Slideshow: 15 Unforgettable Images of Asian Olympians at London 2012

August 13th, 2012

Qiushuang Huang of China competes on the balance beam in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Individual All-Around on August 2, 2012. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Japan's Ren Hayakawa takes aim during the Women's Team Archery Eliminations match between Britain and Russia on July 29, 2012 in London, England. (Paul Gilham/AFP/Getty Images)

China's Xue Chen serves during the women's beach volleyball preliminary phase pool B match against Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkher of Switzerland on July 30, 2012. (Daniel Garcia/AFP/Getty Images)

A Lam Shin of Korea cries after losing to Britta Heidemann of Germany in the Women's Epee Individual Fencing Semifinals on July 30, 2012. (Hannah Johnston/Getty Images)

Korean goalkeeper Bumyoung Lee after extra time during the London 2012 Olympic Games men's quarterfinal between Great Britain and South Korea on August 4, 2012. (Glyn Kirk/AFP/GettyImages)

Mohammad Bagheri Motamed of Iran (L) competes against Diogo Silva of Brazil (R) during the Men's -68kg Taekwondo semifinal match on August 9, 2012. (Hannah Johnston/Getty Images)

Jessica Fox of Australia competes in the Women's Kayak Single (K1) Slalom on August 2, 2012. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Pawel Zagrodnik of Poland (white) and Masashi Ebinuma of Japan (blue) on the mat after their match in the Men's 66 kg Judo on July 29, 2012. (Ian Walton/Getty Images)

Kai Qin of China competes in the Men's 3m Springboard Diving Preliminary on August 6, 2012. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Han Soonchul of Korea (L) celebrates his victory over Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan (R) during the Men's Light 60kg Boxing on August 6, 2012. (Scott Heavey/Getty Images)

Japan competes in the team technical routine during the synchronised swimming competition on August 9, 2012. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

Ning Ding of China in action against Kyungah Kim of Korea during the women's team table tennis semifinals on August 6, 2012. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Sam Willoughby (2L) of Australia jumps with the field as they race in the Men's BMX Cycling semifinals on August 10, 2012. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Yasuhiro Ueyama of Japan competes on the Men's Trampoline on August 3, 2012. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Yihan Wang of China competes during her Women's Singles Badminton Gold Medal match on August 4, 2012. (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

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The torch has been put out, the athletes have left and the baton has been passed on to the next host. But the London 2012 games will live on through the thousands and thousands of photographs taken over 16 days.

After combing through more images that we can accurately keep track of, here are 15 iconic, gravity-defying and emotional Asian images from the London Olympics.

About the Author

Tahiat Mahboob is Asia Society's Senior Multimedia Producer. She grew up in Bangladesh, worked at New York Fashion Week and taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

@tahiatmahboob