Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics, as everyone who will be reading this blog knows, was held from July to August 2021, just a few months before the 2022 Winter Olympics (February 2022). A lot has been said about Team GB’s performance, especially in the latter games.
In the 1996 Summer Olympics, Great Britain famously got just one gold medal, but since the introduction of the ‘Team GB’ brand, as well as lottery funding, there has been a lot of positivity around the team, winning 11 in 2000, 9 in 2004, 19 in 2008, 29 in 2012, 27 in 2016, and 22 in 2020. In terms of overall medals, the Winter Olympic haul (2) in 2022 was the worst since 2010, but we still got one gold medal for the fourth time in a row and the fact we got a silver to go with it means it was technically better than the 2018 haul (one gold and four bronzes). That said, the fact that both medals came from curling and we had few chances elsewhere requires further introspection. So, let’s go through each sport at Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 – in alphabetical order so there’s a mix of sports from both climates and it doesn’t get too stale – give a recap of the results and analyse Team GB’s performance and how things look for the future.
3×3 Basketball
Yes, we start with a sport that was introduced in 2020 as part of the IOC’s “Agenda 2020”, to introduce sports that were “more youthful, more urban, and more gender neutral”. The merits of this has been debated, and while I see both sides, that debate isn’t for here. But 3×3 Basketball is here to stay, at least until Paris 2024. There was a men’s and women’s tournament, with eight spaces. The first went to the host team (Japan), and then the three top ranked teams in the World Rankings – Great Britain’s Men were 63rd and the Women 69th. There was also 3 spots on offer at an “Olympic Qualifying Tournament”, but we weren’t ranked highly enough to enter that. The final spot was available at a “Universiality Olympic Qualifying Tournament”, but as the purpose was to allow countries that don’t normally qualify for an Olympics in basketball to participate, they had a rule that any NOC who participated in Olympic basketball in 2012 or 2016 (in either gender) weren’t allowed, which includes Great Britain, who were Olympic hosts in 2012.
All is not lost, as Great Britain still do have an active team and the women even qualified for the Europe Cup where they came 10th. The sport will be played at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 (which is in Birmingham) which may lead to an increase of interest. However, while there are still just eight places available it seems Team GB won’t be involved in that sport for a while.
Alpine Skiing
Introduced in 1936, Great Britain has participated in this sport in every Winter Olympics, but never won a medal, and this didn’t change in Beijing 2022. There are eleven events in this sport: a Men’s and Women’s Combined, Downhill, Giant Slalom, Slalom, and Super-G, and a Mixed Team event. The qualification system is too boring but basically every country that meets “minimum basic standards” (that includes us) gets one male and one female spot each. The hosts get an extra spot, as do any country that have athletes in the top 30: for us that meant one extra male and one extra female spot. As we were ranked in the Top 16 for the Team Event, we qualified a spot for that too, although for some reason (officially to “focus” on the individual events) we declined it at the eleventh hour. In 2018, we did enter a team that was eliminated in the Quarterfinals by Norway.
Our men were Billy Major and Dave Ryding, who entered the Men’s Slalom. In 2018, Ryding came 9th in this event, while the other man to enter for us in that Olympics, Laurie Taylor, came 26th. Due to the fact Ryding won a World Cup race the month before (the first time this has happened in history), there was a lot of hype about him being a medal chance, but he was 7th in the overall rankings. In the end, the hype was too much. The format was two runs, with the time in each being added up: Major got a DNF in his first run and took no further part. Ryding had an error in his first run after starting well and sat 16th with a time of 55.13. A much better second run of 50.44 meant he finished 13th with a total time of 1:45.57: meaning it was actually a step backwards from 2018.
Our women were Alexandra Tilley and Charlie Guest, just like in 2018. Both entered the women’s slalom: in 2018 Guest came 33rd while Tilley got a DNF. Tilley must be sick of this event as she got a DNF in her first run, while Guest went 15th with a 53.84. In the second run she got a 54.12, downgrading her to 1:47.96. In 2018, Tilley also entered the giant slalom, and got a DNF, and she entered it again this time. The format is similar, with two runs being added up. This time she did finish, with a 1:01.40 putting her 28th after the first run, but an improvement in the second run of 59.42 meaning she finished 22nd.
Overall, the women improved from 2018, but no team event was a shame and the men took a step backwards. Too much hope was put on Ryding in the desperation for medals but he is our best alpine skiier in a long time. He’ll be 39 by the time Milano Cortina comes around in 2026 however, and although unlikely, he’s probably missed his medal chance. I don’t think this sport will win us any medals anytime soon.
Archery
Archery had a shake-up from 2016 to 2020: joining the men’s and woman’s individual and team events were a mixed team event. The best way to qualify is to qualify for the team event, as you also get three individual spaces: miss out and you get only one in each gender. There is no mixed team qualification, instead, you enter automatically if you have at least one man and at least one woman. In 2016, Team GB missed out on both team events, but there was an improvement this time. There were 12 teams, and the first spot would go to the hosts, then the top eight (aka quarterfinalists) in the World Championships. On the men’s side, in the ranking (seeding) round, Great Britain came 8th, which was enough for a bye to the Round of 16, where our team beat Japan to qualify for the quarterfinals, which was enough to qualify (they lost their quarterfinal 6-0 against the Republic of Korea, incidentally). The women got a seeding of 5th, getting a bye to the second round, where they beat Italy to reach the quarterfinals. In the end they actually won their quarterfinal against Germany, and despite a loss against the Koreans in the semifinal, they beat the People’s Republic of China in the bronze medal match. All this meant that Great Britain had a full team going into the Olympics.
We have won 9 Archery medals in Olympic history, but five of them came in 1908. The other four were all bronze, the latest coming in 2004. In 2016, our sole man to qualify was Patrick Huston (who reached the Round of 32), and he returned, to be joined by Tom Hall and James Woodgate. In the Ranking Round, which seeded competitors (and selected the best ranking man to join our mixed team), Huston came 25th with a 658, Woodgate was 38th with a 652, and Hall 48th with a 649. In the Round of 64, Hall came up against Ruman Shana of Bangladesh, and lost 7-3. Huston faced Marcus Vinicius D’Almeida of Brazil, and lost 7-1 in an uncharacteristically poor performance. Woodgate faced Ilfat Abdullin of Kazakhstan and in a tight match fell 7-3. This was a pretty awful event for Team GB then. When the three men’s ranking scores were added up, it totalled 1959, and this Ranking Round score was enough for 10th. This earned the Men’s Team a first round match against Indonesia, who they sailed past 6-0. In the quarterfinals they faced the Netherlands, a highly-fancied team, and fought well but lost 5-3.
On the women’s side, Naomi Folkard, who reached the quarterfinals in 2016, was joined by Sarah Bettles and Byrony Pitman. Bettles ranked highest with a 653, enough for 15th, while Pitman was 38th with a 634 and Folkard in 47th with a 629. In the Round of 64, Pitman faced Tan Ya-ting of Chinese Taipei, and won 6-4 in a good match. Bettles also won her match, against Colombia’s Valentina Acosta Giraldo, 6-4, capitalising on her opponent’s mistakes. Folkard was eliminated by Wu Xiajin of the People’s Republic of China 6-2 after a nightmare first end. In the Round of 32, Pitman went up against the highly fancied Aída Román of Mexico, who won silver in this event in 2012. In an upset, Pitman won 6-2, while Bettles faced Wu who knocked out Folkard in the last round and was on good form, beating Bettles 6-2. In the Round of 16, Pitman finally fell to Elena Osipova of the ROC who was in scintillating form and won 6-0 on the way to Silver. A much better showing on the woman’s side than the men. In the Team event, the total score was 1916, putting us in 9th and earning a first round match against Italy. In a game we had chances to win, we lost 5-3, exiting in the first round.
In the mixed team event, Huston and Bettles (our highest ranking archers from each sex) got 1311 points in the ranking round, enough for 12th, qualifying us for the tournament (the top 16 qualified). In the Round of 16, they came up against the Chinese pair of Wu and Wang Dapeng, and won 5-3. However, in the quarterfinals, Mexican duo Luis Álvarez and Alejandra Valencia were too strong, winning 6-0 on their way to bronze. Team GB were medal-less, but though there were missed chances there were also positives to take.
The nature of Olympic archery means there is always an outside chance to medal, but it remains that, an outside chance with other countries, most notably the Republic of Korea, always a step ahead of us. The fact Team GB qualified in all three team events means it’s an improvement and hopefully we can take that momentum into Paris in 2024.
Artistic Gymnastics
Artistic Gymanstics is one of the best loved sports in the Summer Olympics, with a large programme: men and women have a team-all around, individual all-around, vault, and floor competition, while men have a pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and horizontal bars competition, and women have the uneven bars and balance beam. This is for a total of fourteen events (eight for men and six for women). It is also one of the most controversially, with debates over both judging, and the way the athletes (especially the female ones) are treated.
Qualifying a team also came with four individual places (the team members could compete individually). 12 teams qualified in each gender: first the host, then the top 3 at the 2018 World Championships. Great Britain’s men came 5th in that event, and the women came 9th. However, the top 8 not already qualified in the 2019 World Championships would also qualify. Here, the British men came 5th again, while the women came 6th, meaning both teams would qualify. From 2016 to 2020, the teams became four instead of five. Returning from the 2016 team that came 4th was Max Whitlock, alongside newcomers Joe Fraser, James Hall, and Giarnni Regini-Moran. In the qualifying round, Team GB came 5th with a score of 256.594, enough to come in the top 8. In the final, Great Britain came 4th with a total score of 255.760, although they were a fair bit behind the medallists, but this was considered positive for a young and mostly new team.
In 2016, Whitlock took bronze in the men’s individual all-around, but did not enter it this time. Team GB also got 8th in that event in 2016 through Nile Wilson. Qualifying for us this time was Fraser, who qualified in 5th (86.298), and Hall, who was 16th (84.431). Regini-Moran (23rd, 82.831) would have also qualified if not for a rule that meant only two athletes from each NOC could take part. Whitlock did not enter as he did not complete every event in qualifying. In the final, Hall was impressive, coming in 8th with a score of 84.598, while Fraser was disappointed with 9th and 84.499. Obviously, missing out on a medal this time was disappointing, although, without Whitlock, to be expected.
Just like in 2016, no British men qualified for the Vault. With eight qualifying, only Regini-Moran attempted the required two runs, and his average of 14.000 was only enough for 15th. In 2016, the Men’s Floor was a strong event, with Whitlock taking gold and Kristian Thomas taking 7th. Again, only the top 8 qualified, and with Whitlock not entering, we were without a competitor in the final: Regini-Moran in 12th (14.666) was closest, with Fraser in 23rd (14.066) and Hall in 29th (13.866): obviously a step back from 2016.
In 2016 the Men’s Pommel Horse was one of Team GB’s strongest events, and not just in gymnastics. Whitlock took gold and Smith took silver in a British one-two. Whitlock qualified in 5th with a score of 14.900, with no other Brits qualifying: Fraser (14.666) was 11th, Hall (14.100) was 21st, and Regini-Moran (12.166) was 65th.
In the final, Whitlock was first up, and put in an amazing performance. Even if you don’t like gymnastics, I suggest you watch it on YouTube, as it’s amazing how human beings get their bodies to do these things. His score of 15.583 was never beat, and he won Olympic gold.
In Men’s Rings, we didn’t qualify anyone in 2016, and the same was true in 2020: Fraser was closest in 12th with a 14.400, while Hall’s 13.733 put him in 30th and Regini-Moran’s 13.366 put him in 42nd. In the Men’s Parallel Bars we also qualified no-one in 2016, but in 2020, we did: Fraser came 7th with a 15.400. Regini-Moran in 20th (14.933), Hall in 36th (14.333) and Whitlock in joint 40th (14.100) all missed the top 8. In the final, Fraser came 8th with a 14.500, but the experience should do him nicely.
In the final event, the Men’s Horizontal Bar, Wilson won GB bronze in 2016. This time, however, we qualified no finalists. Hall was closest in 15th with a 14.066, while Fraser’s 13.933 was enough for 19th. Whitlock’s 13.400 put him in 30th, while Regini-Moran came 44th with a 13.100.
Overall, there was a clear step back on the Men’s side: in 2016 we won two golds, a silver, and two bronzes, but in 2020, “only” one gold. But before 2016 we had never won a gold medal in Olympic gymnastics (not just artistic gymnastics) in any gender, so this is still a golden age. It probably won’t last forever, but with the Commonwealth Games and then the World Championships in Liverpool later this year there will be a clearer update on how Team GB are doing.
