• The object of the sport is simple: to shoot arrows as close to the centre of a target as possible. Olympic Archery targets are 122 centimetres in diameter, with the gold ring at the centre (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2cm. Archers shoot at the target from a distance of 70 metres.

• At the Olympic Games, the two individual Archery competitions (one for men, one for women) will be played in a knockout format. Matches will be played over the best of five sets, with each set consisting of three arrows per archer.

• The winners of each match will qualify for the next round, until the last two archers go head to head in the gold medal match. A knockout format will also be used for the men’s and women’s team competitions, which features teams of three archers competing against each other in a best-of-24-arrows format.

• There are four main strands to the Athletics competition: track events, such as the 100m; field events, which include the High Jump and the Shot Put; combined events such as the Decathlon, a mix of track and field elements; and road events, among them the Marathon.

• Staged in the brand new Olympic Stadium, the 24 track events (12 for men, 12 for women) will be held over distances ranging from 100m to 10,000m. Some events will also feature obstacles to negotiate, as in the 400m Hurdles and the 3000m Steeplechase. The majority of track events begin with one or more rounds of heats, with the best athletes eventually qualifying for the final.

There will be five road events on the Athletics programme at the London 2012 Olympic Games: the men’s and women’s Marathons (12 and 5 August respectively), the men’s and women’s 20km Race Walks (4 and 11 August respectively), and the men’s 50km Race Walk (11 August). All five road events will be held on the streets of Central London, finishing at The Mall. There are no heats: all road events consist of a single race.

• Basketball is played by two teams of five players on an indoor court that is 28 metres long and 15m wide. Points are scored by shooting the ball into your opponents’ net (or 'basket'), which has a diameter of 450-459mm and sits on a backboard 3.05m above the floor.

• Two points are awarded for a regular shot from open play, with one point for each successful free throw (following an opposition infringement) and three points for a shot from distance (beyond what’s known as the three-point line, 6.75m from the basket). Games last for 40 minutes, split into four 10-minute quarters.

• At London 2012, both the men’s and women’s Basketball competitions will begin with a preliminary stage: the 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six, and each team will play every other team in their group. The best eight teams during the preliminaries will qualify for the knockout stage, with the winners of the semi-finals going head-to-head in the gold medal game.

• The Olympic Boxing competition will feature 10 men’s weight categories, from Light Fly Weight (46-49kg) to Super Heavy Weight (over 91kg). At London 2012, women’s Boxing will feature as a full Olympic medal event for the first time, with medals in three weights: Fly Weight (48-51kg), Light Weight (57-60kg) and Middle Weight (69-75kg).In the Olympic Games, men’s bouts take place over three three-minute rounds, with women’s bouts held over four rounds of two minutes each. Boxers score points for every punch they land successfully on their opponent’s head or upper body.

• At London 2012, all Boxing events will be run in a knockout format. The winners of the two semi-finals in each weight category will fight for the gold medal, with the losers of the two semi-finals each awarded a bronze.

• The BMX races at London 2012 will be held on a short outdoor track, with the riders starting on an 8m-high ramp. The course is built up with jumps, bumps and tightly banked corners. Following individual time trial seeding rounds, eight riders compete in heats, with each race lasting around 40 seconds.

• BMX bikes have only one gear and one brake. Most racing riders use wheels that are 20 inches in diameter, roughly two-thirds the size of wheels used on a standard road bike. Bikes need to be strong enough to endure the wear and tear from the jarring landings after jumps, yet light enough to remain fast and competitive.

• The men's and women's events at London 2012 will both start with a seeding phase: each rider runs the track once to determine the seedings, which ensures that the fastest riders don’t meet before the final. The men’s event continues with the quarter-finals, which are held over five races with groups of eight riders.

• Points are awarded according to places, and the top two riders from the first three races in each quarter-final qualify for the semi-finals. The groups (now six riders in each) race twice more, and the top two riders from each group of six transfer to the semi-finals. From here, the semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s events follow a three-run format: the top four riders from each semi-final advance to the final run, when the medals are decided.

