The rhythmic gymnastics events took place at Wembley Arena from 9 to 12 August.

Brazil and South Korea won their first gold medals in the discipline in the Summer Olympic Games history.

Yevgeniya Kanayeva of Russia marked history by becoming the first back-to-back Olympic champion at the individual all-around in rhythmic gymnastics.

Qualification was based on the results of the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships held in Montpellier, France, from 19 to 25 September; the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, from 7–16 October; the 2011 Trampoline World Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom, from 17 to 20 November; and Olympic test events held in January 2012 at the North Greenwich Arena.

The men's artistic team all-around final became the subject of controversy when the judges were booed by the crowd following Japan's Kōhei Uchimura's score for his pommel horse routine, and how it shuffled the medals of Japan, Great Britain, and Ukraine.