On the Women’s side, the team came 5th last time. A completely new team of Jennifer Gadirova, Jessica Gadirova, Alice Kinsella and Amelie Morgan competed for us this time. With a score of 163.396, our team qualified in 6th, good enough for the Top 8. After a poor start, the team rallied and claimed a surprise bronze medal with a score of 164.096. In the individual all-around, Ellie Downie came 13th in 2016, but in 2020 we qualified two athletes: Jessica Gadirova (55.199) in 12th and Jennifer Gadirova (54.699) in 17th, both making the top 24. Missing out were Morgan (53.190) in 33rd and Kinsella (51.665) in 48th. In the end, the twin sisters both did well, with Jessica (53.965) in 10th, the best ever for a British woman, and Jennifer (53.533) in 13th.
Just like in 2016, no British women qualified for the Women’s Vault final: only Jessica Gadirova attempted to, but her average of 14.350 wasn’t good enough for the Top 8, ranking in 13th. Amy Tinkler won GB’s only medal on the women’s side in 2016, a bronze in the Floor. This time, Jessica Gadirova qualified with a 14.033, good enough for 5th. At first, Jennifer Gadirova just missed out with a 13.800 (enough for 9th), but after the highly-publicised withdrawal of the American Simone Biles, she was allowed to compete as a reserve. Missing out were Kinsella in 41st with 12.766 points, and Morgan in 57th with 12.466. In the end, both performed admirably and were quite close to getting medals: Jessica came 6th with a score of 14.000, with Jennifer just behind her in 7th with 13.233.
In 2016, no British woman qualified for the uneven bars, and the same was true here. Morgan in 28th was closest with a score of 13.833, while Jessica Gadirova came 29th with 13.800. Jennifer Gadirova in joint 43rd with 13.066 and Kinsella in 57th with a 12.633 also missed out. In the final event, the balance beam, we did not qualify anyone in 2016, and in 2020 the same was true. Jennifer Gadirova in 24th was closest with a score of 13.300, while Morgan came in 34th with a score of 13.033. Jessica Gadirova was in 39th with a score of 12.866, while Kinsella came 63rd with a score of 12.100.
So, on the women’s side, there was no change from 2016, one bronze medal. And overall, our haul of two golds, one silver, and three bronze decreased to one gold and one bronze, but that gold medal meant it was still our second best Games ever. It will be exciting to see these young gymnasts, in both genders develop, and I’m sure more medals are a possibility in the future of our best ever era of artistic gymnastics.
Artistic Swimming
A name that did not appear on the list of events in 2016, “Artistic Swimming” is not a new sport, but a renaming of what was “Synchronised Swimming”. What hasn’t changed is the list of events, with a women’s duet and a women’s team. Qualify a team, and the duet comes automatically. Ten spots were on offer, with one to the host, and four doled out on a continental basis, including one at the European Champions Cup. In the end, Team GB came 7th. Two spots were available at the 2019 World Championships, but no British team entered. Finally, three spots were available at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, but again no British team entered.
As well as the ten teams, there were also 12 other spots for the duets. Again, four were doled out continentally, including one for Europe. In this event, GB were the best duet who did not end up qualifying for the team event, meaning they qualified for the finals. Therefore, just like in 2016, we have a duet, but not a team. In 2016, our team came 17th, this time we had a new team of Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe. With the top 12 qualifying for the final, the score of the free and technical routines would be added up. Our team got an 84.7333 in the free routine and 85.1548 in the technical routine, for a total score of 169.8881. This was enough for 14th, an improvement but not enough for the final. GB has never won a medal in artistic swimming and I see no evidence of that changing soon. In June 2022, the next World Aquatics Championships start in Budapest, and this will be the next big event in the sport, where an eye can be kept on Team GB.
Athletics
Athletics is considered perhaps the greatest and most important sport in the Olympic Games, with a huge programme of events to boot. It is split into four disciplines: track, road, field, and combined. On the track, both men and women have the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 400m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relays. There is also a women’s 100m hurdles event, and a men’s 110m hurdles event. New in 2020 was the mixed 4x400m relay event, taking the total track events up to 25. On the road, there are five events, with a men’s and women’s marathon and 20km race walk, and the men’s 50km race walk. On the field there are eight events for each gender: the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, and javelin throw. Finally, in the combined category, there is the women’s heptathlon, and the men’s decathlon, for 48 total events.
Let’s start on the track, and on the men’s side. To qualify for an Olympics, or to more accurately get a quota place for your NOC, you have to get a time of the Olympic entry standard, and at most three per NOC. For the Men’s 100m, 10.05 was the entry standard. Just like 2016, we got three places: Chijindu Ujah, who reached the semifinal returned, and was joined by Zharnel Hughes and Reece Prescod. In 2016, James Dasaolu reached the semifinal, but James Ellington was eliminated in the first round. In the first round, the top three in each heat would progress, alongside three fastest losers. Hughes ran a season’s best of 10.04 in Heat 3 to qualify in third, while in Heat 5 Prescod ran his own SB of 10.12 to come 5th, but qualify as a fastest loser. In Heat 7 Ujah qualified in third, running a 10.08.
In the semifinals, the top two of each heat would qualify, as well as two fastest losers. Prescod had a nightmare in the first semifinal, where he was disqualified for a false start. Hughes went in semifinal 2, and won the race with a season’s best 9.98. Ujah came in 5th in Semifinal 3 with a 10.11 and was eliminated. Hughes was the first British finalist in this event since 2000… and false started and got disqualified.
In the Men’s 200m, we originally got our three places with 20.24 being the qualification mark, with Hughes joining Miguel Francis and Adam Gemili, although both Hughes and Francis withdrew. We did gain an extra place from the world rankings, which meant Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake joined Gemili, both returning from 2016, when we had three in this event, Gemili coming 4th in the final and the other two being eliminated in the semifinals. In the Heats, the three fastest would qualify and be joined by three fastest losers. Gemili went in Heat 4, but pulled up. He ended up walking the rest of the race, and finished 7th with a time of 1:58.58. In Heat 6, Ujah ran a season’s best 20.56 but it was only enough for 5th and he didn’t advance.
In the Men’s 400m, we didn’t qualify anyone, despite getting the full compliment in 2016, with one coming 8th in the final and the other two eliminated. In the Men’s 800m, after qualifying two (including one semifinalist) in 2016, we got a full team of three: Elliot Giles returned and was with Oliver Dustin and Daniel Rowden. In the heats, three qualified plus six fastest losers. In Heat 1, Giles qualified in third with a 1:44.49, but in Heat 2, Dustin’s 1:46.94 was only enough for sixth. Finally, in Heat 3, Rowden’s 1:45.73 was enough for second. In the semifinals, two qualified plus two fastest losers. In the second semifinal, Rowden ran a season’s best 1:44.35 but it was only enough for fifth, while in the third semifinal, Giles ran a 1:44.74, just coming third and missing out.
In the Men’s 1500m, we qualified two in 2016 (one semifinalist and one who came 12th in the final). We got a team of three athletes who reached the time of 3:35.00, all new: Jake Heyward, Josh Kerr, and Jake Wightman. In the heats, six qualified as well as six fastest losers. In the first heat, Kerr ran a 3:36.29 and came seventh, but qualified as a fastest loser. Wightman qualified in third in Heat 2 with a 3:41.18, while in Heat 3, Heyward won his heat with a 3:36.14. In the Semifinals, 5 qualified alongside two fastest losers. Wightman won Heat 1 with a season’s best 3:33.48, while in Heat 2, Kerr came in third with a 3:32.18, and Heyward ran a personal best 3:32.82 to come sixth and qualify as a fastest loser. This meant that three Brits were in the Olympic final.
In the final, the early pace was set by the Norwegian Jakob Ingebritsen, and racing Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, the race was always going to be fast. But Kerr managed to keep himself in touch, shaking off Kenyan Abel Kipsang to take bronze with a personal best 3:29.05, nearly catching Cheruiyot for silver, missing out by just 0.04 seconds. Heyward came in 9th with 3:34.43, while Wightman came 10th with 3:35.09.
In the Men’s 5000m, two athletes reached the standard of 13:13.50: Andrew Butchart and Marc Scott. In 2016, we qualified three athletes: one that missed the final, Butchart, who came 6th, and of course the gold medalist Mo Farah, who missed out this time. In the Heats, five qualified as well as five fastest losers. Scott went in Heat 1 but missed out with a 13:39.61, coming sixth, just 0.19s behind. In the faster second heat, Butchart ran a 13:31.23, coming in seventh and qualifying as a fastest loser. But in the final, Butchart came 11th, running a season’s best 13:09.97.
Just like the 5000m, in the Men’s 10,000m our quota dropped from 3 to 2 reaching the time of 27:28.00, with Scott joining Mark Atkin. In 2016 our athletes came 1st, 25th, and 31st, but with no Farah, the medals weren’t expected to be repeated. There is just one race in this event, and Scott came 14th with a time of 28:09.23, while Atkin picked up an injury and a DNF.
In the Men’s 110m Hurdles, Andrew Pozzi returned after reaching the 13.32 standard. He was joined by David King whose world ranking spot meant we repeated our two places from 2016. That time both reached the semifinals. Four qualified from each heat as well as four fastest losers. Pozzi went in the first heat and qualified in 4th with a time of 13.50, while King went in the fourth and came 6th with a 13.55, making him a fastest loser. In the semifinals, two qualified plus two fastest losers. first semifinal, Pozzi ran a 13.32, coming 4th but going through as a fastest loser. King ran in the third but was eliminated with a 13.67 only good enough for 7th. In the final, Pozzi came 7th with a time of 13.30.
In the Men’s 400m Hurdles, we had two athletes in 2016 including a semifinalist but none reached the 48.90 this time. Although Chris McAlister reached the time via world ranking, British Athletics controversially declined it, not considering him competitive enough. In the Men’s 3000m steeplechase, we improved our quotas from one to two, with both Phil Norman and Zak Seddon reaching the mark of 8:22.00. Neither had a good Olympics, however, with three qualifying from each heat and six fastest losers. In the first heat, Norman came 13th with a time of 8:46.57, while Seddon ran in the second heat and came 14th with a time of 8:43.29.
Qualification works differently in relays, with the eight finalists in the 2019 World Championships getting a place. GB won silver in that event, and came 5th in 2016. In 2016, Ujah raced in the heat as did Richard Kilty (who also ran in the final), and they returned in 2020, while Hughes and Mitchell-Blake were also on the British team. In the heats, three qualified plus two fastest losers. GB had a good first heat, running a season’s best 38.02 and coming second. At the time of the final changeover, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake had a big gap to Italy, but Filippo Tortu closed him down and our time of 37.51 was only good enough for silver, missing out by 0.01 seconds. Or so we thought. But after the Games it was found that Ujah was doping (he claimed so unknowingly, but that debate is for another time), and our silver medal was, rightly, stripped.
In the Men’s 4x400m relay, GB reached the final of the Worlds and qualified, despite a DNF in the final. In 2016, we qualified but were disqualified in the heat due to an overtake violation. This time, with three qualifying and two fastest losers, we missed out in 6th in the first heat with a season’s best 3:03.29.
So overall, in the Men’s track, our two golds in 2016 became one bronze. The failure of Farah to qualify was a big loss and whether Ujah is a cheater or just careless it cost us dearly. With the World Championships in Eugene in August 2022, we’ll see if British athletics (and indeed, British Athletics) just had a bad games or if it has deeper problems. That said, there were also some good moments, with the final being reached in both the 100m and 110m Hurdles.
On the Women’s side, in the 100m, we got three places, just like in 2016 (where two reached the semifinals). Daryll Neita and Asha Philip returned and were joined by Dina Asher-Smith, who all reached the mark of 11.15. In the first round, three qualified alongside three fastest losers. Asher-Smith ran in the first heat and came second with a 11.07. Neita ran in Heat 4 and also came second, running a personal best 10.96. Philip came second in Heat 6 with a time of 11.31. In the semifinal, two qualified alongside two fastest losers. Asher-Smith missed out with an 11.05 in Heat 1, coming third. In Heat 2, Philip came 8th with an 11.30. Neita did qualify after coming 4th in Heat 3 with an 11.00, grabbing a fastest loser berth. In the final she came 8th with a time of 11.12.