• The eight Olympic diving events – four for men, four for women – feature either a springboard, 3m above the pool, or a fixed platform, set at a height of 10m. Springboards must be at least 4.8m long and 50cm wide, while platforms should be at least 6m long and 3m wide.

• Judges award a score out of 10 for each dive, which is adjusted to take into account the dive’s degree of difficulty. In the Synchronised Diving events, pairs of athletes dive in tandem and are also assessed for their level of synchronisation.

• The Jumping competition is a tense, exciting test of skill, speed and power. Held in an arena around a short course containing 12-14 fences, the event requires huge reserves of boldness, accuracy and nerves of steel – from both the riders and their horses. As with all three Equestrian disciplines on the Olympic programme, the competition features both Individual and Team events, and men and women compete against each other on equal terms.

There are a total of five rounds in the Jumping competition. Two of these rounds are used to determine the placings in the Team event, with all five rounds playing a part in the Individual event. If two or more rider/horse combinations are tied for medal places after the fifth and final round of the Individual event, there will be a jump-off to break the tie.

• The aim of Football, to score more goals than the opposition, is both simple and universally known. Teams of 11 players compete across two 45-minutes halves, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide drawn matches during the knockout stages of the competition.

• Due to the intense schedule, the Football competition actually kicks off two days before the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony with the first group matches. At London 2012, the men’s competition will be an under-23s event, although each country will be allowed to include three older players in their team. There are no age restrictions for the women’s competition.

• Both the men’s and women’s competitions will begin with a group stage. The teams will be divided into groups of four (three groups in the women’s tournament, four groups for the men), and the best eight teams will qualify for the quarter-finals. From here, the competitions are played to a knockout format: the two winning semi-finalists will play for the gold medal at Wembley, with the two losing semi-finalists facing off for the bronze.

• Along with events to find the best teams and the best all-around performers, gymnasts will be battling for gold on individual apparatus. Men compete on the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar, while women compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.

• Scores are given by a panel of judges, taking into account the degree of difficulty and the quality of the execution. Strength, flexibility and balance are keys to success in this breathtaking and hugely competitive sport.

• Played on a court measuring 40 x 20 metres, the largest court of any indoor ball sport at the Games, Handball features two teams of seven players passing and dribbling a small ball with their hands. The aim is to throw the ball into the opposition’s goal, which happens often: it’s not uncommon to see 50 goals in a single 60-minute match.

• At London 2012, both the men’s and women’s Handball competitions will begin with a preliminary phase: the 12 teams in each event will be divided into two groups of six, and each team will play every other team in their group. The four best teams in each group will qualify for the knockout phase, with the winners of the semi-finals eventually going head-to-head for the gold.

• Teams of 11 players (plus five substitutes) compete against each other on a pitch measuring 91.4 metres by 55m. Players use hook-shaped sticks to advance a hard ball towards their opponents’ goal, which stands 3.66m wide and 2.14m high. Matches are played over two halves of 35 minutes each.

• Until the 1970s, hockey was always played on grass. However, top-level matches, including those at London 2012, now take place on water-based synthetic-turf pitches, which allow the ball to roll more smoothly and quickly.

• At London 2012, both the men’s and women’s Hockey competitions will begin with a preliminary phase: the 12 teams in each event will be divided into two pools of six, and each team will play every other team in their pool. The two best teams in each pool will qualify for the semi-finals, the winners of which will go head-to-head for the gold.

• Judo contests last five minutes, with scores awarded for different throws and holds. However, a contest ends immediately if a competitor is awarded ‘ippon’ – the maximum score. If the scores are tied after five minutes, the contest enters a golden score period, when the first score of any sort wins.

All of the Judo events at the London 2012 Olympic Games – seven for men, seven for women – will be played in a knockout format. The winners of each contest will qualify for the next round, with the two finalists going head to head in the gold medal contest. The defeated quarter-finalists will compete in two 'repechage' contests, the winners of which will then go up against the two defeated semi-finalists to determine the winners of the two bronze medals in each event.

