When 16 year old Wojdan Shaherkani of Saudi Arabia competed in the London 2012 Judo heats she had absolutely no expectation of winning. In this case it really was the taking part that mattered. No female athlete from Saudi Arabia - which forbids women from participating in sport - had ever competed in an Olympic Games before.

Meanwhile, Team GB's Nicola Adams fought her way to a gold medal in women's boxing - the first time women's boxing had been included in the Olympic programme - while Heather Stanning and Helen Glover won Team GB's first Gold medal of the London 2012 Games in rowing.

• 262 female athletes represented Team GB
• 115 female athletes represented ParalympicsGB