In the Women’s 200m, three athletes reached the quota of 22.80, up from two last time (including one semifinalist and Asher-Smith reaching the final in 5th). Asher-Smith however pulled out due to a hamstring problem, this was costing her performance and after failing to qualify for the 100m final she pulled out of this event. Jodie Williams also pulled out to focus on the 400m, meaning Beth Dobbin would be the sole entrant in the 200m. In the heats, three qualified plus three fastest losers. Dobbin ran a 22.78, tying her season’s best in the sixth heat and went through to the semifinals where two qualified along with two fastest losers. Here Dobbin could only manage a 22.85 and come fifth.
In the 400m, we had three athletes in 2016, two of which reached the semifinal. A whole new team of Ama Pipi, Williams, and Nicole Yeargin reached the mark of 51.35 to qualify this time. In the heat, three qualified with six fastest losers. Williams ran a 50.99 to win Heat 2, while Pipi was fourth in Heat 3, qualifying as a fastest loser in 51.17. Nicole Yeargin would have qualified but for a lane infringement which picked her up a DQ. In the Semifinals, two qualified plus two fastest losers. Pipi’s 51.59 was enough for seventh in the first semifinal, while Williams ran a personal best 49.97 in the second semifinal to come second. In the final, she equalled her personal best with a 49.97 and came sixth.
In the 800m, we had two athletes in 2016, including a semifinalist and a finalist who came 6th. In 2020 a whole new team of Alexandra Bell, Keely Hodgkinson, and Jemma Reekie reached the mark of 1:59.50. In the Heats, three qualified alongside four fastest losers. Hodgkinson ran in Heat 4 with a 2:01.59 enough for second. Bell’s 2:00.96 was enough for 4th in Heat 5 and she was a fastest loser. Reekie won Heat 6 with a 1:59.97. In the Semifinals, two qualified with two fastest losers. Reekie won the first with a 1:59.77, while Bell came third in the second with a time of 1:58.83, enough for a fastest loser spot. Hodgkinson won Semifinal 3 with a time of 1:59.12. Athing Mu of the United States of America controlled the pace in the final, and she made a breakaway. Both Hodgkinson and Reekie chased her but couldn’t catch her. Hodgkinson took a brilliant silver in a national record (and European Under-20 record) of 1:55.88, while Reekie was caught by the American Raevyn Rogers and could only take 4th with a personal best of 1:56.90. Bell also set a new PB with a time of 1:57.66. A great event for Team GB.
In the Women’s 1500m, Laura Muir came 7th in 2016, with the other athlete coming 11th. We won three places this time, with Muir joined by Katie Snowden in reaching the mark of 4:04.20, and Revée Walcott-Nolan gaining a world ranking spot. In the heats, six qualified alongside six fastest losers. Muir came second in Heat 1 with a 4:03.89, while Walcott-Nolan missed out, coming seventh in Heat 2 with a personal best 4:06.23. Snowden qualified in Heat 3 with a personal best 4:02.77. In the semifinals, two qualified as well as two fastest losers. In the first semifinal, Snowden’s 4:02.93 was only enough for ninth, while Laura Muir came second in hers with a 4:00.73. In the final, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands led early but was overtaken by Faith Kipyegon of Kenya on the final lap, and those two as well as Muir pulled away. Muir overtook Hassan but Kipyegon already had too far a gap, and she had to settle for a still brilliant silver with a national record of 3:54.50.
In 2016, three athletes qualified for the Women’s 5000m including Eilish McColgan who reached the final and came 13th. McColgan was joined by Jessica Judd and Amy-Eloise Markovc in reaching the 15:10.00 entry standard. Five qualified from the heats along with five fastest losers. Judd came 13th in the first heat with a 15:09.47, and in the second heat, Markovc came 9th with a time of 15:03.22, a personal best, and McColgan’s 15:09.68 was enough for tenth. No Brits qualified for the final. In the 10,000m, only two athletes qualified, down from three in 2016 (they came 15th, 16th, and 34th), these were Judd and McColgan who both reached the time of 31:25.00. With only one race, McColgan ran a 31:04.46 for 9th, while Judd came in 17th with a 31:56.80.
In 2016, two Brits qualified for the 100m Hurdles, both reaching the final, coming fourth and joint sixth. Tiffany Porter, who came joint sixth returned after making the time of 12.84, and was joined by Cindy Sember. In the heats, four qualified with four fastest losers. Sember came 4th in Heat 1 with a time of 13.00, and Porter came 4th in Heat 5 with a time of 12.85. In the semifinal, two qualified with two fastest losers: Porter came 5th in Semifinal 2 with a time of 12.86, while Sember came 7th in Semifinal 3 with a time of 12.76.
In the 400m Hurdles, the sole British athlete came 8th in 2016. In 2020, a new team of three athletes qualified after reaching the mark of 55.40: Meghan Beesley, Jessie Knight, and Jessica Turner. In the heats, four qualified as well as four fastest losers. Beesley missed out with a time of 55.91 in Heat 2, coming 7th. In Heat 3, Knight crashed into a hurdle and picked up a DNF. Turner did advance with a 56.83, enough for 4th in Heat 4. In the semifinals, two qualified plus two fastest losers. Turner’s Achilles flared up and she came 7th in the third semifinal, with a time of 1:00.36.
One athlete qualified for Team GB in the Women’s 3000m steeplechase in 2016, but in 2020, two did: both Elizabeth Bird and Aimee Pratt ran a time of 9:30.00. In the heats, three qualified plus six fastest losers. Pratt came 11th in Heat 2 with a time of 9:47.56, but Bird did qualify from Heat 3 with a time of 9:24.34. In the final, Bird ran a national record 9:19.68 for 9th.
The 4x100m relay team qualified, just like in 2016, with a silver in the World Championships. The team that won bronze in Rio included Asher-Smith, Philip, and Neita, who returned, and they were joined in Tokyo by Imani-Lara Lansiquot. In the heats, three qualified plus two fastest losers, and GB won the heat in a national record 41.55. In the final, a burst of pace from Neita took us away from Switzerland and Germany to win bronze in a time of 41.88.
The 4x400m relay team came 4th to qualify in the Worlds, and in 2016 GB won bronze in this event. Emily Diamond returned from that team, and also running in the heats would be Zoey Clark, Laviai Nielsen, and Yeargin. Three would qualify plus two fastest losers, and a season’s best 3:23.99 was enough for third. Pipi and Williams came in for Nielsen and Clark in the final, where GB came 5th with a time of 3:22.59, a season’s best.
So in the women’s track events, things look much rosier than the men. Two bronzes in 2016 became two silvers and one bronze, and we have a better set of young athletes.
Finally we have the new mixed 4x400m relay event. GB came 4th in the Worlds to qualify. Running for us in the heats were Cameron Chalmers, Clark, Diamond, and Lee Thompson. With three qualifying as well as two fastest losers, a time of 3:11.95 came 4th in Heat 2 with a national record, getting a fastest loser spot. Nicklas Baker and Yeargin came in for Thompson and Clark in the final, but a time of 3:12.07 was only enough for sixth.
Let’s move onto the road, starting with the men. In 2016, three British men qualified for the Marathon, with finishes of 9th, 114th, and a DNF. Callum Hawkins, who came 9th in 2016 returned and was joined by Ben Connor and Chris Thompson after reaching the 2:11:30 mark. In the event, Thompson was 54th with a time of 2:21:29. Connor reached the 30km mark before pulling out and Hawkins did the same after the 25km mark. In the 20km race walk, Tom Bosworth, our sole athlete came 6th in 2016. This time he was joined by Callum Wilkinson who also walked a 1:21:00. In the race, Wilkinson walked a 1:22:38, coming 10th, while Bosworth’s 1:25:57 was enough for 25th. Finally came the 50km race walk, which seems to be on its last legs for reasons of gender equality. A good race to cut, too: in 2016, the only Brit was disqualified, and in 2020, none reached the Games.
On the women’s side, our two marathon runners came 28th and 30th in 2016. In 2020, we qualified three athletes, with Stephanie Davis, Jess Piasecki, and Stephanie Twell running the 2:29:30 required. Davis came 39th in Tokyo, with a time of 2:36:33, Twell ran a season’s best 2:53.26 for 68th, while Piasecki ran a season’s best 2:55.39 for 71st. In the 20km race walk, once again no Brits qualified. Road events have never been our strong suit, with the last medal coming in 1984 (which was boycotted by multiple strong nations), and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon.
Moving onto the field, and we’ll start with the Men’s High Jump. In 2016, two Brits qualified, with one reaching the final and tying for 4th. Tom Gale was our sole qualifier this time, reaching a score of 2.33. In the Games, the qualifying mark was set at 2.30 or the top 12, and Gale reached 2.28, officially ranking 13th but tying for first. Gale started strong, clearing the first three marks, but couldn’t get past 2.30 so had to settle for 11th with 2.27. In 2016 GB qualified one male pole vaulter and the same was true with Harry Coppell representing us in Tokyo, hitting the 5.80.
The mark in the qualifying round was 5.80 or the top 12, and Coppell just tied for 12th with a 5.65. He reached 5.80 in the final, a new season’s best, but the next height of 5.87 was too much for him and he finished in 7th. In 2016, Greg Rutherford won bronze for us but he has now moved to bobsleighing. It’s a shame that we did not even qualify someone to replace him this time. However, after missing this event in Rio, we returned to the Triple Jump, with Ben Williams reaching the 17.14 standard. With the mark set at 17.05 or the top 12, Williams could only manage a 16.30 with his only clean jump, enough for 22nd overall.
Another event we returned to after missing it in 2020 was the men’s shot put. Scott Lincoln reached the 21.10 mark to qualify. In the qualifying round, 21.20 or the top 12 would go through, but Lincoln could only get a distance of 20.42. The discus throw was another event we missed in 2016 but returned to in 2020. Lawrence Okoye managed to throw the mark of 66.00. In the qualifying round, 66.00 or the top 12 would be enough, but three fouls earning his name a disappointing NM.
In 2016 we had three hammer throwers, but this time we had just two, with Nick Miller returning to be joined by Taylor Campbell, the mark being 77.50. 77.50 was also the mark in the qualifying round, with the top 12 also guaranteed a place. Miller’s 76.93 put him through in 6th, while Campbell had a 71.34 in his only clean run, going out in 28th. In the final, Miller threw a season’s best 78.15 to finish 6th. Finally on the men’s side, a javelin throw place eluded us just like in 2016.
The same eight events are in the women’s side, and we start with the high jump. After her joint 10th in Rio, Morgan Lake returned after hitting the 1.96 mark, and she was joined by Emily Borthwick who got a world ranking place. In the qualifying round, those hitting 1.95 or the top 12 would go through, and Lake hit the mark on her second try, coming in 7th. Borthwick equalled her PB with a 1.93, but couldn’t break it to hit the mark and came 16th. In the final, Lake had to pull out with an injury and got a DNS.
In the pole vault, Holly Bradshaw came 5th in 2016 and returned in Tokyo after jumping the mark of 4.70. In qualifying, 4.55 was enough (or the top 12) and Bradshaw skipped straight to it, jumped it, and qualified in first. She managed to jump 4.85 in the final, but 4.90 proved a height too far; but this was still enough for a bronze medal.
We had three female long jumpers in 2016 including two finalists: Jazmin Sawyers who came 8th and Lorraine Ugen who came 11th. Both hit the mark of 6.82 and were joined by Abigail Irozuru. In qualifying, 6.75 was the mark and the top 12 also qualified. Irozuru hit a season’s best to reach 6.75 exactly and come 8th, while Sawyers came 11th with a 6.62. Ugen’s 6.05 wasn’t enough to reach the final this time, coming 28th. In the final, Sawyers jumped 6.80, enough for 8th, while Irozuru jumped 6.51 and came 12th. Just like in 2016, we missed out on the triple jump.
Unlike 2016, we qualified for the shot put, with Sophie McKinna throwing an 18.50. In qualifying, 18.80 or the top 12 would be enough, but McKinna came in 16th with a 17.81. Also unlike 2016, we missed out on the discus throw, and also the hammer throw, an event Sophie Hitchon won bronze in in 2016. Just like 2016, we also missed out on the women’s javelin throw.
Our 2016 field haul went down from two bronzes to one, our worst since we missed out completely in 2004. Not great, but we have a good pool of talent, which is better on the women’s side.
