A silver medal at the 2022 World Championships (Shotgun) in Osijek, Croatia for Nathan Hales has earned Great Britain a spot in men’s trap to go with the women’s skeet and women’s trap places at Paris 2024.

The top four athletes would qualify in both men’s and women’s trap. On the men’s side, Matthew John Coward-Holley, Nathan Hales, and Aaron Heading all represented GB. In qualification, the top eight (of 157) would go through after 125 shots were fired each, and Hales led the way for GB, in a four-way tie for third with 121 hits. Qatar’s Rashid Hamad SA al-Athba, Peru’s Alessandro de Souza Ferreira, and India’s Bhowneesh Mendiratta also got 121. In the shoot-off, de Souza Ferreira managed two hits while al-Athba, Hales, and Mendiratta only got one, meaning the Peruvian was third while there would be another shoot-off for fourth. Here, Mendiratta got three hits while al-Athba and Hales managed two: again there would be a shoot-off for fifth while the Indian would take fourth. Hales took the shoot-off 2-1 to come fifth in qualifying. Meanwhile, Heading was in an eleven-way tie for seventh alongside Kuwait’s Abdulrahman al Faihan, Nathan Steven Argiro of Australia, Joao Azevedo of Portugal, Clement Borgue of France, Ioannis Chatzitsakiroglou of Greece, Spaniard Alberto Fernandez, Croatian brothers Anton and Josip Glasnovic, Driss Haffari of Morocco, and Owen Robinson of New Zealand. In the end, Borgue took the shoot-off with eight hits, but Heading hit seven to take the final place, ahead of Chatzitsakiroglou (five), Robinson (four), Azevedo (three), Anton Glasnovic, Fernandez, Josip Glasnovic (two each), Argiro (one) and al Faihan (zero). Meanwhile, Coward-Holley came 91st with a total of 112.

In the ranking matches, where the eight shooters would be split into two groups of four, with the top two in each proceeding to the medal match. After fifteen shots, a shooter would be eliminated, after twenty-five we would have our top two. Hales was in the first match alongside Borgue, de Souza Ferreira and Chinese Taipei’s Yang Kun-Pi. Hales hit fourteen of his first fifteen shots to lead, with Yang and Borgue both on thirteen and de Souza Ferreira eliminated on twelve. Hales hit eight of his next ten to win the match on twenty-two with both Borgue and Yang on twenty. In the other match, Heading was up against al-Athba, American Derrick Scott Mein, and Mendiratta. However, he only hit eleven of his first fifteen shots, behind Mein (fifteen), Mendiratta (fourteen), and al-Athba (twelve), getting eliminated.

In the medal match, Hales would face Mein, Mendiratta, and Yang. After fifteen shots, fourth would be eliminated, after ten more, third would be, and then after ten more we would have our winner. So, after fifteen shots, it was Mendiratta to get knocked out on thirteen hits; Hales, Mein, and Yang all managed fourteen. Hales and Mein then hit a perfect next ten while Yang could only manage nine and was eliminated on twenty-three. However, Hales missed two of his next nine while Mein went perfect, and with a winner mathematically decided, Mein took it on a Golden Hit 33-31. However, Hales still had a silver medal and had qualified a spot at Paris 2024 for Great Britain.

On the women’s side, and Georgina Tamsin Roberts, Kirsty Hegarty, and Lucy Charlotte Hall represented GB; Hall was ineligible to earn an Olympic spot having already done so at the European Championships in Larnaca. That said, all three entered qualifying, but Hall was the highest-performing Brit, coming thirteenth with 115 hits. Roberts managed 114 and came seventeenth, while Hegarty was in 44th with 109.

So the takeaway from the trap in Osijek was a silver medal and men’s quota spot for Nathan Hales, who said “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but I’m very happy and a little bit emotional.” He has every right to be happy with that performance. The championship continues with the Skeet (7-9 Oct), while the next chance to see the trap shooters in action is the 2023 European Championship in Leobersdorf, Austria.

Although every event (bar Athletics) has released its qualification procedure for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, some updates are released over time. Sport Climbing have released updated procedures for both disciplines.