• The 14 Olympic Rowing events range from the Single Sculls, featuring solo rowers, to the Eights, contested by teams of eight rowers plus a cox. All events are held over a 2,000m course, with the competition taking a total of eight days.

• All Rowing events at London 2012 will begin with the heats, from which the best boats will qualify for the next round. Boats that do not qualify automatically from the heats get a second chance to qualify through the repechage round. The best boats eventually progress through the various stages and into the finals of each event, which decide the medallists.

• Olympic Shooting events fall broadly into three types: Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun events. In Pistol and Rifle events, competitors aim at a 10-ringed target from a set distance (10m, 25m or 50m).

• Depending on the event, athletes are required to shoot from standing, kneeling or prone positions. In Shotgun events, meanwhile, competitors shoot at moving clay targets launched above and in front of them.

• In the five Pistol events and the five Rifle events, shooters take part in two rounds, the qualification and the final. The scores in each round are added together to give a total score, which determines the winners of the medals. There are also two stages in the five Shotgun events, with the scores from the qualification and final stages added together to determine the rankings.

• There are four strokes used in Olympic competition: Freestyle (essentially, front crawl), Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. All four strokes feature in the Individual Medley and Medley Relay events.

• Olympic races are conducted over a variety of distances, from 50m (one length of the pool) all the way up to 1500m. All the pool events begin with heats, with the best swimmers from the qualifying rounds eventually racing for gold in the final.

• Table Tennis is based on the same basic principles as Tennis, but it has a very different scoring system. Singles matches are played over the best of seven games, with the first player to 11 points (by a margin of two clear points) winning each game. Team matches, meanwhile, consist of four singles matches and one doubles match, each played over the best of five games.

• Both the Singles and Team events at London 2012 will be run in a knockout format. Players and teams will progress through the draw until the finals, which will decide the winners of the gold medals.

• The object of Taekwondo is to land kicks and punches on your opponent’s scoring zones: one point is awarded for a valid kick or punch to the torso, two points for a valid spinning kick, and four points for a turning kick to the head.

• The action takes place inside an 8m x 8m zone called a court, with each contest made up of three two-minute rounds. Over their standard white uniform, known as a ‘dobok’, competitors wear coloured protective equipment. The competitor wearing blue is referred to as ‘chung’, while the competitor in red is ‘hong’.

• The eight Taekwondo events at the London 2012 Games – four weight categories for men, four for women – will be played in a knockout format. The winners of each contest will qualify for the next round, with the two finalists going head to head in the gold medal contest. All competitors who lose to one of the finalists will enter the 'repechage', which will eventually determine the winners of the bronze medals.

• The Tennis competition at London 2012 will feature five medal events. Along with men’s and women’s Singles and men’s and women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles will be making its first Olympic appearance since 1924.

• All matches will be the best of three sets with the exception of the men’s Singles final, which will be the best of five sets, and all Mixed Doubles matches, which will be resolved by a first-to-10 tie-break if they reach one set all.

• At London 2012, the Tennis tournament will be played according to a knockout format, with the winners of the semi-finals in each event going head-to-head on Centre Court for the gold medals.

• Volleyball is played by two teams of six on an 18m x 9m indoor court divided by a net (2.43m high for men, 2.24m for women). The object of the game is to land the ball in the opposition’s half of the court.

• Each team is allowed three touches of the ball before it must cross over the net. The key attacking move is the set and spike, in which a player feeds the ball (the set) for a teammate to power it into the opposition’s court (the spike). Volleyball requires amazing power and astonishing reactions: in the men’s game, the ball can reach speeds in excess of 130km/h.

• At London 2012, both the men’s and women’s Volleyball competitions will begin with a preliminary phase: the 12 teams in each event will be divided into two pools of six, and each team will play every other team in their pool. The eight best teams from this phase will qualify for the knockout phase, with the winners of the semi-finals eventually going head to head for the gold.