Finally, there’s the combined events. Just like in 2016, no man reached the decathlon total. In 2016, Jessica Ennis-Hill won silver while Katarina Johnson-Thompson came 6th. Since then, Ennis-Hill has retired and Johnson-Thompson was our only athlete to qualify, reaching the standard of 6420 points. She started well, winning her 100m hurdle heat in a season’s best 13.27, coming 8th overall and going into joint 7th with 1084 points. Next was the high jump and she came joint 2nd with another season’s best 1.86, netting her 1054 points to go in to 3rd with a total of 2138. Shot put was next, and another season’s best came with a 13.31 earning her 748 points, as she came 15th in the event and dropped to 5th with 2886 points. In the 200m disaster struck as she pulled up and sustained a calf injury. While she dragged herself over the line, she was disqualified as she left the lane and picked up no points. This left her in 22nd and she did not start the other three events (the long jump, javelin throw, and 800m) and ended up with a DNF, a big disappointment.
Overall GB won two silver medals and three bronzes, a decline from the two golds, one silver and four bronzes in 2016. This is our worst result since 1976, and there are questions to answer. The answer given will probably be that both of the best gold medal hopes, Asher-Smith and Johnson-Thompson, picked up injuries, the doping case of Ujah, and of course the lack of Sir Mo Farah. Eugene will tell us a lot more about if British athletics is in a blip or a big decline.
Badminton
Next up is badminton, a sport which has five events: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and a mixed doubles event.
In singles events, 38 players would qualify, although only one per nation (or two if both were in the top 16). Toby Penty was 52nd in the rankings, but this meant 23rd after duplicates were taken out. This meant that we matched our 2016 tally of one athlete in the event: Rajiv Ouseph reached the quarterfinals in Rio.
In the group stage, from which only the winner qualified, Penty beat Kai Schäfer of Germany 2-0 and then beat Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen by the same scoreline, topping Group K. In the Round of 16 he faced Dane Anders Antonsen, but lost 21-10 21-15.
In the doubles competition, sixteen pairs are chosen, again one per country, unless two are in the top eight. Our only medal in badminton in 2016 was won in this event by Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge, and they were ranked 19th and would have been 13th when duplicates were eliminated. However, Badminton England controversially selected Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, ranked 25th (also 13th when duplicates and Ellis/Langridge were eliminated) in their stead, apparently for better consistency. They were placed in Group A, with two pairs qualifying. They lost their first game 2-0 to Indonesian pair Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin came next, as did another 2-0 loss. And a bad campaign was ended with another 2-0 loss in their final game against Indian duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, meaning they finished fourth and bottom of the group.
On the women’s side, Kirsty Gilmour qualified 26th, or 17th when duplicates were removed, repeating her Rio qualification. She was placed in Group L, with only the winner qualifying. A 2-0 win over Pakistan’s Mahoor Shahzad put her in a good position, but she lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and came second in the group, not enough to advance.
In the women’s doubles, Lauren Smith, who qualified last time, was joined by Chloe Birch this time and ranked 16th, qualifying 12th after the removal of duplicates. Smith and Birch were placed in Group A, with the top two qualifying. They started with a 2-0 loss to Japanese pair Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, and then lost 2-0 to Indonesia’s Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu. In the final game it was another 2-0 loss to Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean of Malaysia.
In the mixed doubles, Ellis and Smith qualified in 8th (and still 8th after the removal of duplicates). They were placed in Group B, again the top two pairs qualified. A 2-0 win over French pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue put them in good stead, and another 2-0 win over Canadians Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Josephine Wu was enough to qualify, already bettering 2016’s performance. They clinched top spot with a 2-0 win over Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai. In the quarterfinals they faced Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong, China, but fell 21-13 21-18, a disappointing result.
So we couldn’t retain our badminton medal in 2016, which was the first since 2004. The 2021 World Championships were held in Huelva in December, and although British athletes disappointed overall, and Badminton England is not in the best place, with the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships of 2022 in Tokyo in August coming up, maybe an improvement can be seen.
Baseball/Softball
Another part of Agenda 2020 is that sports popular in the host nation can be added, even just for a single games. This sport was not in Rio 2016 and will not return in 2024. Anyway, there is a men’s baseball event and a women’s softball event. We’ll start with the baseball tournament, which had six spaces, one of which was for the hosts. One spot was given to the winner of the Europe/Africa qualifying tournament, which itself would have six spots: five from Europe and one from Africa. The five would be the top 5 in the 2019 European Championship. GB were in Pool A, where the top 4 teams would make the quarterfinals, and the other 2 would make the relegation round. A 1-0 loss to Germany was followed by a 4-3 win over the Czech Republic, but then a 7-4 loss to Israel. A 13-7 win over Sweden followed, but in the crucial last game, GB lost 10-2 to the Netherlands, finishing fifth, behind Germany on run difference by one run. This put GB in the relegation round, fighting for 9th-12th (as 11th and 12th are relegated to the B-pool). GB lost to Austria 6-1 and then beat Sweden 12-2 and Croatia 5-1. In the final game for 9th place they beat Austria 11-9 in a rematch. But 9th was not enough for the top 5. 2 spots were also available in the 2019 Premier12, but as the name suggests, this is played by the top 12 ranked countries, and Team GB isn’t one of them. Another spot is given at an American qualifying event, with the last spot at a final Olympic tournament, but as GB did not even reach their continental tournament, they did not qualify for this. GB remain one of the better sides in Europe, but as this sport is not returning for the purpose of the Olympics it doesn’t really matter.
In softball, there were also six places available. One went to the host, while the next went to the winner of the World Championship. Team GB were in Group B of this, with the top 4 qualifying for the playoffs and the bottom four in the Placement Round. GB started with a 7-0 loss to Canada, and next came a 1-0 loss to the Chinese team. A 6-0 loss to Japan and a 1-0 loss to Italy followed, before a 10-0 win over Botswana was followed by an 11-0 loss to Australia. In the final match there was a 5-2 win over Venezuela. This was enough for sixth only, and into the placement round. A 2-1 win over the Philippines was followed by a 13-11 loss to Chinese Taipei, and therefore, an 11th placed finish. One spot was available at the Africa/Europe event, where eight teams would take part, six of them from Europe. The top 6 from the 2019 Women’s Championship for European teams would qualify. GB were in group D and qualified for the semifinal group winning all their games: 12-5 against Greece, 15-1 against Germany, 15-0 against Croatia, and 17-1 against Switzerland. In the Semifinal group, they were in Group E, and again won all three games: against Ireland (8-0), the Czech Republic (2-0) and Spain (7-0). In the Final Round they came 3rd in the group, beating France 10-3 and the Netherlands 8-1 before losing 7-0 to Italy. They claimed bronze in the Bronze Medal Match with a 5-1 win over the Czechs. This qualified them to the final tournament. Here they won their Group A with wins over Spain (9-2), South Africa (15-0), and the Netherlands (5-2). In the Super Round they beat the Czech Republic 4-2, but lost 5-0 to Italy, meaning the Italians won the round and took the spot. With the other three spots for American and Asian/Oceanian teams, there was no route to the finals for Team GB. GB still seems a strong team, more so than the baseball team, but again it seems irrelevant for Olympic purposes.
Basketball
Basketball has both a men’s and women’s event, and in Rio 2016, we qualified in neither. In fact, we’ve only participated in 1948 and 2012, when we hosted the competition. There were 12 spots available, one for the host, and seven at the 2019 World Cup, segregated by continent (two were for Europe). 12 teams qualified for this event from Europe. GB were in qualifying Group H, where the top 3 of 4 teams would advance, but finished bottom after losses to Greece (95-92), Estonia (73-70), Israel (82-75), Greece (75-70), a win against Estonia (74-65), and another loss to Israel (67-59). This also meant GB could not take part in the Final Qualification Tournament, and miss out on the games. GB’s men are an alright, if not particularly competitive team, and although they’ll probably never medal, qualification one day is not out the realm of possibility as the sport is quite popular here.
On the women’s side, 12 spots were also available, the first again going to the host. Only the winner of the 2018 Women’s World Cup would get the next spot. GB did not qualify for this event anyway (not qualifying for either of the qualifying events European teams could enter, the 2016 Olympics or the 2017 EuroBasket). The last 10 spots would be won at Olympic Qualification Tournaments. The top 6 sides at the 2019 EuroBasket would qualify for these. GB did qualify for this edition, topping Group D with a 90-87 win over Israel, a 61-59 loss to Greece, and then wins over Portugal (64-56), Israel (76-74), Greece (79-77), and Portugal (83-42). They were placed in Group A in the final tournament, beating Latvia 74-60, but losing 67-59 to Spain. In the crucial final match, they beat Ukraine 68-54 to come second, entering the play-off round. Here they beat Montenegro 92-71, and then beat Hungary 62-59 in the quarterfinal. A loss of 63-56 to France and then 81-55 to Serbia cost them a medal, but they were in the Olympic qualifier. They were placed in the second Belgrade group, with the top 3 of 4 teams qualifying. Unfortunately, losses to the People’s Republic of China (86-76), the Republic of Korea (82-79), and Spain (79-69) cost them a place as they finished bottom. Still, they were only three points away from qualifying for the first time (except from London 2012 where they automatically qualified as hosts). Therefore, British basketball is a sport to watch in the future, for both genders.
Beach Volleyball
Beach Volleyball is a sport with two events (a men’s and women’s tournament), and apart from our automatic spot in 2012, we’ve only ever participated once, in the inaugural women’s event in 1996. 24 spots were available on the men’s side (at most two per NOC), the first going to the hosts, then one to the World Championships winner (no Brits ranked high enough to qualify for this). The other spots were through ranking, and one winner of the Continental Cups (including for Europe): an English team did actually reach this after a win over Armenia in the qualifiers, getting eliminated in the pool stage (Scottish and Northern Irish pairs got knocked out in the qualifiers).
On the women’s side, there were also 24 spots available (at most two per NOC), the first going to Japan, one going to the winner of the World Championship (which no Brits qualified for), 15 being based on world ranking, and one going to the European continental cup winner: this time, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were all knocked out in the qualifying round.
Just like its indoor counterpart, Beach Volleyball doesn’t really seem to have much prospects in Great Britain for Olympic qualification anytime soon, but who knows what can happen in the future.
Biathlon
Biathlon is a sport with eleven events: a men’s and women’s individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start, and relay, and a mixed relay. Qualification is by a ranking system, where the top 3 NOCs in each gender get six athletes, those ranked 4-10 get five, and those ranked 11-20 get four. On the men’s side, GB were 35th with just 46 points, and on the women’s GB were 29th with 427. The remaining twelve spots per gender were from the “IBU Qualifying Points”, but we did not qualify that way either, ending GB’s participation in biathlon in every Olympics since it debuted as an official sport in 1960. While we have never won a medal, and in 2018 our sole athlete finished 67th and 73rd, this is obviously a big disappointment and there’s little to suggest British biathlon is in a particularly healthy state.
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh received an upgrade to reach gender parity in 2022: joining the two-man, two-woman and four-man events from 2018 was the woman’s monobob. Qualifying was based on ranking, slightly different for each event. For the two-man event, the top two countries got three quotas, the next seven got two, and the final ten got one. GB, ranked tenth, just missed out on two places. Pilot Brad Hall returned after finishing 12th in 2018, to be joined by Nick Gleeson. Hall was being touted as an outside medal hope. On the first day he disappointed, with runs of 59.69 and 1:00.05, and then he crashed in the third run for 1:00.22. A time of 59.96 left him with a total time of 3:59.92, enough for 11th, so a very slight improvement on 2018.
In the four-man event, the top two NOCs got three spots, the next seven got two, and the next eight got one. In the end, GB were 10th again so just missed out on two spots. Hall and Gleeson returned from 2018, as did Greg Cackett, while Taylor Lawrence made his Olympic debut. GB’s teams came 17th and 18th in 2018, much better was expected this time even with only one pair.
GB did better than expected, although didn’t challenge for a medal. 58.60 in the first run and 59.09 in the second kept them in touch, while 58.65 and 59.38 in the final day meant that while they wouldn’t get a medal, a final time of 3:55.72 put them in 6th.
In the women’s monobob, the top four countries got two places, and the next twelve got one. GB was entitled to a spot with a ranking of 9th, but declined it (the athlete that qualified, Mica McNeill, specialises in the two-woman event and focused on that instead). Finally, in the two-woman event, the top two countries get three spots, the next four get two, and the next six get one. GB, in ninth got one space, taken by McNeill, returning from 2018 (where she came 8th) and Montell Douglas. This result was a disappointment. 1:02.19 in the first run, then 1:02.35, 1:02.17 and 1:02.14, for a total of 4:08.85 and 17th place, blamed on their slow starts.