Sport Climbing (Boulder and Lead)

The Boulder and Lead discipline has confirmed the dates of the continental qualifiers. The 2023 Pan American Games were already confirmed, but now the European Qualifier (Laval, FRA, 27-29 Oct 2023) has also been confirmed, along with the others. Each continental event will qualify one man and one woman each, and they join the World Championships in Bern, Switzerland (1-12 Aug 2023) and the Olympic Qualifier Series (dates and locations TBC) as the qualification events for the Games.

Sport Climbing (Speed)

Meanwhile, the four continental events, as well as the Pan American Games that will qualify places for the Speed Category have dates confirmed. The European qualifier in Italy (9-10 Sep 2023), as well as the others have had their dates announced. Like the Boulder and Lead event, they will each qualify one man and one woman each and join the Bern Worlds and the OQS as the qualification events for the Games.

Great Britain finished thirteenth overall at the 2022 ISA WSG (International Surfing Association World Surfing Games) held in Huntington Beach, in the most populous of the fifty United States of America, California. While not at the elite world-class level needed to qualify a surfer from this event (with the top-ranked team from both genders qualifying one place), it shows that the dream is alive that maybe a surfer with a Union Jack next to their name will represent us at Paris 2024 for the first time ever.

The format was that each of the six athletes would be given a number of points based on their performance (from zero to one thousand), and the top would be the “Team Points” gold medallist of the WSG. The men’s and women’s score would then be separated, with the top-performing team in each getting a place at the Olympics. However, this is a low-priority event, meaning that if at the 2024 WSG the same team wins, the runner-up will instead get the 2022 spot.

In competitive surfing, heats are judged with points being scored for each wave a surfer takes on, with the two highest-scoring waves considered. Each wave is scored out of ten, meaning the maximum score available is twenty, with the highest and lowest scores out of the judges being removed (there are five in total, removing potentially anomalous sports is also used in other Olympic sports such as diving and figure skating)

Starting on the men’s side, and the British trio was Logan Nicol, Luke Dillon, and Patrick Langdon-Dark. There was a double elimination bracket, meaning that losing (not coming in the top two) in the first round would send you to a lower division. In Round 1, Dillon was the first to go for GB in Heat 7, being joined by Mexico’s Jhony Corzo, American Samoa’s Liam Wilson and Perry Siganos of Greece. He was safely through in second with 11.73 points, just behind Corzo on 12.2 and ahead of Wilson (7.93) and Siganos (5.83). Nicol was in Heat 11 with Mexican Alan Cleland, Turkey’s Tunc Ucyildiz, and Greece’s Dmitri Papavassiliou, and was also through in second on 9.5, with Cleland (13.67) joining him ahead of Papavassiliou (4.66) and Ucyildiz (2.87). Finally, Langdon-Dark joined Mexican Sebastian Williams, American Samoa’s Ioane Jarred, and Chinese Taipei’s Han Tsung-Hsuan in Heat 31, and was also second with 10.43, behind Williams on 12.47 but ahead of Han on 4.94 and Jarred on 1.63.

Going into Round 2, Dillon was first up again in Heat 4, facing Panama’s Isauro Elizondo, Colombia’s Giorgio Gomez, and Australia’s Liam O’Brien. Dillon progressed on 7.7, behind O’Brien (10.27) but just ahead of Elizondo (7.1) and Gomez (0). GB were quickly showing themselves to be no mugs at all at this level. Nicol was next in Heat 6, joined by Indonesia’s I Ketut Agus, Portugal’s Guilherme Ribero, and Australia’s Jackson Baker. He placed fourth with 3.4, behind Agus (12.1), Baker (11.74) and Ribero (9.77), and was sent to the repechage. Langdon-Dark was in Heat 16, joined by Leandro Usuna of Argentina, Kahlil Piñeres Schooley of Colombia, and Joel Vaughan of Australia. Vaughan came top with 11.27, but Langdon-Dark also headed through on 8.74, ahead of Usuna (8.34) and Piñeres Schooley (7).

