Great Britain’s women’s Rugby Sevens team qualified for Paris 2024 with gold in the European Games.

The event would take place from 23-27 June at Stadion Mijeski im. Henryka Reymana in Kraków (POL). It is the home stadium of Polish top-division football side Wisła Kraków, thirteen times national champions.

On the Men’s side, qualification was through the World Rugby Sevens Series. As GB were one of only three European teams, their spot would be guaranteed (in the end they came ninth, second best in Europe). The players were Jamie Farndale (Scotland), Tom Williams (Wales), Alex Davis (England), who was to play for GB in Rio 2016 if not for injury, Kaleem Barreto (Scotland), Ross McCann (Scotland), Jamie Barden (England), Olufemi Sofolarin (England), Frederick Roddick (England), Morgan Williams (Wales), Robbie Fergusson (Scotland), Thomas Emery (England), Will Homer (England), and Max McFarland (Scotland). Most players had some union career but count sevens as their main priority.

Pool C saw them advance with no worries: Romania were bested 45-0, Lithuania 24-0, and Portugal 31-5. This set up a quarterfinal with Germany. McFarland got GB off to the perfect start with a try in the second minute, Emery adding the extras, but in the second minute off additional time Tim Lichtenberg scored. It was not converted by Nikolai Klewinghaus, so it was 7-5 at half-time. Tom Williams then scored in the eighth minute, with Emery adding the extras in the ninth, and even though Philip Gleitze scored in the thirteenth, Klewinghaus didn’t convert and time ran out for a 14-10 victory.

Spain lied in wait in the semis and Pol Pla got them off to a perfect start in the second minute, with Juan Ramos adding the extras. However, that was as good as it got for the Spanish. McFarland went straight up the other end in the third and Emery added the extras in the fourth to level it up. Tom Williams then scored a try of his own in the sixth minute, although Emery could not convert, making it 12-7 GB at half-time. In the second period, Farndale added a try in the tenth minute, and as the clock ticked over into the eleventh Emery converted, enough for a 19-7 win.

Ireland were the foes in the gold medal match, with the winner booking a place in Paris. Billy Dardis struck first, with a try in the fourth which he converted himself. In the seventh minute, GB responded, Tom Williams crossing and Barreto converting. However, after Fergusson earned a yellow, Terry Kennedy restored Ireland’s advantage in the second minute of additional time, with Dardis conerting in the third for a 14-7 lead. Then in the twelfth minute, Jordan Conroy crossed the line for Ireland, with Mark Roche converting in the thirteenth. He did so again in the fourteenth, although Conroy missed the extras. While the match was gone, there was still time for GB to get another score: after Bryan Mollen’s yellow card in the second minute of additional time, Sofolarin crossed, with Roddick missing the conversion. Therefore, Ireland won it 26-12.

On the women’s side, GB were one of four European countries in the World Series, and came seventh (third in Europe) to qualify. The GB team was Lisa Thomson (Scotland), Abbie Brown (England), Rhona Lloyd (Scotland), Jade Shekells (England), Shona Campbell (Scotland), Lauren Torley (England), Emma Uren (England), Heather Cowell (England), Isla Norman-Bell (England), Megan Jones (England), Jasmine Joyce (Wales), Amy Wilson-Hardy (England), and Ellie Boatman (England). Some have medals in rugby sevens: Brown, Jones, and Wilson-Hardy won bronze for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but many also are regular participants for their nations in 15s as well.

In Pool A, GB had no issues, with a 55-0 win over Norway, 36-5 win over Italy, and a 37-5 win over Czechia. Germany lied in wait in the quarterfinals. In the first minute, Joyce earned a try, with Thomson converting. Boatman did so in the second, although Thomson missed this time. However, in the fourth, Boatman got another try, converted by Thomson. In the fifth, Thomson got her own try, and converted it in the sixth. Joyce got a try in the seventh, and as it ticked over into additional time, Boatman converted. It was 33-0 at half-time. Torley scored in the eighth, although Jones couldn’t convert, with Lloyd adding in the tenth, again Jones missing the conversion. Jones got a try of her own in the twelfth, again without converting, while in the fourteenth Boatman got her hattrick, with Jones unable to convert, keeping the score at 53-0.

