LONDON 2012: Hunt proud as Team GB has most athletes at Olympic Games

By Sportsbeat staff, London 2012

GREAT Britain will head into the Olympic village and London 2012 with the biggest team of all the countries at this summer's Games.

PROUD: Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt is proud that Great Britain will have the most
athletes at London 2012

A total of 542 athletes - 262 women and 280 men - will compete for Team GB across all 26 Olympic sports, making it the biggest team out of 204 countries participants at the Games, and is the largest for a century.

And with the Olympic Village open to athletes - including Stuart Pearce's men's football team and their counterparts in the women's game - and Andy Hunt, Team GB Chef de Mission, believes it's a fantastic achievement.

"To have the largest delegation of all 204 competing nations at the London 2012 Olympic Games is something which I am immensely proud of," said Hunt.

"It is the largest delegation for over a century, and the biggest since London first hosted the Olympic Games in 1908.

"For the 542 athletes who have achieved the honour of representing ‘Our Greatest Team', many years of dedication, sacrifice and relentless preparation will culminate in the biggest, most exciting moment of their sporting careers this summer.

"Our commitment to these athletes is to be the best prepared, best equipped and best supported delegation in British Olympic history, and I am fully confident that the 519 support staff and 300 volunteers we have will help us achieve this.

"It is also great to see the first Team GB athletes moving into the Olympic Village today, which is another important step in our delivery of the London 2012 Olympic Games."

Athletes entering the village, which will accommodate 18,000 people throughout the Games, were greeted by Sir Clive Woodward and Olympic legend, Dame Kelly Holmes.

Competitors and support staff from four other sports - diving, equestrian, shooting and swimming - moved into the village on the first day.

Team USA will be the second largest Olympic delegation at London 2012 - with a total of 530 athletes competing this summer - twelve less than Team GB.

Russia will have the third largest delegation with approximately 450 athletes competing this summer, while China will have 396 athletes competing across 23 sporting events.

© Sportsbeat 2012