Round 3 and two Brits remained, with Dillon in Heat 1 against Chile’s Guillermo Satt, Senegal’s Cherif Fall, and Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi. This was a step too far, and Dillon on 6.37 came fourth, behind Igarashi (16.17), Fall (9.66), and Satt (7.6). Meanwhile, Langdon-Dark faced American Kolohe Andino, Brazil’s Samuel Pupo, and Joshua Burke of Barbados in Heat 7, but also came last on 6.6, behind Andino (14.86), Pupo (14.6), and Burke (11.73).

Into the Repechage, and Nicol had to enter in Repechage 2, having being knocked out in Round 2. In Heat 5, Cleland returned alongside Puerto Rico’s Ricardo Delgado and the Dominican Republic’s Leandro Castillo. Nicol could only manage 6.64 points, ahead of Delgado (3.67) but behind Cleland (10.67) and Castillo (8.23), knocking him out. Therefore, Nicol finished with 144 points for GB. In Repechage 4, Dillon entered in Heat 2, alongside Spain’s Adur Amatriain, Italy’s Edoardo Papa, and Panama’s Tao Rodríguez. In a competitive heat, Dillon squeaked through in second with 12.4, ahead of Amatriain (11.73) and Rodríguez (10), but behind Papa (13.33). Meanwhile, Langdon-Dark took on Vaughan, Usuna, and Belgium’s Dean Vandewalle in Heat 8, also getting through in second: with Vaughan well ahead on 14.5, Langdon-Dark found 9.87 enough to beat Usuna’s 9.44 and Vandewalle’s 8.2.

Repechage 5 was made up of three-man heats, with Dillon in Heat 1 alongside Japan’s Shun Murakami and Cleland. Dillon won the heat on 15.5, ahead of Murakami on 14.17 and Cleland on 11.76. Langdon-Dark was in Heat 5, being joined by Japan’s Keanu Kamiyama and Portugal’s Frederico Morais, but was eliminated with 8.4, behind Morais (14.37) and Kamiyama (13.6). Therefore, Langdon-Dark finished on 330 points. Dillon was still standing into Repechage 6 Heat 1, where he met O’Brien and Costa Rica’s Oscar Urbina, and survived in second with 9.33, ahead of Urbina on 6.5 but just behind O’Brien on 9.34. Next was Repechage 7, where Dillon lined up in Heat 2 alongside Burke, Panama’s Jean Carlos González, and Fall. Dillon finished third on 8.8, behind Burke (13.67) and just behind Fall (9.2), but beat González on 5.03 and emerged as credit as the best-performing Brit with 390 points. In total, GB’s men amassed 864 points, with qualifiers Japan getting 1,835.

On the women’s side, and Ellie Turner, Alys Barton, and Lucy Campbell. In Round 1, Barton entered Heat 6 alongside Spain’s Garazi Sanchez, American Samoa’s Sive Jarred, and South Korea’s Suok Hong. In the end, Barton came second with 12.03 in a mismatched heat, behind Sanchez (13.77) but well ahead of Jarred (3.8) and Hong (3.47). In Heat 11, Campbell joined Spain’s Lucia Machado, American Samoa’s Lucy Jarred and South Korea’s Sujung Im. Campbell also came in second behind a Spaniard, with 8.77 compared to 11.74, but ahead of Jarred (7.24) and Im (5.3). Finally, Turner entered Heat 26 with Mexico’s Shelby Detmers, American Samoa’s Marlee Garrison Godinet, and South Korea’s Nala Lee. Turner won with 9.17, ahead of Detmers (7.43), Lee (5.2), and Garrison Godinet (1.1).

In Round 2, Barton was joined by Japan’s Shino Matsuda, American Gabriela Bryan, and Belgium’s Rheanna Rosenbaum in Heat 3. Barton went through behind Bryan (11.04) on 10.2, ahead of Matsuda (5.1) and Rosenbaum (4.33). Campbell entered Heat 6 with Italy’s Indiana Ferri, Venezuela’s Valeria Ojeda, and Portugal’s Teresa Bonvalot. Bonvalot was way head with 10.66, and Ferri snatched the other spot with 6.34, relegating Campbell on 5.8 and Ojeda on 5.5. In Heat 14, Turner was up against Brazil’s Karol Ribeiro, Barbadian Chelsea Tuach, and American Zoe McDougall. Turner was easily through in second on 10.5, behind Tuach (14.4) but ahead of McDougall (5.23) and Ribeiro (4.06).