Bobsleigh is one of the most iconic Winter Olympic sports, and GB expect to be competitive, but have only won one medal since the turn of the century (a bronze in 2014). While we probably underperformed a bit, a self-funded team in the four getting sixth was a nice surprise.
Boxing
Boxing is a sport that has been affected by Agenda 2020. In 2016, there were ten male weight classes, and three female ones, but in 2020, that has become eight male and five female. The light flyweight, bantamweight, and light welterweight has disappered for men (with featherweight being added), and women have new featherweight and welterweight categories. This means there are men’s flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight, and super heavyweight events, while women have flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight categories.
We’ll start on the men’s side, with the flyweight (52kg). With a spot going to the host country, the rest would be given out in continental competitions, and then a world qualifier and in some cases a tripartite place. In this event, eight spots were available in the European qualifier. Galal Yafai, who reached the round of 16 in the light flyweight competition in Rio took on Russian Rasul Saliev, winning 5-0. This was enough to qualify, and went on to reach the final of the event, beating Armenian Koryun Soghomonyan 5-0 in the quarterfinals, before Batuhan Çiftçi of Turkey withdrew from the semifinal having already qualified. In the final he was disqualified after a clash of heads with France’s Billal Bennama, but took home a silver medal and a place in the Games.
In this event in 2016, the British athlete reached the Round of 16. Yafai’s first job would be to reach that in a rematch against Soghomonyan, and the referee stopped the contest after a ruthless performance from Yafai. Next was Patrick Chinyemba of Zambia, and he squeaked past 3-2. Yosvany Veitía of Cuba was next, and an impressive 4-1 victory came with it. Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan was his semi-final opponent, and he won an exciting contest 3-2. In the final it was Carlo Paalam of the Philippines… and it was a 4-1 win, and gold, the first time in this event since 1956 for a Brit (and indeed the first medal of any colour). A great performance.
Next was the featherweight (57kg), which replaced 2016’s bantamweight, where GB disappointed. 8 spots came from Europe, and Peter McGrail entered the tournament in the Round of 16, where he defeated the Czech Kevin Golda 5-0. Although he lost the quarterfinal to the Hungarian Roland Gálos 3-2, he was safely in the top 8 and in the Olympic Games. However, it was disappointment for a highly-fancied boxer, as he exited in the Round of 32 to Argentine Mirko Cuello 3-0 in a shock loss. He has now turned pro.
Lightweight (63kg) now incorporated both the lightweight and light welterweight competitions from 2016: GB reached the Round of 16 in both. Eight spots were available in Europe, and Luke McCormack entered in the Round of 16 with a 4-1 win over Tuğrul Erdemir of Turkey. Qualification secured, he then beat Enrico Lacruz of the Netherlands 5-0 but lost 4-1 to Sofiane Oumiha of France in the semifinal, taking bronze in the qualifying event. In the Games, in the Round of 32 Manish Kaushik of India was beaten 4-1, but Andy Cruz of Cuba was too much in the Round of 16 as he beat McCormick 5-0 on the way to gold.
Men’s welterweight (69kg) was next, and Pat McCormack, who entered the light welterweight in 2016 was hoping to go better than GB’s Round of 16 in this event last time. Six spots were available for European countries, and McCormack started well, beating Monaco’s Hugo Micallef after the referee stopped the contest in the Round of 16. Eskerkhan Madiev of Georgia was beaten 5-0 in the quarterfinals, and Ireland’s Aidan Walsh was beaten 5-0 in the semifinals. In the final, the Russian Andrey Zamkovoy was beaten 5-0 as McCormack took gold in this event, and more importantly, a spot at the Olympics.
McCormack started well, beating Aliaksandr Radzionau of Belarus 5-0 in the Round of 16. A 4-1 win over Uzbekistan’s Bobo-Usmon Baturov set up a rematch against Walsh in the semifinal, but the Irishman withdrew after picking up an injury in his quarterfinal win. In the final, the Cuban Roniel Iglesias proved too much with a 5-0 win, and McCormack had to settle for a still-brilliant silver.
Middleweight (75kg) was next, and GB disappointed in 2016. Six spots were available for Europeans, and Lewis Richardson started well, beating France’s Victor Yoka 5-0. However, in the Round of 16, he lost to Ukrainian Oleksandr Khyzhniak 5-0. With the World Qualifier cancelled due to COVID-19, instead, places were given out based on ranking, and Richardson missed out: the first British failure to qualify for this event since 2004.
In the men’s light heavyweight (81kg) event, Joshua Buatsi took bronze in 2016. Looking to make it successive medals for Team GB was Benjamin Whittaker, who started the qualifying (for six places) well with a 4-0 win over Romania’s Paul Arădoaie. A 5-0 win over the Swede Liridon Nuha was followed by a 3-2 win over the Croat Luka Plantić, but a withdrawal from the final against Azerbaijan’s Loren Alfonso having already qualified meant it was silver to go with a qualification spot.
In the Games, Whittaker started well with a 4-1 win over Colombia’s Jorge Vivas in the Round of 32. In the Round of 16, Abdelrahman Oraby of Egypt was next, and a unanimous 5-0 win for Whittaker. In the quarterfinal, Keno Machado of Brazil took him close but Whittaker squeaked through 3-2. A 4-1 win over the ROC’s Imam Khataev was next, but a 4-1 loss to Arlen López of Cuba meant it was “only” silver. Whittaker reacted with disappointment and pledged to return and do better, and I’m sure GB Boxing is happy to have him.
The heavyweight (91kg) was next, and Cheavon Clarke was hoping to do better than GB’s round of 16 in 2016. Clarke started the qualifier (for just four places) with a 3-2 win over Armenia’s Narek Manasyan in the Round of 16, while a win over Vagkan Nanitzanian of Greece, 3-2 was next. A loss in the semifinal to Spain’s Emmanuel Reyes (4-1) meant it was a bronze medal from the qualifier. In the Games, Clarke’s campaign didn’t last long, with a 4-1 loss in the Round of 16 to Abner Teixeira of Brazil.
The final event on the men’s side was the super heavyweight (+91kg). Joseph Joyce won silver for GB in 2016, and hoping to impress this time was Frazer Clarke. Four spots would be won in qualifiers, with Clarke getting a walkover against Italian Clemente Russo in the Round of 32 due to digestive problems from the latter. Marko Mulin of Croatia was next, and was beaten 5-0, with Turkey’s Eren Uzun suffering the same fate in the quarterfinal. Russian Ivan Veriasov withdrew from the semifinal, and a 4-1 loss to Mourad Aliev of France in the final secured Clarke a silver medal alongside his qualification spot.
In the Games, a Round of 16 4-1 win over Ukrainian Tsotne Rogava was followed by a quarterfinal win in a rematch against Aliev when the Frenchman was disqualified for a headbutt in extremely controversial circumstances. However, in his semifinal against Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov, the referee stopped the contest due to an injury to Clarke, in a fight he was more than holding his own in, and making him have to settle for bronze.
Moving on to the women’s side, and specifically the flyweight (51kg), an event Nicola Adams won gold in in 2016. 6 spots were available in the European competition, and Charley Davidson did well, beating Carly McNaul of Ireland 5-0 in the Round of 16, and the same scoreline against Sandra Drabki of Poland in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, Giordana Sorrentino of Italy was beat 5-0, but in the final, Buse Naz Çakıroğlu if Turkey beat her 4-1, meaning she settled for silver in the qualifier. In the Games, the first round went well, with a 5-0 win over Rabab Cheddar of Morroco, but in the seocnd round it was a 5-0 loss against Chinese boxer Chang Yuan.
The featherweight (57kg) is a new event, and six Europeans earned places. Kariss Artingstall represented GB, beating Helina Bruyevich of Belarus 5-0 in the Round of 16. In the quarterfinals, she lost 4-1 to Stanimira Petrova of Bulgaria, putting her Olympic spot in doubt, but a 5-0 win over Swede Stephanie Thour in the box-off sent her through to the Games. In the Round of 32 and Round of 16, 5-0 wins over Botswana’s Keamogetse Kenosi and Brazil’s Jucielen Romeu came, before a tight 3-2 quarterfinal win over Australia’s Skye Nicolson. However, the semifinal against Japan’s Sena Irie went the other way, with a 3-2 loss and she would settle for bronze.
We missed out on the lightweight (60kg) in 2016, but hoping to put that right this time was Caroline Dubois, with six spots on offer for Europeans. Dubois qualified well, with unanimous 5-0 wins over Ala Staradub of Belarus in the Round of 32, Mira Potkonen of Finland in the Round of 16, Rebecca Nicoli of Italy in the quarterfinals, and Agnes Alexiusson of Sweden in the semifinals. A final loss to Kellie Harrington of Ireland, 4-1, meant it was silver to go with the qualification spot.
A 5-0 win over Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku was the perfect start in the Round of 32 for Dubois, before a 3-0 win over Rashida Ellis in the Round of 16. However, an unfortunate 3-2 split decision loss to Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee in the quarterfinal cost her a chance at a medal.
Five spots were available for Europeans in the new welterweight (69kg) category. Rosie Eccles entered for GB, but was knocked out in the Round of 16 of qualifying by the Russian Federation’s Saadat Dalgatova, and did not see a ranking place forthcoming. GB reached the quarterfinals of the middleweight (75kg) in 2016, hoping to go better was Lauren Price, with four places available to Europeans. She qualified perfectly, with unanimous 5-0 wins in every round: over France’s Davina Michel in the Round of 16, Ukraine’s Anastasiia Chernokolenko in the quarterfinals, Ireland’s Aoife O’Rourke in the semifinals, and the Russian Zemfira Magomedalieva in the final, taking a gold and a qualifcation spot.
In the Games it was just as good: in the Round of 16 a 5-0 win over Mongolian Mönkhbatyn Myagmarjargal and in the quarterfinals the same over Panama’s Atheyna Bylon. In the semifinals, a tight match but a 3-2 split decision win over the Netherlands’s Nouchka Fontjin, and in the final a 5-0 win over Chinese Li Qian. A huge win then for Price which made our tally two golds, two silvers, and two bronzes, exactly double the single gold, silver and bronze from Rio. Things look bright for British amateur boxing.
Canoe Slalom
Canoe Slalom is another sport affected by Agenda 2020. Returning from 2016 is the Men’s C1, Men’s K1, and Women’s K1 event, but the Men’s C2 (which GB won silver in in 2016) has been replaced by a Women’s C1. After the host spots, qualification places were earned at the World Championships. Generous quotas (17 in C1 and 11 in K1) were enough for GB to get a full compliment.
In Men’s C1, Adam Burgess was trying to better David Florence’s 10th in 2016. Florence qualified our quota spot but Burgess was selected for Team GB. 18 would become 15 in the Heats, and Burgess qualified easily, with a 99.82 in the first run and a 99.64 in the second, putting him in 3rd. In the semifinals this would be whittled down to 10 with just one bit at the cherry: 106.18 was the time. A 103.86 in the Final was enough for 4th, missing out by just 0.16 seconds. Heartbreak.
In the Men’s K1, Joe Clarke won gold in 2016, but British Canoeing selected Bradley Forbes-Cryans who performed well in the World Championships ahead of him. A 93.65 in the preliminary round put him through in 13th (the top 20 qualifying) despite an edgy second run where he got a time of 101.46. In the semifinal, 20 would become 10 and a much better run of 96.48 put him in 5th. However, a 2 second penalty cost him in the final, putting him 6th with a time of 100.58.
The women’s C1 was a new event, and Mallory Franklin did enough to qualify. Franklin started the preliminaries well with a 107.51, and an 105.06 was even better as she went in first. A 117.75 in the semifinal was only enough for sixth, but in the final she went top with a 108.68 in difficult conditions. Athletes came and gone but didn’t top her, until Jessica Fox of Australia managed to beat her in the final run, demoting her to silver, still a brilliant result.
In the women’s K1, GB were 6th in 2016 and Kimberley Woods was trying to better it. She got through the preliminaries with a time of 109.63 then bettered by 107.82, putting her in 9th. In the semifinal, where 24 became 10, a time of 109.00 put her in 6th, but her final run was disastrous, with 56 seconds’ worth of penalties for a time of 177.09 and 10th.
So, our 2020 haul of one gold and one silver became just one silver, a step back. That said, with positive results at the 2021 World Championships, British canoeing in the slalom category still seems in good hands. Agenda 2020 does not stop here: canoe slalom will have two more events in 2024, in the “extreme” categrories (men and women), which feature races rather than individual time trials. Expect GB to be in the medal hunts for these events too.