Belgium were the foes in the semifinal, and they started perfectly with Cécile Blondiau scoring in the second minute, although Ella Amory could not convert. However, Jones went over in the third, missing the conversion. Belgium went back ahead with Margaux Lalli scoring in the sixth minute and Nele Pien converting. However, there was still time for Shona Campbell to score in the seventh minute, and as it ticked over into additional time Lisa Thomson converted. It was 12-12 at half time. However, GB turned it on in the second half. Uren scored in the eighth minute, with Jones converting. Brown scored in the eleventh, converted by Jones. Campbell scored again in the thirteenth, with Jones missing the convertion. Finally, Norman-Bell scored in the first minute of additional time, but did not convert. Therefore, it finished 36-12.

The hosts Poland were the final obstacle for GB. It started perfectly for the Brits, with Uren scoring and Norman-Bell converting in the third. She scored again in the seventh, with Jones converting. In the first minute of additional time, Jones scored, with Norman-Bell missing the conversion. It was 19-0 at half-time. As Kataryna Paszczyk got a yellow card in the eleventh minute, Lloyd scored with Jones converting, before Wilson-Hardy scored in the twelfth and Jones converted in the thirteenth for a 33-0 win.

Therefore, the women will be in Paris, but the men have one more chance at the Final Repechage Tournament before 23 June 2024.

Three of GB’s boxers have booked their ticket to Paris at the 2024 European Games.

In most events, the top four would qualify, apart from the Women’s Middleweight and Men’s Flyweight, Heavyweight, and Super Heavyweight.

Starting with the Men’s Flyweight, Kiaran MacDonald got a bye to the Round of 16. Here he faced German Salah Ibrahim, who he beat by unanimous decision (5-0). The same fate was waiting for Serbia’s Omer Ametović in the quarterfinals. However, in the semifinals, he lost unanimously to Billal Bennama of France, and a bronze medal was not good enough to reach Paris.

In the Men’s Featherweight, Jack Dryden beat France’s Riad Labidi unanimously in the Round of 32, but fell unanimously to Denmark’s Frederik Lundgaard Jensen in the Round of 16.

In the Light Welterweight, Reese Lynch defeated Latvian Mārcis Grundulis unanimously in the Round of 32, but lost unanimously to Bulgaria’s Radoslav Rosenov in the Round of 16.

In the Light Middleweight, Harris Akbar reached a bye to the Round of 32, but lost on split decision (4-1) to Germany’s Magomed Schachidov.

In the Light Heavyweight, Taylor Bevan faced France’s Mathieu Bauderlique and beat him by unanimous decision in the Round of 32. However, he lost by the same result to Ireland’s Kelyn Cassidy in the Round of 16.

In the Heavyweight, Lewis Williams faced Kosovo’s Taulant Jakupi in the Round of 32 and forced a stoppage, going through by abandonment. However, he lost by split decision to Türkiye’s Berat Acar (3-2).

In the Super Heavyweight, Delicious Orie defeated Croatia’s Marko Milun 4-0 in the Round of 32. Next was Norway’s Omar Mohamed Shiha, who was dispatched 5-0. The same fate was true for Davit Chaloyan of Armenia in the quarterfinal. In the semis, Yordan Hernández of Bulgaria lost by the same result to confirm Orie’s place in Paris. He still had to fight for gold, and defeated Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev 5-0 to do so.

On the women’s side, Demie-Jade Resztan got a bye to the Round of 16, but she lost by unanimous decision to Italy’s Giordana Sorrentino in the Light Flyweight.

In the Bantamweight, Charley Davison defeated Mary Romero in the Round of 16 (5-0). Zehra Milli of Sweden was next in the quarterfinals, but she was also dispatched by unanimous decision to confirm Davison’s place in Paris. In the semis, she lost (5-0) to Bulgarian Stanimira Petrova, but a bronze medal and an Olympic quota was something to celebrate.

In the Featherweight, Elise Glynn beat Serbia’s Anđela Branković by unanimous decision in the Round of 32. However, in the Round of 16 Italian Irma Testa beat her on a split decision (3-2).

In the Lightweight, Shona Whitwell was defeated (4-0) in the Round of 32 by Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku.

Rosie Eccles got a bye to the Round of 16 in the Welterweight, where she defeated Italy’s Assunta Canfora (4-1). Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst was also beaten in the quarterfinals by split decision, 3-2 to confirm Eccles’ place in Paris. In the semis she lost to Turk Busenaz Sürmeneli by split decision (4-1), but like Davison bronze was joined by an Olympic spot.

Kerry Davis entered for GB in the Middleweight, but was beaten by France’s Davina Michel by split decision (3-2) in the Round of 32.

For the events where Brits did not qualify, there are still chances. Four places per event (two in the Women’s Featherweight and three in the Lightweight) are up for grabs at the next event, the first World Qualification Tournemant, to be held in the first quarter of 2024.