Two Brits remained in Heat 3, and Barton was in Heat 2 with Australia’s Sophie McCulloch, Argentine Vera Jarisz, and Ecuador’s Dominic Barona. Barton was squeezed out, with 10.64 just not enough to get past Barona (10.73) and McCulloch (10.67), with Jarisz eliminated on 2.87. Turner was in Heat 7 with Japanese pair Amuro Tsuzuki and Mahina Maeda, as well as Australian Sally Fitzgibbons, but 5.74 put her in last behind Fitzgibbons (15.5), Tsuzuki (11.17), and Maeda (7.17).

Campbell was the earliest to enter the Repechage, being in Repechage 2 Heat 6 alongside New Zealand’s Brie Bennett, China’s Yaomei Wu, and Switzerland’s Alicia Martinet. Campbell won the heat with 13 points ahead of Wu (8.56), Bennett (8.44), and Martinet (3.94). In Repechage 3 she was in Heat 4 alongside Chile’s Lorena Fica, Nicaragua’s Candelaria Resano, and German Camilla Kemp, but found this a step too far, with 6.7 putting her last behind Kemp (9.73), Fica (9.04), and Resano (6.8), meaning she finished with 200 points. In Repechage 4, Barton and Turner entered, with Barton up first in Heat 2. Here, she faced Sanchez, Brazil’s Yanca Costa, and Dutchwoman Eva Hoffman, coming top with 9.17, ahead of Costa (7.7), Sanchez (6.8), and Hoffman (1.8). Meanwhile in Heat 8, Turner joined Tuach, McDougall, and Brazil’s Mariana Areno, but just came unstuck with 9.4, behind Tuach on 10.87 and McDougall on 9.9, but ahead of Areno on 8.73. She therefore finished with 320 points. In Repechage 5 Heat 2, Barton met France’s Tessa Thyssen, Kemp, and Canadian Erin Brooks, but could progress no further, coming third with 8.24, behind Thyssen (9.7) and Brooks (9.63) but ahead of Kemp (8.04).

Her 360 points brought the British women to 880; qualifiers USA won 1880. In total, the British team got 1744 points, enough for thirteenth. The message is clear then; GB are not elite, but a respectable surfing nation: it’s not impossible that we might see them in Paris, and if the quotas keep going up as Agenda 2020 sports are, the chances we see them at a Games is growing ever more likely.

Great Britain will send a strong delegation to the 2022 World Championships (Shotgun) in Osijek, Croatia, where a total of sixteen qualification places are up for grabs at Paris 2024. The Pampas Olympic Shooting Range will be the stage where four places each are decided in the Men’s and Women’s Trap and Skeet.

Athletes taking part that have already qualified a place cannot qualify another one for their team. Furthermore, only one athlete can qualify a place at this championship per event per NOC.

Starting with the Men’s Skeet event, and our team is three-strong, with Arran Eccleston, Ben Llewellin, and Jack Fairclough shooting for Britain. Eccleston, 21, has some decent results at junior level and also won a bronze medal at an ISSF Grand Prix event this year in Granada. Llewellin is our main hope, with a bronze medal at the European Championships earlier this year in Larnaca showing he is able to compete at the top level. Finally, Jack Fairclough has not placed in the Top 50 in the World Cup events he entered this year. With Lucy Charlotte Hall having already qualified a place in the women’s event, we will be guaranteed a place in the mixed team should we get a place here.

In the Men’s Trap, Matthew Coward-Holley, Nathan Hales, and Aaron Heading shoot for Blighty. Coward-Holley is the big name, having won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and being defending World Champion, while Hales won bronze in Larnaca. Heading is no mug either, having won silver in the European Championships.

