The world record holder in both the 5000m and 10,000m suffered from a calf injury that kept him out of competition from January 2010 to mid-summer 2011

WOMEN

Yelena Isinbaeva – Russia

• Won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the pole vault in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008
• A dominant performer, she was the only woman to surpass the five metre mark in Beijing 2008, but took a break from competition in April 2010
• Finished sixth overall at the 2011 World Championships

Jessica Ennis – Great Britain

• The world's top heptathlete since Beijing 2008, winning the World title in 2009 and leading the world rankings in 2009 and 2010
• Won silver at 2011 World Championships
• London 2012 will be her Olympic debut after she missed Beijing 2008 due to a fractured right ankle