The 2023 European Games was a qualifying event for Table Tennis. The event was held at the Hutnik Arena in Kraków, a “sports and entertainment hall” attached to a football stadium that may be familiar to seasoned fans of British sport: England used it as a training camp for UEFA Euro 2012.

This only served as the European qualifier for Mixed Doubles, with one place available for Europeans. That is to say, the winners go to the Olympics. The event was from 23-26 June 2023.

The British pairing was Liam Pitchford and Tin-Tin Ho. Together, they won Commonwealth silver for England in both 2014 and 2018. Pitchford was also part of the world bronze winning England team from 2016.

They were seeded fifteenth, and in the Round of 16 faced number three seeds Ľubomír Pištej and Barbora Balážová from Slovakia. This was too big a hurdle, the Slovaks winning 11-6 5-11 11-5 11-8.

This will not be the last chance for the mixed doubles pairs, with a final qualification tournament yielding four places. This will take place in March-April 2024.

The European Games in Kraków (POL) saw Archery qualification for the Olympics. The winners of the Mixed Team event would qualify one man and one woman, while the top two in each individual event would also qualify.

The top Brits in each gender were Penny Healy (681) and Monty Orton (683), so their 1364 was enough for second in qualifying, way in front of 25th-placed Ireland (1188). They faced Belgium in the Round of 16. Taking the first two sets 39-34 and 36-32, they just needed a draw in the third, which they got (38-38) to wrap up a 5-1 win. Moldova would be the opponents in the quarterfinals, and the Brits started strong, 36-35 37-36 to go on match point. However, the Moldovans equalised (37-32 38-37) to send it to a tiebreak, where they took it 20-19 to win 5-4.

In the Men’s individual event, Orton was third on 683 (39 10 16X), with Alex Wise in 19th on 663 and James Woodgate 30th on 654. Orton got a bye to the Round of 32, while Wise and Woodgate would face the Round of 64.

Woodgate went up against Denmark’s Oliver Staudt, who took the first two sets 26-25 28-25. Though Woodgate won the next 29-25, a 28-26 win in Set 4 wrapped up a 6-2 win for Staudt. Wise would face Greece’s Panagiotis Katsaitis, and went 3-1 down, 25-25 27-26. However, he would take the next three 29-26 27-25 27-24 to win 7-3.

Coincidentally, Staudt’s next opponent would be Orton, and the first two were split 27-27 26-26. However, Orton would take the next two 28-27 28-27 to win 6-2. Wise would face Spaniard Pablo Acha, and draw the first set 26-26, and lose the next 26-24. A 27-27 draw in Set 3 put Acha on match point, and he took it 28-25 to wrap up a 6-2 win.

This meant Acha would face Orton in the Round of 16, and the Spaniard would go into a 4-0 lead with 28-27 28-25. Though a 29-27 win in Set 3 put Orton back in it, Acha would win it 6-2 with a 28-27 win in Set 4.

On the women’s side, Healy would come second in qualification with a Games Record 681 (38 10), while Byrony Pitman would be 16th with 652 (26 10) and Jaspreet Sagoo was 28th with 637. Healy and Pitman got to skip to the Round of 32, while Sagoo would face the Round of 64. There she met Cypriot Elena Petrou, but Sagoo withdrew.

In the Round of 32, Pitman faced Slovakia’s Denisa Baránková. After splitting the first set 27-27, they alternated: Baránková took the second 30-25, but Pitman levelled up 27-25. A 26-26 draw set up a final set decider, which Pitman took 29-26 to win 6-4. On the other side of the draw, Healy faced Slovenia’s Urška Čavič, and advanced with a 6-0 clean sweep: 27-26 28-26 29-27.

In the Round of 16, Pitman faced Ukraine’s Anastasia Pavlova. Pitman took the first round 29-28, but Pavlova took the second 29-27. The third was split 28-28, and the next two were split as well: Pitman’s 27-25 was responded to by a Set 5 30-24 win by Pavlova to keep her alive. This went to a one-arrow shoot-off, and both hit 9s, but with Pavlova closer to the centre, the Ukrainian advanced 6-5. Meanwhile, Healey faced Sweden’s Christine Bjerendal. A 28-26 win in Set 1 was followed by a 25-25 draw in Set 2, but after this it was plain sailing: 27-25 26-25 for a 7-1 win.