On the women’s side, we’ll start with the skeet, and with Emily Hibbs joining Hill and Alexandra Skeggs; Hill is ineligible to get another quota having already qualified. Hibbs came 29th in the 2019 World Championships while Skeggs won a silver at an ISSF Grand Prix tournament earlier this year.

Finally in the trap, Hall is joined by Kirsty Hegarty and Georgina Roberts. With Hall having already qualified, she is ineligible to gain a place, while Hegarty won bronze at the 2018 European Championships; Roberts is yet to break through to the world’s elite.

The shotgun is the best shooting discipline for GB historically and currently, and we’ll be hoping to add to Hall and Hill’s qualifications, especially on the men’s side to try and add spots in the mixed team event. The Trap events take place from 26-28 September, while the Skeet ones are from 7-9 October. Streaming is available of the finals on the ISSF website.

Great Britain missed out on a medal in the 2022 FEI World Eventing Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, but their fourth place was enough for a medal. It means that a full cohort of one team and three individual members in all three disciplines will take part in Olympic equestrian at Paris 2024.

In eventing, there is one team event, and one individual event. With a team made up of three riders, all three would also automatically qualify for the individual. With the first team place going to hosts France, the next seven would be decided in Pratoni. Sixteen teams entered, with the top seven excluding France gaining a place.

Starting with the dressage, first to go for GB was Rosalind Canter on Lordships Graffalo, who got 26.2 points. Next was Yasmin Ingham, who was not part of the team but only the individual event. After that came Laura Collett on London 52, who achieved 19.3 points. On Day 2, Tom McEwen got a score of 25.6 on Toledo de Kerser, and finally Oliver Towend got a score on Ballaghmor Class got 24.3 points. After Carter’s score was eliminated (the higher the score the worse in eventing; each rider is given a percentage score, this is rounded down to one decimal point, and then subtracted from 100 to give the final score; the best three scores are considered), GB were leading on 69.2 points, 6.9 ahead of second-placed Germany, and 20.9 points ahead of Switzerland in ninth (with France in sixth, eighth would be enough to qualify).

In the cross-country section, Canter got there in time to receive no more points, but Collett took a total of 38.8 penalty points (18.8 for time and 20.0 for a refusal on fence 7C) to take her total to 58.1. McEwen took 4.8 time points to go up to 30.4, while Townend salvaged some pride by also going perfect. Now Collett’s score was the one to be eliminated, GB were on 80.9, down in third, 4.8 behind Germany (who had added no more points with three riders going perfectly), but had now moved 31.5 ahead of Belgium in eighth, France had dropped to fourteenth by this point and were out of contention.

Finally was the jumping, and Collett was to go first, she knocked down fence five to take home just 4.0 penalty points and finishing with 62.1. Next was McEwen, who was so close but knocked down fence 11B to also get four points and finish with 34.4. It was starting to feel like it wasn’t GB’s day, but then Canter went perfect to raise GB hopes. Those hopes turned out to be false though, as Townend knocked down fences two, 11A, twelve, and thirteen and finished with sixteen points to end up on 40.3. The final result was fourth on 100.9, 5.7 behind leaders Germany, and a frustrating 0.6 behind runners-up the USA and just 0.2 behind New Zealand in third, although still 50.7 ahead of eighth-placed Belgium. Softening the blow was fifteen thousand euros (3750 each), although somewhat upsettingly, Ingham won gold in the individual event, putting her in would have won a medal, and if the rider she replaced wasn’t Canter, that would have been a gold medal.

Either way, GB qualified a full compliment to Paris, which was always considered a guarantee; now it’s confirmed and we can relax.

Marfa Ekimova took part in the 39th FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, but did not finish qualifying.

The Russian-born Brit entered qualification, with the top eighteen advancing, and the next four retained as reserves: there would be one routine with each of the four apparatuses, and the top three would be considered for a final score. With the hoop, her difficulty was 11.400 (8.1 body and 3.3 apparatus), and the judges gave her 8.000 for artistry and 7.650 for execution: a total score of 27.050 which put her in 38th place. With the ball, and a 12.300 difficulty (8.1 body and 4.2 apparatus), she was handed a 7.900 for artistry and 7.600 for execution, a total score of 27.800, the 35th best score. With eighty on the start list, and two non-starters, this means just in the top half, not bad at all.