Canoe Sprint
Another event to feel the joy of Agenda 2020, an eight-male and four-female split in 2016 is now an even six and six. Gone are the men’s C1 200m, K2 200m and K4 1000m events, with men’s K4 500m, women’s C1 200m, and women’s C2 500m events being introudced.
This means that men have C1 1000m, C2 1000m, K1 200m, K1 1000m, K2 1000m, and K4 500m events, while women have C1 200m, C2 500m, K1 200m, K1 500m, K2 500m and K4 500m events.
The men’s C1 hasn’t been our strong suit, with neither event getting a place in 2016. This time there was just one event, the 1000m. GB did not even enter the qualifier for this, the World Championship. In the C2 1000m, the result was the same, not even entering the world championship.
Men’s K1 is stronger for us, with Liam Heath winning gold in 2016 in the 200m event. Heath entered the World Championships, where five places were up for grabs in good form: winning his heat with a time of 33.71, and his semifinal with 33.87, and then winning the final with a time of 34.86 to take gold. He got off to a nervy start in Tokyo however, coming third in his heat with a time of 34.582, before making up for it in the quarterfinal with an Olympic Best 33.985. 35.102 was enough for second in the semifinal and a place in the final. However, he started slowly and came home in a time of 35.202, enough for bronze.
In the 1000m event, GB did not qualify in 2016 and it was the same story this time, Thomas Lusty came 14th in the World Championships. There were two K2 events in 2016, with GB winning silver in the 200m which has now been cut, and we did not qualify for the 1000m in 2016. The same was true this time, as we did not even enter a boat. The K4 even was another one we missed in 2016, and although it has been shortened from 1000m to 500m, it did not help as GB were knocked out of their heat and did not qualify.
On the women’s side, the C1 is a new event and Katie Reid qualified after coming 11th in the World Championship. Reid came 4th in her heat for a time of 47.876, but 4th in the second quarterfinal with 47.821 meant she took no further part. The women’s C2 is also new, but 11th wasn’t enough for a spot for the British pair.
The K1 200m was an event where GB came 15th in 2016, but Jessica Walker only came 12th in the World Championships. However, Emily Lewis got in through the additional European qualifier. She came fourth in her heat with a time of 42.038, while Deborah Kerr, who qualified for the 500m and could also enter, came third in her heat with a time of 41.168. Kerr and Lewis were in the same quarterfinal, and Kerr won in a time of 42.742; Lewis was 3rd with 42.945 and was eliminated. In the semifinal, Kerr came second with a time of 39.751, but came 8th in the final with a time of 40.409.
The K1 500m also earned GB a 15th finish in 2016. Rebeka Simon came 7th in the World Championships, but qualified as some of the atletes ahead of her had already qualified through other events. In the end, her place was given to Kerr, while Lewis also entered. Lewis came 7th in her heat with a time of 1:55.743, while Kerr came 5th in hers with a time of 1:51.375. Both went to quarterfinals. Lewis came 4th in hers with a time of 1:51.996, missing the semifinal by 0.174 seconds. Kerr did go through in third, with a time of 1:50.133. However, she came bottom (7th) in her semifinal with a time of 1:55.955.
We also came 15th in the K2 event in 2016, but did not even enter a boat in the World Championships this time. In 2016, the K4 yielded us 7th place, but 13th place in the World Championships meant we missed out on the finals.
Overall, the canoe sprint program was a step back from 2016: one gold and one silver became one bronze. GB is not a traditionally strong canoeing nation, although after winning our first gold in 2008, we won one again in 2012 and 2016, and it’s a shame not to keep that up. With the additions to the canoe slalom programme, canoe sprint has been a victim, as twelve events have become ten in 2024. The men’s and women’s K1 200m are to be cut, the men’s event our only medal in 2020. Also, the men’s C2 and K2 will have their distance reduced from 1000m to 500m. That said, canoe sprint is still a sport with medal potential for GB in 2024.
Cross-Country Skiing
Cross-Country Skiing qualification is segregated by gender, and has five spots to the first five countries, four for the next five, three for the next ten, two for the next ten, and the next ten receiving one, plus a few extras. GB earned three spots for men in this process, but none for women. There are twelve events in this sport: men’s and women’s classical, skiathlon, freestyle, and relay events, plus individual and team sprints for both genders. In 2018 our athletes entered the Men’s freestyle (coming 28th, 57th, and 75th), skiathlon (coming 7th and 57th) and classical (coming 37th and 54th), as well as both sprints, where no finals were made. We also had a woman, Annika Taylor, qualify, coming 75th in the freestyle and 60th in the classical. After not participating in this sport in every Games from 1968 to 2006, since 2010 we have at least participated in this event, but 2022 is the first time we are not sending athletes from both genders.
The three men we sent to this Games were James Clugnet, Andrew Musgrave, and Andrew Young. Musgrave and Young entered the classical event, held over 15km, with Musgrave in 46th with a time of 41:44.7, ahead of Young in 51st with a time of 42:24.0. Musgrave also entered the skiathlon, held over 30km, and was 18th after the classic section, with a time of 41:16.8. After a pitstop of 32.7, a free section of 38:57.4 was enough for a total time of 1:20:46.9, and 17th. The freestyle event, held over 50km (although shortened to 28.4km due to severe winds and temperatures), had Musgrave perform well and stay with the leading pack for much of the race, but eventually finish 12th with a time of 1:13:29.3. As we did not have the four athletes, we didn’t enter the relay.
The individual sprint started with a qualifying round, which the top 30 would advance from, and Young and Clugnet both entered. Young came 36th with a time of 2:55.60, while Clugnet came 41st with a time of 2:56.72. In the team event, there were semifinals first, with four going through (plus two lucky losers) but Clugnet struggled and even with a battling performance from Young, the time of 21:15.27 was only enough for tenth in the first semifinal.
We have never won a medal in this event, and with Musgrave, our best ever Olympic athlete in this sport turning 31, who knows if we ever will. The lack of female qualification is disappointing, and I wouldn’t bet on this being a medal-winning sport anytime soon.
Curling
If you’re reading this you don’t need a reminder about how curling went, but here it is anyway, for completion’s sake.
Curling is split into three events: a men’s and women’s tournament, and a mixed doubles event. In 2018, the men came 5th, and after the host spot, the qualifying event was the 2021 World Championship: the top six would qualify. Scotland (who count as GB for the purposes of Olympic qualification), as a top European side entered the event, and came 5th in the round robin stage with nine wins and four losses. They beat Canada 5-3 in a qualification game for the semifinals, then beat the RCF (the ROC) by the same scoreline in the semifinals. A 10-5 loss to Sweden in the final meant they took silver in this event but had qualified safely.
An all-new team (compared to 2018) of Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan Jr. and Ross Whyte competed for Team GB. All ten qualifying countries would play each other once in a round robin, with the top four going to the final. A 7-5 win over Italy in the first game was followed by a 9-7 loss to the United States of America, but it was smooth sailing after that, with wins over Norway (8-3), the People’s Republic of China (7-6), Denmark (8-2), Switzerland (6-5), Sweden (7-6), the ROC (8-6), and Canada (5-2). This meant we topped the group and faced the Americans in the semi-final. After a nervy start, GB found their grove and beat the Americans 8-4, setting up a rematch of the World Championship final against Sweden. After nine ends, the score was 4-3 to Sweden but GB had the hammer. Our team could only manage the one in the final end though, giving Sweden the hammer in an extra end which they took, winning 5-4 leaving us with silver: still a brilliant result despite the disappointment.
In the women’s event, Team GB came 4th in 2018. Again there were ten spots, the first going to the host and the next going to the top 6 in the 2021 World Championship. Again, Scotland, a strong European team, qualified for the event, but with a record of six wins and seven losses found themselves 8th in the round robin: not good enough to qualify or to advance in the tournament. The final three spots were available at the Olympic Qualification Event, which Scotland (now given the designation of Great Britain) qualified for as a participant in the 2021 event. GB won six games and lost two, and after a good draw shot challenge (27.39) won the group to qualify ahead of both the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Eve Muirhead returned from 2018, and was joined by Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff, and Mili Smith. An extra end steal cost them the first game against Switzerland, 6-5, before an 8-2 win against Sweden settled nerves. A 9-7 loss to the Republic of Korea didn’t help, but a 10-5 win over the Americans did, as did a 7-2 win over Denmark. A 7-3 loss to Canada put them in danger, before a 10-4 win over Japan. But, an 8-4 loss to the People’s Republic of China meant they were in danger with one game to play. GB beat the ROC 9-4 to finish with a record of five wins and four losses, with both Japan and Canada the same, and the trio were level on head to head (with one win and one loss). Luckily, GB’s draw shot challenge (35.27) was better than both Japan and Canada’s and they advanced in third. In the semi-finals, Sweden were the opponents, and after losing four in the first end, it was a long way back. However, a three in the second and a steal in five helped GB on their way, and a four in the ninth end put them 11-8 in front. In the tenth, Sweden found a three to force it to extra ends, but GB held their nerve with the hammer to win 12-11. In the final was a match against Japan, which was much tidier and GB won 10-3 to take GB’s first gold in curling since 2002.
In the mixed doubles, GB did not qualify in 2018. Ten spots would be available, the first going to the host, with seven available at the 2021 World Championships. Scotland, in the top 16 in the 2019 event, qualified. They were placed in Group A, and won the group, with a record of eight wins and one loss. In the semifinals, they beat Canada 7-4 and in the final they beat Norway 9-7, entering the Olympics as world champions. Mouat and Dodds were our pair.
A 9-5 win over Sweden opened the even in the right way, before a 6-4 win to Canada. An 8-7 loss to Switzerland was followed by a 9-8 win over Australia and an 8-3 triumph over the Czech Republic. A 7-5 loss to Italy was followed by a 6-5 win over the Chinese pair, and a 6-2 loss to Norway was followed by an 8-4 win over the Americans. This meant a record of six wins and three losses, putting us in third, behind Norway due to the head to head loss. In the semifinal, against Norway, it was a close game, with a three in the sixth end helping them win 6-5. The bronze medal match against Sweden was disappointing throughout: Sweden claimed a four in the second end and a three in the third and won 9-3. This meant a final ranking of fourth.
After missing out on medals in 2018, a gold and a silver (the only medals we got in the entire 2022 Winter Olympics) was very nice. In fact, the only negative emotion was a small tinge of disappointment that it wasn’t more. Curling seems very healthy in the UK, especially Scotland, and there will be plenty more interest after the medal haul in Beijing. No British curler travelled to the Games and came home empty-handed. There are quite a few bureaucrats with lots to thank them for.
Cycling BMX Freestyle
A new sport introduced due to Agenda 2020, BMX freestyle cycling has two events, the men’s and women’s “Park”. Nine spaces were available: the first going to the host, two going to the first ranked NOC in the World Rankings, and the next four getting one each. GB, ranked 4th in the men’s side, and 3rd in the women’s, got a place in both.
Declan Brooks entered the men’s competition, and with a seeding run of 74.30, then 79.25 for an average of 76.75, he was in 7th, meaning he started early. In the final, it would be the best of the two runs, rather than an average. A double backflip gave him a score of 89.40 after one run, putting him in 3rd. He overtook Venezuela’s Daniel Dhers in the second run with an improved run putting him in second with 90.80, but Dhers produced an amazing frontflip to take silver with a score of 92.05, relegating Brooks to bronze.
In the women’s event, Charlotte Worthington was our athlete, and in the seeding run she came 4th with runs of 81.80 and 81.20, an average of 81.50. In the final, she failed a backflip 360 in her first run, putting her last with a score of 38.60. It was, after all, a trick no woman had made before. But on her second run, she nailed it. This gave her a score of 97.50, with three to go. Hannah Roberts of the United States of America was considered her most serious challenge, with a score of 96.10 in her first run, but after an error in her second she didn’t complete the run, confirming Worthington as a gold medallist. So in a new sport, one gold and one bronze, and questions will be asked as to why sports like this shouldn’t get more funding over traditional money-hoggers like athletics and rowing.
Cycling BMX Racing
In the BMX Racing there is both a men’s and women’s event. The host nation gets one of the 24 spots, with the next six going to the top two in the rankings (three each). The next six go to the next three in the rankings (two each), while the next six get one each. GB in 7th got one spot for men. For women, GB were outside the top 11 for the Olympic qualification ranking, but did get a spot from BMX individual ranking. Therefore our total number of athletes was the same as 2016, where we had two men and no women, and both didn’t get past the heats.
