The Olympics have always been held as the perfect example of true sportsmanship... to compete for the love of the game... to respect and honour your competitors and the integrity of the event and the human spirit. The London Olympics 2012 have been no different.

Yes... there have been less than honourable moments, like the doping scandals, the controversy between Jamaican sprinting ace Usain Bolt and American legend Carl Lewis and the Shiwen Ye incident that threatened a minor diplomatic storm. However, once the dust settled, nobody wanted to see anything more than sporting achievements and that triumph of the human spirit.

The London Olympics have also been about setting new records, about pushing the boundaries of what is humanly possible. In the words of the modern event's founder, Pierre de Coubertin, the Games are about going "faster, stronger and higher". And these Games did just that, from the very first day.

The Republic of Korea's Dong Hyun Im got the London Olympics 2012 off to a flying start with a new world record of 699 in the ranking rounds for the men's individual archery event. Dong Hyun's achievement set the tone for more than 50 record-breaking performances that were to follow.

It wasn't just world records that fell. Olympic records were easily bettered and the world witnessed the birth of a new generation of teenage sporting prodigies, led by the remarkably gifted 15-year-old Ye of China.

The Olympics was also the scene for remembering legends and honouring Olympians who have decided to bow out of their chosen sports. Leading that line of athletes must be American swimming ace Michael Phelps, who has retired at the age of 27 with a haul of 18 gold medals, and who is likely to retire as the leading athlete of the 2012 Games, with four gold and two silver medals won in London.

Click "Start" to re-live some of the best record-breaking moments from the London Olympics 2012 in our special slideshow.

Name – Victoria Pendleton
Nationality – Great Britain
Sport – Cycling (women's individual sprint)
Record (Olympic) – 10.724s

Name – Xiaojun Lu
Nationality – China
Sport – Weightlifting (men's 77 kg)
Record (world and Olympic) – 175 (Snatch), 379 kg (total)

Name – Kim Un Guk
Nationality – North Korea
Sport – Weightlifting (men’s 62 kg)
Record – 153 kg (snatch; Olympic) 327 kg (total; world)

Name – Ilya Ilyin
Nationality – Kazakhstan
Sport – Weightlifting (men’s 94 kg)
Record (world and Olympic) – 233 kg (clean and jerk) 418 kg (total)

Name – Rebecca Soni
Nationality – United States
Sport – Swimming (women’s 200m breaststroke)
Record (world and Olympic) – 2:19.59s

Name: Helen Glover and Heather Stanning
Nationality: Great Britain
Sport: Rowing (women's pair)
Record (Olympic): 6:57.29s

Name – Daniel Gyurta
Nationality – Hungary
Sport – Swimming (men’s 200m breaststroke)
Record (world and Olympic) – 2:07.28s

Name – Sir Chris Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny
Nationality – Great Britain
Sport – Cycling (men's team sprint)
Record (world and Olympic) – 42.600s

Name – Shiwen Ye
Nationality – China
Sport – Swimming (women’s 200m Individual Medley; women's 400m Individual Medley)
Record – 2:07.57s (200m Olympic record); 4:28.43s (400m world and Olympic record)

Name – Dana Vollmer
Nationality – United States
Sport – Swimming (women’s 100m butterfly)
Record (world and Olympic) – 55.98s

Name: Usain Bolt
Nationality: Jamaica
Sport: Athletics (men's 100m)
Record (Olympic): 9.63s

Name: Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger
Nationality: Great Britain
Sport: Rowing (women's double sculls)
Record (Olympic): 6:44.33s

Name – Cameron van der Burgh
Nationality – South Africa
Sport – Swimming (men's 100m breastsroke)
Record (world and Olympic) – 58.46s

Name – Zhou Lulu
Nationality – China
Sport – Weightlifting (women's 75 kg)
Record (world and Olympic) – 333 kg (total)

Name – Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang
Nationality – China
Sport – Cycling (women's team sprint)
Record (Olympic) – 32.422s

Name – Zulfiya Chinshanlo
Nationality – Kazakhstan
Sport – Weightlifting (women’s 53kg)
Record (world and Olympic) – 131kg (clean & jerk)

Name – Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Allison Schmitt
Nationality – United States
Sport – Swimming (women's 4x100m medley relay)
Record (world and Olympic)– 3:52.05s

Name – David Lekuta Rudisha
Nationality – Kenya
Sport – Athletics (men’s 800m)
Record (world and Olympic) – 1.40.91s

Name – Renaud Lavillenie
Nationality – France
Sport – Athletics (Pole Vault)
Record (Olympic) – 5.97m

Name – Tatyana Lysenko
Nationality – Russia
Sport – Athletics (hammer throw)
Record (Olympic) – 78.18m

Name – Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, Tianna Madison and Carmelita Jeter
Nationality – United States
Sport – Athletics (women’s 4x100m relay)
Record (world and Olympic) – 40.82s

Name – Chen Ding
Nationality – China
Sport – Athletics (men's 20km walk)
Record (Olympic) – 1:18.46s

Name – Dong Hyun Im
Nationality – South Korea
Sport – Archery (men's individual)
Record (world and Olympic) – 699 points

Name – Jessica Rossi
Nationality – Italy
Sport – Shooting (women’s trap)
Record (world and Olympic) – 99 out of 100 shots

Name – Jason Kenny
Nationality – Great Britain
Sport – Cycling (men's individual sprint)
Record (Olympic) – 9.713s

Name – Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter
Nationality – Jamaica
Sport – Athletics (men’s 4x100 relay)
Record (world and Olympic) – 36.84s