However, she did not take part in the Clubs or Ribbon apparatuses, and the FIG confirmed on Twitter she had withdrawn. It was not confirmed why, and I hope it is not too serious. What this means is that she finishes with a DNS, and the next chance will be the 2023 World Championships in Valencia, Spain.

After some success in the European Shotgun Championships in Larnaca, Cyprus, the 25m/50m crew went to Wroclaw, Poland, in search of more European Championship success and perhaps even an Olympic quota spot.

With the top two qualifying (and the stipulation that these two can’t be from the same country) a place for their NOC at the games, four events had their places up for grabs. Firstly, in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Dean Bale and Michael Stephen Bargeron were on the start list for GB. Such was the length of that list that an extra pre-qualifying round, the Elimination Relay, was held in order to get a final list of 36 qualifiers. Bale took part in the first relay, coming 24th with a score of 582-27x (out of 600), while Bargeron’s 585-34x earned him 17th in the second relay. This was enough for Bargeron to advance, but here they would be whittled down to eight, and this was too big a step: 583 hits earned him 32nd place.

Over to the Rapid Fire Pistol, and Sam William Gowin and Kristian Michael Smeeton Callaghan represented Great Britain. With the top eight qualifying, Gowin hit an impressive 585-18x to snag fourth, while Callaghan’s 559 earned him 33rd (39 entered in total). Gowin went through to the ranking round, joined by Oliver Geis of Germany, Massimo Spinella of Italy, and Martin Strnad of the Czech Republic. With four series of five shots each, the top two would advance. While Gowin started decently, hitting three in the first series, just one in the next series would be a blip too big to recover from, and Gowin finished in third with eleven. Geis (eighteen) was dominant, Strnad (fourteen) was consistent, but Gowin wasn’t the only one to struggle and finished ahead of Spinella on ten. I think a good performance from the soldier overall and certainly not a wasted trip to Poland.

On the women’s side, we’ll start once again with the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, where we were represented by Katie Gleeson and Seonaid McIntosh. 583 earned Gleeson 17th in the first elimination relay, while McIntosh was 9th in the second one with a 588-30x: tied for eighth with Israel’s Tal Engler, and level on the first tiebreak with a Standing score of 193, the Prone score of 199-198 went to the Israeli. Both made qualifying, but McIntosh came 18th with 586-26x, while 581-24x and 33rd was what Gleeson settled for. McIntosh had a medal chance this time, so will feel somewhat disappointed to not even make the final eight. Finally, the Women’s 25m Pistol had one British representative, with Jess Liddon donning the red, white, and blue. She placed 35th in qualifying, with 571.

Overall, McIntosh was the big hope, and her performance underwhelmed, albeit the expectations weren’t too high at this championship. She will have plenty of other chances, and Gowin was a nice surprise. The next chance these athletes will get is at next month’s Rifle and Pistol World Championship in Cairo, Egypt.

The first surfing qualifier for the Paris Olympics, the 2022 ISA WSG (International Surfing Association World Surfing Games), begins on Friday, and Great Britain has sent a full team of three men and three women. The event will only qualify the highest-ranked team for men and women, and it would be very unlikely to even imagine GB getting anywhere near that. However, the experience for our sextet is by no means a bad thing.

With the event in Huntington Beach, California, USA, also known as “Surf City” due to the popularity and good conditions for the sport, we will start with the men’s side, Luke Dillon had some decent results at junior level but at 27 is already thinking for the future, saying that his dream is to set up an elite surfing academy in the UK and inspire those from this non-traditional surfing country to believe there is a path to the top. He wasn’t too far off the Tokyo Olympics, coming 25th in the 2021 event in El Salvador’s own “Surf City”, La Libertad. Welsh duo Patrick Langdon-Dark and Logan Nicol, 22 and 23 respectively, will be hoping to show what they’re capable of at this level.