Our man this time was Kye Whyte. The quarterfinals worked like this: three races, one point for first, two points for second, etc, and the four with the lowest amount of points advance. Whyte came third in the first race with 41.012, second in the second race with 40.201, and fourth in the final race in 40.983, for a total of nine points, second overall and safely through to the semifinal. Here the format was the same, and Whyte came third in the first race with 40.769, fourth in the second with 40.076, before winning the final race with 39.299. This put him in the final race: a single showdown for the medals.
Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands took an early lead, with Whyte chasing him in second place, having is own breathing room to the other riders. In the end, Whyte was close, 0.114 seconds off, but his time of 39.167 was enough for silver. Still, a brilliant campaign, especially for a sport with no funding.
Our woman was Bethany Shriever, and the format was the same. In her quarterfinal, she won the first race in 45.268, and the second in 44.660, before coming third in the final race in 44.924, with the total of five points putting her in third. In her semifinal she won all three races: the first in 45.687, the second in 45.155, and the third in 44.807. In the final, the race was similar to the men’s race, with one athlete out in front, and one chasing, but just unable to make it. The difference was, this time the gold medallist was British, with Shriever winning in a time of 44.358, and holding off Colombia’s Mariana Pajón by 0.090 seconds to take gold. One gold and one silver then, and it’s great to see both BMX disciplines, self funded as they are, doing so well. The next big event will be the World Championships in Nantes later this year.
Cycling Mountain Bike
Mountain biking has a similarly world ranking based qualification system. After the first spot is given to the hosts, the next six are given to the top two (three each), then ten are given to the next five (two each), with one to the next fourteen: on the women’s side, GB in eighth got a spot, a positive as we only qualified one man in 2016 (he came 17th). The men missed out on a world ranking spot, but with places at the World Mountain Biking Championships, we still had a shot at qualifying. Two spots were earned in the elite race and two in the Under-23 race, and in the latter we earned a spot, the last available.
Our man was Tom Pidcock, but the favourite was Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel. However, he suffered an early fall and did not finish the race, leaving it open, and Pidcock went ahead relatively early and never gave it up, finishing in first place with a time of 1:25:14 to earn Team GB gold. Evie Richards went in the women’s event, and she did not do badly either, coming in 7th with a time of 1:19:09. Another good event for Team GB.
Cycling Road
There are four events in this sport: a men’s and women’s road race and time trial. In the men’s road race, the host nation, took the first spot, with the next thirty available to the top six countries (five each), and the next twenty-eight to the next seven countries (four each): GB, ranked 11th, got four spots, just like 2016, where our team finished 11th, 12th, 15th, and with a DNF. Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates returned from 2016, with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Simon Yates joining them. In the race, Geoghegan Hart lost his front wheel and crashed which also brought down Thomas. Geoghegan Hart pulled out and though Thomas eventually caught up to the peloton, he pulled out of the race too with no hope. In the end, Richard Carapaz of Ecuador went early and wasn’t caught, winning gold, leaving an eleven-man chase pack, including Adam Yates, battling for silver. Adam Yates started a sprint for the silver, and seven other members of the pack engaged, and in the end he didn’t win a medal, finishing ninth overall with a time of 6:06:33. Simon Yates came in 17th with a time of 6:09:04.
In the time trial, there was only one spot per NOC for world ranking, with the top 30 getting a place (GB were in 11th so picked one up), but we got an additional spot by coming in the top 10 at the 2019 World Championships; Alex Dowsett coming in 5th in that competition. In the end, we entered Thomas, who came 9th in 2016, and Geoghegan Hart; our other athlete in 2016 was Chris Froome, who won a bronze medal. However, both struggled this time, with Thomas coming 12th in a time of 57:46.61, and Geoghegan Hart coming in 29th with a time of 1:01:44.81.
On the women’s side, the host got a spot, then the top five got four spots each. The next eight, including GB in 11th got three spots each, but this was then reduced by one to allow individiual qualifiers to compete, meaning we had two spots, down from three in 2016 (we had a 5th-placed finish and two DNFs). Elizabeth Deignan and Anna Shackley went for Team GB, but Shackley did not finish. Deignan was in medal contention but didn’t have enough on the day, finishing 11th in a time of 3:54:31. In the time trial, the top 15 got a spot (GB in 11th got one), but this time no additional spots were earned. Shackley came 18th, down from Emma Pooley’s 14th in 2016, with a time of 34:13.60.
This means that our haul in this sport of one bronze medal in 2016 became nothing, although with a huge amount of participants and just four unpredictable events, this doesn’t represent a crisis,
Cycling Track
Track cycling was boosted from ten to twelve events in 2020, with Madison events joining the sprint, team sprint, team pursuit, Keirin and Omnium for both men and women. The top eight ranking teams would qualify for the men’s team sprint, which came with it two places in the sprint, and GB did just that. The men’s sprint earned Jason Kenny gold and Callum Skinner silver in 2016, and this time Kenny returned alongside Jack Carlin. The top 24 in qualification went through, and Carlin was third with a 9.306, while Kenny’s 9.510 put him safely through in 8th. Next was the 1/32 finals, and Carlin found himself up against Nathan Hart of Australia, who he beat by 0.306 seconds to go through. Kenny also went through in a close race against Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang by 0.032 seconds. In the 1/16 final, Carlin came up against Malaysian opposition in the form of Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, who he beat by 0.132 seconds. Kenny again had a close race, beating Japan’s Yuta Wakimoto by the even smaller margin of 0.021 seconds. In the 1/8 finals, Carlin took on Sébastien Vigier of France, who he beat by 0.171 seconds, while Kenny took on the ROC’s Denis Dmitriev, who beat him by 0.076 seconds, relegating him to the repechage. Here he took on Awang and Wakimoto, and he won the race, beating Awang by just 0.042 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Kenny would face Harrie Lavreysen in a best of three encounter, but after losing the first race by 0.047 seconds, it seemed the tank was empty and he lost the second by 0.942 seconds. Carlin faced Maximilian Levy of Germany, and won both races with relative ease, by 2.507 seconds and 0.396. Kenny participated in a classification race for 5th-8th, and came last, 0.879 seconds behind the winner Levy, for a final ranking of 8th. Carlin, however, was into the best-of-three semifinal, facing Lavreysen, and lost both races in nailbiting encounters, 0.067 seconds and 0.042 seconds the margins. Thus, he came up against Dmitriev in the bronze final, and won both races by 0.486 seconds and 0.015 seconds, securing a medal for GB in the event.
In the team sprint, which GB won in 2016, Kenny returned alongside Carlin and Ryan Owens. A time of 42.231 seeded them in second, and then they qualified for the gold medal final with another second placed finish 41.829, where they faced the Netherlands. However, they never got going and finished the final with a time of 44.589, taking silver.
Qualifying for the team sprint also yielded two places in the Keirin, just like in 2016, when Kenny won gold. This time, Carlin joined him in representing Team GB. In the first heat, Kenny could only manage fourth, 0.462 off the pace, relegating him to the repechage. Carlin safely won his heat, and then Kenny won his repechage to join him in the quarterfinals. Kenny was second in his quarterfinal, 0.045 seconds off, while Carlin was also in second, 0.503 seconds off, so both went to the semifinals. Kenny and Carlin were put in the same semifinal, and Kenny won his, while Carlin came 4th, 0.240 seconds behind, and had to settle for the Final B, in which he came 2nd, 0.097 seconds behind, for a final rank of 8th. In the Final A, a fierce attack from Kenny right from the start was never caught and, just like in 2016, Jason Kenny won gold for Great Britain in the men’s keirin.
As a top 8 country, we also had a chance to enter the men’s team pursuit, which we won gold in in 2016. Ed Clancy returned from that team, to be joined by Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon, Matthew Walls and Oliver Wood. Walls missed out the qualifying (four race with one reserve), where GB came 4th with a time of 3:47.507. Ed Clancy then picked up a back injury and withdrew, to be replaced by Charlie Tanfield, who was called up to the main four, with Walls staying as reserve. In the qualification round, Tanfield crashed with the Danes (who caught up with GB), giving us a time of 4:28.489. This left us in a placement match with Switzerland which we won in a time of 3:45.636, and a final rank of seventh.
Qualifying for the team pursuit also gave us a spot in the Madison, the new event. Hayter and Walls were the British team. In a race where there we no points for lapping, Hayter and Walls performed admirably to gain 40 points, just three behind Denmark and win a silver medal. Being a top 12 country also gave us a spot in the Omnium, which Mark Cavendish won silver in in 2016. This time, Walls went for Team GB. He won the scratch race, taking home 40 points, and 23 points in the tempo race was enough for third and 36 points. A well-done elimination race earned him 38 points in second, making him leading before the points race with 114 points. He claimed 19 sprint points and a lap for a total of 153 points, claiming an emphatic gold for Team GB.
On the women’s side, qualification worked pretty much the same. GB weren’t in the top eight so missed out on the team sprint (just like 2016), but did get one place in the sprint through ranking. In 2016, Becky James won silver and Katy Marchant won bronze, and Marchant went for us in 2020. A 10.495 was good enough for 9th in qualifying, and in the 1/32 final she beat Yuka Kobayashi of Japan by 0.612 seconds. The 1/16 final was much closer, but Lee Wai-sze of Hong Kong, China was also dispatched by just 0.025 seconds. Canada’s Lauriane Genest was next in the quarterfinals, but Marchant was too good with a 0.179 second win. A rematch against Lee, who came through the repechages, was next in the best-of-three semifinal, and finally Marchant fell, losing both races by 0.027 seconds and 0.036. In the classification race she came second, 0.099 seconds behind, for a final ranking of 6th.
Qualifying for the sprint also gave us a place in the Keirin, an event where James took silver in 2016. Marchant entered this time, but was relegated from her first heat after deviating from the racing line. However, she won her repechage to reach the quarterfinal. However, here she crashed with Dutch rider Laurine van Riessen, and although she got herself up to finish the last lap, this meant she was 5th and 41.527 seconds behind, and went out.
We were top eight in the team pursuit ranking, so qualified a place. In 2016 we won gold in this event, with Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker returning form that team, alongside Neah Evans (the reserve), Laura Kenny, and Josie Knight. A 4:09.022 in the qualifying round put us in second, and we went through our semifinal with a time of 4:06.748. Unfortunately, Team GB couldn’t compete with the world record-setting Germans, so settled for silver this time with a 4:10.607.
A team pursuit place also came with a Madison place, with Archibald and Laura Kenny entering for us. A dominant performance came with 78 points, more than double anyone else, and a gold medal. We also ranked high enough for an Omnium place, which Laura Kenny took. A DNF in the scratch race meant just sixteen points, but 7 points in the tempo race put her in first and she won 40 points. However, in the elimination race it was a disappointing and misjudged 13th and 16 points, putting Kenny in 9th with 72 points before the points race. Here, she clamed 24 points to get 96 in all and upgrade her to 6th.
So, a total medal haul of three golds, two silvers, and one bronze, down sharply from the six golds, four silvers, and one bronze from 2016, although still an admirable performance. Track cycling is a key sport for Team GB, and the World Championships are next year’s biggest event where progress can be updated. Just as I write this article, Jason Kenny has retired, which is sad, but he’s certainly earned it.
Diving
Diving is a sport with eight events: individual and synchronised 3m springboard and 10m platform events, for both men and women. For the men’s individual 3m springboard, the top 12 at the World Championships would earn a spot, and Jack Laugher’s bronze in that competition was enough. One spot would also be earned at the European Championships, and James Heatly’s bronze proved enough, as the other two medalists had already qualifed. Therefore, GB had the maximum two athletes in this competition, just like in 2016, when Laugher earned silver. A score of 445.05 was enough for Laugher to advance to the semifinal in sixth, while Heatly came in 4th with an impressive 458.40. Laguher came third in that semifinal with a 454.85, while Heatly was 4th again with 514.75. Heatly had a difficult final, coming 9th with 411.00, but Laugher battled with the Chinese pair, but was unable to best them, earning bronze with 518.00 points.
In the 10m platform, Tom Daley (7th) and Noah Williams (10th) qualified from the World Championships, meaning we had already done better than 2016 when just one place was earned. In the preliminary round, Daley’s 453.70 was enough for fourth, but Williams struggled and was eliminated in 27th with a score of 309.55. The semifinal yielded another fourth, with a score of 462.90, but in the final Daley did well, and with the Chinese pair fighting for gold and silver, Daley had a lot of space either side of him as he got 548.25 points and came third.
