Long an Olympics powerhouse, Germany will send 217 men and 174 women, not including 16 alternate athletes in case of injury, to London for the July 27 - August 12 Olympic Games.

"Now the team is complete," said DOSB president Thomas Bach. "The qualifying results allow us to travel to London with optimism and confidence."

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Germany sent a team of 440 athletes and finished in fifth place on the medals tables behind China, the United States, Russia and Britain. In all, Germany captured 16 gold medals, 10 silver and 15 bronze. A total of 23 German medal-winners from 2008 are back on the 2012 squad, including Modern Pentathlon gold medalist Lena Schöneborn.

German athletes will compete in 23 of the 26 events at the Olympics, with some of the highest hopes coming after a solid finish in the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, which took place from June 27 to July 1, when it narrowly topped the medal charts ahead of Russia and France, and a strong showing at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen held June 29 to July 8.

Germany sent 449 athletes to the 2004 Athens Games and 428 athletes to Sydney four years earlier.

The 2012 Olympics opening ceremony will take place on July 27, though the football competition kicks off two days earlier.

bm/ng (Reuters, SID)