On the women’s side, Alys Barton, 18, is stringing together some impressive results on the qualifying series tour, while Lucy Campbell will be well known to any fan of British surfing, being the multiple-times British champion. Ellie Turner is also in decent form.

In the 2021 event, when there was a combined men’s and women’s ranking for teams, GB came 14th, which is much better than I expected before I did research into this article. That said, I would not seriously hope for GB to come first in either gender and get a spot at this event, but instead watch with interest to see how far the gap is to the world’s elite.

GB’s spotless record in equestrian qualification is expected to continue as the eventing team looks to join the dressage and jumping team in Paris in 2024. With seven team quotas up for grabs, which will also mean three individual places each for the seven countries, the Olympic champions will hope to finish in the top seven (or more likely, the top eight as France are ineligible having already qualified) to qualify for the Paris Games at an absolute minimum. The Rocca di Papa Federal Equestrian Centre, in the hamlet of Pratoni del Vivaro (population 488)

Our team needs no introduction, but I’ll do it anyway, in alphabetical order. Rosalind Carter is the defending double world champion, having won the individual and team event in 2018 in Tyron, USA, and has been picking up some very decent results on Lordships Graffalo, who Canter describes as an “incredible horse”… although I suppose she would, really. Laura Collett is an Olympic champion having won gold on London 52, and to be honest there is nothing to suggest either of them are stopping their brilliant form any time soon. If you haven’t heard Collett’s story, I suggest you read it, as it is even more inspirational than most of our team. The least known athlete on our team is probably Yasmin Ingham, who is considered a rising star: it certainly takes a lot to get into this team. Banzai Du Loir has been with her sharp rise, and the two will hope to make a splash. Tom McEwen was in our gold medal winning team and also won individual silver, and Toldeo de Kerser is back too, while Oliver Townend will also be hoping to add more bling on Ballaghmor Class.

It will be interesting to see how our team perform with COVID-19 still making the schedule a bit funny, but top seven out of fifteen eligible countries is considered a certainty.

The full list of sixteen teams is: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France (ineligible for Olympic qualification), Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

There will be coverage on the BBC. The dressage competition will take place on 15 and 16 September, with Cross-Country on 17 September, and Jumping on 18 September.

Marfa Ekimova will be Great Britain’s sole representative at the 2022 FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, a Paris 2024 qualifier, British Gymnastics has announced.

The event, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria’s Armeets Arena, home of the Bulgarian volleyball team and the Sofia Open ATP 250 tennis tournament, will now see some of the best rhythmic gymnasts face off. With three spots each in the individual and group competitions, it will be very unlikely for us to qualify a spot here (and unlikely to do so at all). The next chance the groups will get is the 2023 World Championships, should we choose to enter a group in that competition.

Rhythmic gymnastics has not been our strong suit at all, with our recent gymnastics revival being nearly solely in artistic gymnastics, and the few exceptions have been on the trampoline. That said, 17-year-old Ekimova will probably be the most famous British rhythmic gymnast of them all after winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games for England. In a field of sixty-two including European champions and seasoned veterans, it would be unfair to single her out, but it will be a big experience for her, and it is good to see a British rhythmic gymnast thriving. In her World Championships debut last year in Kitakyushu, Japan, the West Londoner, who was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, came 44th in qualifying, not advancing to the final round, which will probably be a bit of a stretch this time as well. Qualifying is on 14 August, with the final on 17 August. In total, eighty-two athletes from sixty-one countries will compete. It is unclear where TV coverage will be, but the Olympic website suggests the Olympic Channel in “some areas”, and the FIG’s YouTube channel in others. It’s not on the BBC, and it’s not on Eurosport, meaning that one of the two will probably work.

Ekimova said: “My goal for the competition is to perform my routines the best that I can, and to enjoy the experience as a whole. Competing at such a high-level competition against the world’s best gymnasts is absolutely amazing and I just want to do my maximum.” She can perform without pressure: noone expects fireworks, simply doing her best and giving a good account of herself will do: British fans know how good she is, the world can’t be too far behind.