London 2012 was a truly spectacular event full of excitement, drama and plenty of national joy and GB's men's and women's hockey teams certainly played their part.
Playing in front of a packed Riverbank Arena, Danny Kerry's women overcame New Zealand in the third-placed play-off to secure Britain's first hockey medal in 20 years while the men's team thrilled crowds with some spectacular performances, including coming from 3-0 down to record a remarkable draw with Australia.
Women repeat feat of Barcelona '92
GB's women won their second ever Olympic medal in their first Games on home soil, replicating the third-placed finish from 20 years before. They began the group stages on fire, recording thumping victories over Japan, Korea and Belgium which secured their place in the semi-finals despite subsequent narrow losses to China and The Netherlands.
Their dreams of reaching a maiden final were dashed by Argentina as they lost 2-1, despite Alex Danson setting up a grandstand finish, leading to some very emotional scenes after the final whistle. However, determined to make amends for themselves and the fans, they put in a second-half masterclass against New Zealand in the bronze medal match as goals from Danson, Crista Cullen and Sarah Thomas led to the squad standing on the podium in front of 14,500 supporters.
Men fall just short
Having found the going difficult across the last few Games, Great Britain's men headed into London 2012 ranked fourth in the world and confident that they could secure a first medal since Seoul '88.
They started well, recording 4-1 wins over Argentina and Pakistan either side of a draw with South Africa. They then showed their character, resolve and quality in the fourth game as they thrilled the home crowd by coming from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Australia, seen by many as favourites for the gold. A subsequent draw with Spain maintained their unbeaten record and was enough for the team to reach the knockout rounds.
While they harboured ambitions to reach the final in front of a home crowd, they were put to the sword by The Netherlands in the semi-finals as the Dutch put in a clinical attacking display. It wasn't to be in the bronze medal game either as they couldn't replicate their group stage performance against Australia and lost 3-1. It was sad end to what had been a thrilling tournament but it was also the men's best performance at an Olympics for 24 years.
