None of the athletes won any medals at the Games, with the best result being a ninth-place finish for Khadija Mohammad in the women's heavyweight (–75 kg) weightlifting event.

[3] The United Arab Emirates named part of its Olympic team at the Dubai Aquarium on 21 June 2012.

[4] It sent 26 athletes to complete in the London Summer Olympics: 2 in track and field, 18 football players, 3 shooters, and 1 each in judo, swimming and weightlifting.

[10] She qualified for the women's 1500 metres event by setting a personal best of 4 minutes, 8.87 seconds at a meet in Casablanca on 9 June 2012.

[12] On 6 August, Desalegn entered the first round of the women's 1500 metres at the Olympic Stadium,[13] and was assigned to run in heat three.

[16] He used a wild card invite to enter the men's triple jump since his personal best was 5 cm (2.0 in) away from 16.85 m (55.3 ft), the "B" qualifying standard for the event.

Ismail Matar took the lead for the UAE with a 23rd minute goal from an Omar Abdulrahman left footed pass.

The UAE had tied the match at 1–1 with a goal from Rashed Eisa, but Scott Sinclair restored his team's lead from another Bellamy cross at 73 minutes.

[31] The home team took a 3–1 victory when Daniel Sturridge's shot went over UAE goalkeeper Ali Khasif.

[30] At the City of Coventry Stadium on 1 August, the UAE drew 1–1 to Senegal in its final match of the tournament,[32] finishing fourth with one point in Group A and advancing no further.

[42] He trained in Belarus, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates as preparation for the Games;[43][44] he was required to wear sunglasses due to an eye disease giving him a high degree of light sensitivity.

[42][46] Awad caused an elbow injury to Al-Derei, which restricted the latter's movement after the game commenced, and performed an ippon to win at 2 minutes, 37 seconds.

[50] Ahmad Al Kamali, the UAE Athletics Federation president, said Al-Maktoum's experience gave him an opportunity to win.

[53] He qualified for the Olympic double trap tournament after winning the gold medal in the discipline at the 2012 Asian Shooting Championships.

[55] On 2 August, Al-Maktoum competed in the qualification round of the men's double trap at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

[62] The team's trap shooting coach Rustam Yambulatov said on 6 August that Al-Aryani would be helped if the weather was hot.

[62] After the Games, Al-Aryani said, "Now after finishing this competition against some of the world's best champion shooters, I have learnt so much that I feel confident for the future.

[72] After he was eliminated, he commented on his result, "I was very nervous today because it was my first time at the Olympics but still I'm happy I got the chance to compete against the best in the world.

[5] At age 17, she was the youngest athlete to represent the nation at the 2012 London Games,[5] and was making her debut in the Olympics.

[78] Mohammed said that she wanted to venture to the Olympics with the goal to create an impression for Emirati and Gulf women and inspire girls to get into weightlifting.