In the quarterfinals, France’s Caroline Lopez was the opposition, and a perfect start for Healey as she won Set 1 30-27. The second was won by Lopez, 26-25, before a tied Set 3 28-28 to keep it level. However, Healey came good in the fourth and fifth, taking them 29-28 28-27 to win 7-3 and set up a date with Italian Chiara Rebagliati in the semis.

Healey won this in dominating fashion: 27-26 28-24 30-29 for a perfect 6-0 win. Thus Elia Canales of Spain would meet her in the final: a 26-26 draw in the first, followed by two wins (30-29 and 28-26). A 29-29 draw in Set 4 wrapped up a 6-2 victory and the gold medal.

A quota spot confirmed then. In each gender, the Team is the main event: qualifying a team spot gets you the maximum three in the individual (in the mixed team, having one man and one woman automatically enters you). Three qualify at the World Archery Championships (Berlin, GER, 1-6 August), three at the continental championships, including one at the European Championships (Essen, GER, 6-12 May 2024), three at the Final World Team Qualification Tournament (Antalya, TUR, 15-16 June 2024), and two from a ranking list, plus hosts France. Apart from the Mixed Team spots (1 man and 1 woman) at continental games and the main Team spots, individual spots can be earned in Berlin, at continental games, at continental qualification tournamnents (including the one in Europe in Essen, GER, 3-5 May 2024), and at Antalya.

The Artistic Swimming event at the 2023 European Games in Oswiciem saw the GB pair impress but fail to win the qualification spot for the Olympics.

The European Games is the main European qualifier, but the team spot went to Olympic hosts France. So would the duet spot, apart from the fact teams automatically qualify duets, meaning that the spot could be contested among other nations. The top team on combined score in the technical and free routines (separate medal events for the European Games) would qualify for Paris.

Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe managed fifth with a score of 242.9967 in the duet, with 31.550 for difficulty, 144.8967 for execution, and 98.1000 for artistic impression, minus 3.9 penalties. In the free event, there was qualification: Shortman and Thrope managed fifth with 207.0023 (29.800 difficulty, 118.8523 execution, and 88.1500 artistic impression, minus 1.7 penalties), putting them well clear of the Danes in 13th (125.3958).

In the final, Shortman and Thorpe were third with 223.5084 (34.500 difficulty, 135.9584 execution, 87.5500 artistic impression, minus 3.4 penalties). A bronze medal was a brilliant achievement, something that wouldn’t seem possible for British artistic swimming in the past.

However, it was not enough for the spot: the Austrian pair won gold in both events and took the quota place.

Ten teams will qualify, five at continental championships (including the French spot) and five at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha (QAT). These ten teams will qualify a duet spot, plus the five continental winners, and three more at the Worlds in Doha. If the top team had already qualified, then the spot passes on based on score at the European Games. GB were third best behind Austria and Ukraine, so it’s not impossible this will be good enough for a spot after all.

Despite a stacked team, GB’s shooters did not add any places to their already existent four-strong Paris team at the European Games in Kraków.

Qualifiers took place in the twelve individual events: Men’s/Women’s 10m Air Rifle, 10m Air Pistol, 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Rapid Fire Pistol (M)/25m Pistol (W), Trap, and Skeet. The top athlete that had not already qualified a place, or from an NOC that did not have the maximum two, would qualify.

In the Men’s 10m Air Rifle, no Brits entered. In the 10m Air Pistol, Kristian Michael Callaghan and James Andrew John Miller did. Miller was best in qualifying, coming 14th with a 577 (14x), with Callaghan 29th on 570, but both missed the top eight with Joao Costa of Portugal on 578.

Michael Stephen Bargeron entered the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, coming in 24th with a 584 (33x), a fair way off Italy’s Simon Weithaler in 8th with a 590 (37x). In the Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol, Callaghan was joined by Sam William Gowin. Gowin came 16th with a 572 (13x), with Callaghan 24th with a 558, a fair bit behind the Czech athlete Martin Podhrasky in eighth on a 580 (15x).

The Trap saw Matthew John Coward Holley and Aaron John Heading enter: Coward Holley came joint seventh to enter a shoot-off with 121, with Heading 12th on 120. The others in the shoot-off were Portugal’s Joao Azevedo and Armelim Coelho Rodrigues, Croatia’s Anton Glasnovic, and Sweden’s Rickard Ulf Levin Andersson. Glasnovic and Coelho Rodrigues both missed the first shot, leaving Azevedo, Levin Andersson, and Coward Holley fighting for two places. However, Coward Holley missed his next one, finishing ninth.

