London Olympics 2012: Google Doodles through the Olympics, All the Funny and Quirky Doodles

The London Olympics 2012 were marked not only by feats of sporting excellence and a number of records but also by 17 entertaining Google doodles, specially created to celebrate different sports.

Check out a quick look back through the delightful doodles Google created over the past three weeks...

Closing Ceremony: A doodle to remember how it all finished. Google's closing ceremony doodle is an ode to various Olympic sports and features athletes from a number of disciplines coming together to share cartoon space and the Google lettering.

Gymnastics (Rhythmic): The grace and the sublime beauty of a rhythmic gymnast in full flow can be quite hypnotic, as this doodle shows.

Football: One of only four interactive doodles, the football doodle puts you between the posts and charges you with protecting your side's goal. You could use the arrow keys to move from side to side, as opposing players try to score, and use the spacebar to block high-flying balls.

Slalom Canoe: Another of the interactive doodles, this time you were supposed to use a combination of speed and skill (and the right and left direction keys) to steer the canoe along the river. The object was to race through all the gates while avoiding obstacles like rocks and frogs.

Basketball: The third of the interactive doodles, Google puts you in the shoes of an NBA star. You were required to shoot hoops by using the spacebar or holding and releasing the left mouse button.

Hurdles: The last of the interactive doodles, you were supposed to use the left and right direction keys to run and the spacebar to jump over a series of 10 hurdles. Once the race was over, your score was displayed and a star rating awarded.

Javelin: An ode to the Javelin, this doodle was picuted as a dynamic caricature of the power behind a javelin throw.

Synchronised Swimming: This is the second of its kind to make it to the list of Google doodles featured during the Olympics. The first one was posted during the 2004 Olympics held at Athens which showed two female swimmers raising their hands to form the two O's in Google's logo. In this doodle, a team of eight syncronised swimmers get together for a circular formation to replace the first 'O' of the Google logo floating in a pool.

Pole Vault: The Google logo frames the horizon behind the stadium in this one and puts us up in the sky with the pole vaulter as she rises majestically to the top of her jump.

Shot Put: This doodle, like the one for the pole vault, is all about reaching the unreachable. The Google lettering is all the way back in the distance as the athlete prepares to throw.

Table Tennnis: This doodle is like a high-speed still camera, in that it tries to capture a split second in the rapid fire game that is table tennis.

Field Hockey: This doodle is about one of the oldest Olympics sports - hockey - and shows a young woman concentrating fiercely on the ball, with the Google lettering on the wall in the background.

Gymnastic (Artistic): In the best cartoon traditions, this doodle shows a mustachioed gymnast performing on the rings, which form the two letter Os in the Google lettering.

Fencing: This was the second time Google created a doodle related to fencing. The first was in 2004 for the Athens Olympics.

Diving: Just as in gymastics, the sport of diving is a graceful sight and the acrobatics each competitor performs on what always seems to be an incredibly short distance between the platform and the pool never fails to amaze.

Archery: The event that started the London Olympics 2012 was remembered with a doodle that firmly put the bullseye in the forefront.

Opening Ceremony: Back on 27 July, when Danny Boyle's multi-million pound extravaganza kick-started the London Olympics 2012, Google came out with this colourful and cheerful doodle, celebrating the spirit of the Olympics and the joy to come.