London 2012 in Pictures: Team GB's Mud, Sweat and Tears

London Olympics 2012 only began three days ago, and already Britain's players and spectators have been put through the emotional mill.

Athletes have experienced the highs and the lows of the intense competition, with surprise successes mixed with crushing defeats.

It all started with the men's cycling road race, which saw Mark Cavendish frustrated by what he claimed to be "negative" action on the part of rival teams keen to ensure team GB didn't make it onto the podium.

However the women's road race team put in a fantastic performance, with a mud-spattered Elizabeth Armistead battling against torrential rain to clinch the silver medal.

Swimmer Rebecca Adlington almost lost an opportunity to defend her 400m freestyle gold medal, but managed to sneak into the finals by recording the eighth-best time in qualifying. However Adlington, who was not expected to gain gold again, fought valiantly to a bronze medal.

Somewhat greater expectation was placed on Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield, in the synchronised 10m men's diving event. Although the pair performed well in their first three dives, vying for gold with the Chinese team, a wayward fourth dive pushed them outside the medal standings.

The men's artistic gymnastics team of Sam Oldham, Kristian Thomas, Max Whitlock, Louis Smith and Daniel Purvis experienced similar fluctuations in their attempt to gain Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1912.

Putting in a strong team performance, the Britons were overjoyed when a mistake by Japan's Kohei Uchimura on the pommel horse saw them awarded a silver medal. However, the Japanese successfully appealed the decision and were awarded additional points, pushing Team GB to bronze.

Still, the British gymnasts will be pleased about breaking their country's 100-year hoodoo in the artistic competition.

There are still many more medal hopes out there for team GB, with Zara Philips and her teammates performing well in the equestrian eventing, and several GB rowers achieveing final places, including the women's pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, who made their mark on the competition with a new Olympic record in their heat.