The Skeet saw Ben William Llewellin enter alongside Karl Frederick Killander. Llewellin came joint fourth on 123, Killander on 119 got 25th (the score for eighth, earned by Vincent Christo Haaga of Germany, was 122: he got 37 in a shoot-off compared to Cyprus’ Georgios Achilleos on 13). A shoot-off with Swedish pair John Henrik Jansson and Erik Marcus Svensson followed, with Llewellin blinking first after nine successful shots to come sixth.

This put him in a shoot-off with Haaga, Svensson, and Estonia’s Peeter Juerisson. The first athlete would be eliminated after twenty shots: unfortunately that was Llewellin on seventeen (Haaga and Juerisson both had eighteen, with Svensson a perfect twenty; Llewellin missed his last shot, and three of his last seven after thirteen in a row perfect). Thus, he was eliminated.

On the women’s side, Seonaid Morven McIntosh entered the 10m Air Rifle; she qualified 14th with 627.2, behind Germany’s Lisa Jutta Mueller (628.0) in eighth. In the 10m Air Pistol, Jessica Kathryn Liddon was for GB, she came 28th with a 563 (11x), twelve off Poland’s Julita Borek in eighth (575-17x). In the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, McIntosh was joined by Katie Maria Gleeson. McIntosh advanced, qualifying second with a 591, Gleeson was 27th with a 578 (22x). Marta Zeljkovic’s 587 was the score to beat in eighth, just edging out Switzerland’s Nina Christen on 586 (32x). Of the eight, two would be eliminated after two rounds: these were Zeljkovic and Germany’s Jolyn Beer. Another round of just standing would follow, and Norwegian Jeanette Hegg Duestad and Serbian Teodora Vukojevic would follow. There would be one more round of standing and two would advance, but 406.5 was only good enough for third: Norway’s Jenny Ostre Stene’s 409.6 needed for second.

Liddon entered the 25m Pistol, she came 33rd with a 561, way off Georgian Nino Salukvadze with 579 (18x) in eighth. In the Trap, Lucy Charlotte Hall and Georgina Tasmin Roberts entered for GB: Hall qualified tenth with 116, Roberts 19th with 113: in eighth was Spain’s Mar Molne Magrina with 118, who got nothing in a shoot-off. Finally, in the Skeet, Emily Jane Hibbs and Amber Jo Rutter entered for GB: Rutter topped qualifying with a European Games Record 123, while Hibbs was 14th with a 115. German Nele Wissmer was eighth on 120 (with three in a shoot-off), just beating Slovakia’s Danka Bartekova with 119. Rutter thus advanced to a ranking match with German Nadine Messerschmidt, Italy’s Martina Bartolomei, and Swede Victoria Mari Larsson. Again, the bottom athlete after twenty would be eliminated: this was Rutter, with sixteen (Messerschmidt had twenty, Bartolomei nineteen, and Larsson eighteen).

This means that the Brits will have to go again. The next chance to qualify will be four places each at the World Championships in Baku (AZE) from 14 August-1 September.

Eden Cheng qualified for the Paris Olympics after a Gold Medal in the European Diving Championships (Rzeszów, POL, 22-28 Jun 2023).

The winner of each individual event would qualify for the games. However, that would not be the last of it, as the 12 spots won at the World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, JPN, 14-30 Jul 2023), would take priority. If someone won a place, but came in the top twelve in Japan, then an extra place would be available in the 2024 event in Doha (QAT).

The four individual Olympic events are the Men’s and Women’s 3m Springboard and 10m Platform.

In the Men’s 3m Springboard, Matthew Dixon and Ross Haslam went up for GB. Dixon has bronze medals in this event, but only in the 10m synchro, and 10m seems to be his best height. As for Haslam, he had a European Games silver medal in the 3m synchro from 2015 (this was part of the European Games). In qualifying, the top twelve would go through, and Haslam led the way with 430.70, with Dixon in ninth with 398.65. This gave both a healthy gap to Alberto Arévalo of Spain in 13th with 376.30.

In the final, however, neither would get a medal. Haslam had a worse performance, coming 4th with 403.35, with Dixon in 6th with 401.05. This put them behind Germany’s Moritz Wesemann on 465.40, who won the gold medal and the quota spot.

The other event on the men’s side was the 10m platform, with Ben Cutmore and Robbie Lee for GB. Cutmore won bronze in the European Aquatics Championships last year, and gold in the men’s competition, while Lee won world junior bronze last year. In qualifying, again the top twelve would go through: Lee was second with 424.35, Cutmore sixth with 373.35; well clear of Greece’s Athanasios Tsirikos in 13th (316.05). In the final, Lee would win silver on 413.20, with Cutmore up to fourth on 410.75. Again the Germans would take the quota spot, with Timo Barthel taking 435.40.

Moving to the women’s side and the 3m springboard. Desharne Bent-Ashmeil and Grace Reid had high hopes. Bent-Ashmeil came sixth in the world juniors last year, and took home a synchro silver, while Reid won European Aquatics gold in this event in 2018. Reid led qualifying with 300.60, while Bent-Ashmeil was fourth with 288.45. This put them clear of Ukraine’s Anna Psymenska in 13th on 240.95. In the final however, Reid’s 298.55 was enough only for fifth, with Bent-Ashmeil sixth on 293.10; the winner was Italy’s Chiara Pellacani on 321.45.

Finally in the 10m Platform, Robyn Birch and Eden Cheng lined up for GB. Birch has a silver medal in this event in synchro, and also won Commonwealth Games bronze for England in synchro last year. Cheng also has some synchro medals, including gold in the European Aquatics Championships in 2018. Cheng would lead qualifying on 299.35, with Birch on 277.55 in fourth. This put them well clear of Ana Carvajal of Spain in 13th (230.85). In a nailbiting final that went down to the last, Cheng won with 331.60, with Birch in 5th on 289.25. This put Cheng just clear of Germany’s Christina Wassen in second on 330.95.

The next chance for GB’s divers would come in Fukuoka…

British athletes will be taking to the Bahamas, Mexico, and Hungary in attempts to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

World Athletics have announced details for one of their qualifying events. The 2024 World Relays will take place in Nassau (BAH) from 4 to 5 May 2024.

The top fourteen teams in all track relay events (Men’s/Women’s 4x100m and Men’s/Women’s/Mixed 4x400m) will qualify for the Olympics. This will be one per NOC, taking up the bulk (14/16) of the teams. The remaining two will be earned for the ranking list.

The World Relays are the only direct qualifier in Athletics, with all other events being earned by qualification standards. The period is open, with some British athletes having qualified, however, the final list will not be confirmed until after the deadline, which is 30 June 2024 for most events, especially if GB have more than the maximum allowed three qualifiers, in which case the BOA/British Athletics will have to make a decision.

Beach Volleyball has confirmed that its first qualifier for both events (men’s and women’s) is the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball Senior World Championships in Tlaxcala (MEX), on 6-15 Oct 2023. A look on the website shows that the Bello brothers, Joaquin and Javier, have qualified for England on the men’s side. However, only the winner will qualify, a tough ask.

In Rowing, the European Continental qualifier, which will qualify three in Single Sculls and two in Lightweight Double Sculls (per gender for a total of ten spots) will be in Szeged (HUN) from 25-28 April 2024. Rowing qualifying begins next month with the World Championships in Belgrade.

The European Games’ opening ceremony hasn’t started yet but there has been some good news for the British duet at the Aquatics Centre in Oświęcim. Kate Elizabeth Shortman and Isabelle Anya Thorpe entered Free qualifying with the top twelve reaching the final.

Their routine, with a difficulty score of 29.80, passed well and they never looked in doubt of qualification. They received 118.8523 for Elements, 88.1500 for Aristic Impression, and no penalties. This combined for a score of 207.0023, putting them fifth, just under 78 points clear of Danish duo Karoline Christensen and Mia Heide.

The top European pair to not qualify as a team (which automatically yields a duet) enters the games. While this is on paper reserved for Olympic hosts France, as they automatically qualify a team the place will be reallocated. The document is unclear but it is generally believed that the qualifier is the European Games. The Technical and Free score will be combined and the best will qualify for the Games. As GB are now in both finals (as the Technical event has no qualification), GB are now eligible for consideration.

Football’s Men’s European qualifier takes place in Romania and Georgia but Great Britain are not allowed to make the games.

Even though in Women’s Football, England’s results are allowed to count for Great Britain, and this is the case for other team sports such as Hockey and Curling in which different home nations compete, this is not the case in Men’s Football.

The UEFA Euro U-21 has four groups of four, with England in Group C in Georgia alongside the Czech Republic, Germany, and Israel. This came after a qualifying process in which England topped a group containing the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Kosovo, Albania, and Andorra. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all failed to qualify. Apart from hosts France and England, the top three teams will qualify for Paris. This means GB cannot enter the Men’s Football as this is the sole qualifer for European teams.