A silver medal at the World Championships earned GB a place in the 3m synchronised springboard competition they won gold in in 2016. Laugher retruned to be joined by Daniel Goodfellow, but they never got going and finished 7th with a score of 382.80. Bronze at the World Championships meant GB would have a full compliment of male divers, qualifying for the 10m synchronised platform competition. Tom Daley won bronze in 2016 and was joined by Matty Lee this time. A heroic back and forth encounter with the Chinese pair came to the final dive, and GB won gold, with 471.81 points edging out Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen by just 1.23 points.
On the women’s side, in the 3m springboard, Grace Reid’s 8th in the World Championships qualified the first place, while Scarlett Mew Jensen earned 7th in the World Cup to earn a final spot. Reid came 8th in this event in 2016, but it was a poor event for Team GB this time, as Reid came 19th and was eliminated from the preliminaries with 268.15 points, while Mew Jensen’s 243.25 was only enough for 22nd. In the 10m platform, Lois Toulson got the final World Championship spot available, coming 12th, while Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix came 4th in the Diving World Cup to earn the other spot. This competition yielded us 12th in 2016, but both our athletes started well, with Toulson 7th in the preliminaries with 314.00 points, and Spendolini-Sirieix in 10th with 307.70 points. Both reached the final too, with Spendolini-Sirieix in 8th in the semifinal with 314.00 points, and Toulson in 9th with 311.10. Neither looked like medal contenders and the final was challenging: Spendolini-Sirieix was 7th with 305.50 points and Toulson 9th with 289.60.
6th in the World Cup was enough for the synchronised 3m springboard team to qualify, with Grace Reid and Katherine Torrance looking to do better than the 6th earned in Rio 2016. In the end, they were in the medal hunt but just fell short, with 269.10 points enough for sixth. The synchronised 10m platform team of Toulson and Eden Cheng won silver in the World Cup to qualify. Toulson was in the team that came 5th in 2016, but 289.26 was only enough for a disappointing 7th this time.
So, in diving, GB took a tiny step back, with one gold, one silver, and one bronze becoming one gold and two bronzes, still our second best ever result. It seems we are still in a golden era, and with the most famous British diver, Daley, winning gold, this should hopefully keep interest in the sport high.
Equestrian
Equestrian is notable for being the only sport that is “open” rather than gendered, with individual and team events in dressage, eventing, and jumping, for a total of six. A bronze in the Team Dressage event in the 2018 World Equestrian Games earned a spot in the team event, which came with three spots in the individual event. British athletes won gold, and also came 7th and 17th in 2016, with defending champion Charlotte Dujardin returning on Gio, while Carl Hester returned on En Vogue. Finally, Charlotte Fry entered on Everdale. 80.963 was Dujardin’s score as she got past the Grand Prix stage, second in her group, while Fry’s 77.096 topped her group. Hester came fourth with a 75.124, but qualified as a “lucky loser”. On a new horse, Dujardin couldn’t replicate her 2016 result but still came away with bronze with an 88.543, while Hester’s 81.818 and Fry’s 80.614 were good enough for 8th and 13th respectively.
Fry, Hester, and Dujardin entered the team event on the same horses. A total score of 7508.5 was enough for second in qualifying, while 7723.0 earned bronze in the Grand Prix Special event.
In eventing, gold at the World Equestrian Games got a team spot and with it three individual ones. British athletes came 12th, 26th, 30th, and 41st in the individual event in 2016. An all new team of Laura Collett (on London 52), Tom McEwen (on Toledo de Kerser), and Oliver Townend (on Ballaghmor Class) entered for Team GB. In the Dressage section, Townend came 2nd with 23.60 points, with Collett in touch in 6th with 25.80, and McEwen in 12th with 28.90. All three had a perfect cross country, putting Townend in 1st, Collett in 3rd, and McEwen in 6th. McEwen went up to 3rd with a perfect first jumping, while Townend and Collett faltered, picking up four penalty points and going in second and fifth respectively. McEwen’s second round of jumping got him 0.4 penalty points but he picked up a silver medal with his total of 29.30. Townend faltered with 4.80 penalty points and 32.40 was only enough for 5th, while Collett picked up eight and 37.80 was enough for 9th.
In jumping, GB missed out on a top 6 place at the Equestrian Games, but a bronze at the European Jumping Championships in 2019 meant one team place and three individuals. Nick Skelton won gold in the individual event in 2016, but didn’t return: the British trio was made up of Ben Maher (who came 25th in 2016) on Explosion W, Scott Brash on Hello Jefferson, and Harry Charles on Romeo 88. Charles was a late substitution for Holly Smith, on Denver. All three got past the qualification round with no faults. Maher also got no faults in the final: Brash got one with his time of 88.45 while Charles retired. Maher joined five other faultless athletes in a jump-off for gold, and brilliant time of 37.85 earned him just that. Hello Jefferson picked up an injury so fo the team event, Charles, Maher, and Smith went. They qualified in 7th with 20 penalty points, before a poor final where Smith picked up 16 points, Charles picked up 8, and with a medal out of the question, Maher withdrew, meaning we finished in tenth.
Equestrian yielded two golds, a silver, and two bronzes, an improvement from the two golds and one silver in 2016. It seems like the sport which has a niche following but enough interest to sustain sport is still in rude health, with the best ever result excluding London 2012.
Fencing
Twelve events exist in fencing: men’s individual and team epée, foil, and sabre events, and the same six for women. With most of the places qualified in rankings, GB only qualified one athlete: Marcus Mepstead getting a European ranking place in the men’s individual foil. This was a step back from 2016, where three athletes qualified for this event (with one reaching the Round of 16 and one reaching the bronze medal match), and the team also qualified, coming 6th. As it happened, GB’s fencing campaign lasted one bout, with a 13-15 loss to Egypt’s Mohamed Hamza all shee wrote. With no medals since 1964, it’s a shame, but only spilt milk for the BOA.
Figure Skating
Figure skating has five events: a men’s and women’s singles, and mixed pairs, ice dance, and team events. No British man qualified for the singles, with Peter James Hallam’s 12th in the CS Nebelhorn Trophy the closest. However, Natasha MacKay did qualify on the women’s side with 23rd in the World Championships. We didn’t reach this event in 2018, and though MacKay came 28th in the free skating with 52.54 points, and was eliminated, it was still a step forward. GB missed out on a spot in the pairs event (not for the want of trying), but Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson came 7th in the World Championships in the ice dance event and qualified a spot. They would hope to beat GB’s 11th in 2018, and a 76.45 in the rhythm dance sent them on their way in 10th. A 115.19 free dance meant they would finish in 10th, with a total score of 191.64. GB haven’t won a medal in this sport since 1994, but Fear and Gibson are an exciting pair. Watch this space.
Football
Olympic football has been an anomaly for a while. The only Olympic sport UK Sport has no part in, football (like many other sports on this list) is played with the four home nations having separate teams. There has been fear from the Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish associations that a British team would jeapordise their autonomy, but this has lessened over time and an agreement that there would be a combined women’s team was reached for the 2020 tournament, something that did not occur in 2016. There are two tournaments in Olympic football: a men’s and a women’s, and the men would not have qualified anyway, with England not reaching the semifinals of the 2019 Under-21 European Championships (Men’s Olympic football is an Under-23 tournament). The top three European teams at the Women’s World Cup would qualify on the women’s side, with England’s results counting for GB. They topped a qualification group containing Wales, the Russian Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kazakhstan to qualify. In the final tournament, wins over Scotland, Argentina, and Japan meant an advancement from the group, while 3-0 wins over Cameroon and Norway in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals came next. A 2-1 loss to the Americans in the semi-finals sent them to the third-placed play-off, where a 2-1 loss to Sweden followed. This meant England were fourth, but the third best European team, and GB were in the Olympics.
Norwegian coach Hege Riise named a squad of 22, with goalkeepers Ellie Roebuck, Carly Telford (a replacement for the injured Karen Bardsley), and Sandy MacIver. The defenders were Lucy Bronze, Demi Stokes, Steph Houghton, Rachel Daly, Leah Williamson, and Lotte Wubben-Moy, with Keira Walsh, Sophie Ingle, Kim Little, Caroline Weir, Georgia Stanway, and Jill Scott in midfield. Finally, Nikita Parris, Ellen White, Fran Kirby, Lauren Hemp, Niamh Charles, and Ella Toone were forwards. They were placed in Group E and started well, with a dominant 2-0 win over Chile, White scoring both goals. A goalkeeping error gave White the chance to score (which she took) to decide a cagy 1-0 win over Japan, before a final game with Canada. Here, Adriana Leon poked home a cross to give the North Americans the lead, but a shot from Weir deflected off of Nichelle Prince and it went in, counting as an own goal and finishing 1-1. This meant GB topped the group and faced Australia in the quarterfinals. GB dominated the early stages but Alanna Kennedy gave the Matildas the lead from a header before half time. However, GB fought back in the second half with a White header to equalise. White was at it again after a defensive error to give GB the lead, but with minutes to go, Sam Kerr equalised to send it to extra-time. After Parris was fouled in the box, Weir stepped up for a penalty but saw it saved, and Australia soon went up the other end and scored when Mary Fowler had a shot deflected. Kerr then headed home her second, and although White headed home one back, Australia won 4-3.
This was disappointing, a missed opportunity, but obviously British football is in fine health. Let’s hope the four associations continue to cooperate on the Olympics, and that comes with men’s football too, because they will be medal chances.
Freestyle Skiing
Freestyle skiing is one of the most important Winter Olympic events, with thirteen events to reflect this: men’s and women’s events in aerials, big air, halfpipe, moguls, ski cross, and slopestyle, and a mixed team aerials to go with it. The big air events and mixed team aerials event were new, bringing the programme up from 10 to 13. Qualifying was based on earning FIS points, which I could explain but its not very interesting and too complicated. Anyway, we had two spots in the women’s big air, slopestyle, and moguls, and one in each of the men’s events, and the women’s halfpipe.
The men’s aerials yielded one spot, with Lloyd Wallace returning from 2018. 108.41 was only enough for 17th in the first qualification run, and he didn’t improve in the second run, with 71.94 meaning he finished 15th (when those already qualified were taken out).
In the new big air event, James Woods got a spot, but had no clean runs. 27.50 in the first, 26.50 in the second, and 32.35 in the third meant a total of 59.75 to come 30th and not qualify for the final. In the halfpipe, Gus Kenworthy represented GB, with a fall and 8.50 in the first run, before a score of 70.75 allowing him to qualify in 12th. The final started poorly, with scores of 17.50 and 3.75, the latter from a huge fall, but a respectable score of 71.25 in his final run earned him 8th. In 2018, three Brits entered, but none reached the final.
Unlike in 2018, a Brit, Will Fenely, participated in men’s moguls. 70.23 in the qualifying round was only enough for 23rd, while a 67.54 in the second round was enough for 17th and no further participation. Also unlike 2018 was participation in the men’s ski cross, courtesy of Oliver Davies. A time of 1:14.84 earned him a seeding of 31st, and he was comfortably last in his heat, getting eliminated. Woods came 4th in the slopestyle in 2018, and this time was our only entrant (in 2018 we had two), but withdrew due to a back injury.
In the new women’s big air event, Kirsty Muir and Katie Summerhayes represented GB. Muir was safely through qualifying with runs of 89.25, 67.00, and 68.25 for a total of 157.50 to put her 7th, while Summerhayes just missed out, with runs of 63.75, 69.25, and 67.25 only enough for 136.50 and 13th. In the final, Muir had 90.25 and 78.75 in her first two runs. A big and clean third run was required, but she couldn’t manage it, with 15.50 points for a total of 169.00 and 5th.
Two Brits entered the women’s halfpipe in 2018, and one came 7th, but Zoe Atkin was our sole representative in 2022. Exciting runs of 85.25 and 86.75 came in the qualifiers to come 4th, but she couldn’t replicate it in the final, with two scratched runs of 18.75 and 10.75 followed by a safer 73.25 which earned her 9th.
Unlike 2018, we entered the women’s moguls events, and we had two representatives in Leonie Gerken Schofield and Makayla Gerken Schofield. Leonie did not finish her first qualifier, while Makayla earned 70.18 points, enough for twelfth. In the second round, Makayla could not improve with 67.96, but her first run was good enough to go through in seventh anyway. Leonie’s run of 62.06 was enough only for 17th. A run of 73.99 got Makalya through to the second Final Run in 9th, but her second run of 73.04 put her in 8th, which wasn’t enough to qualify.
In 2018, Summerhayes entered the slopestyle and came 7th, while Isabel Atkin came 3rd. This time, Summerhayes was joined by Muir. For Muir, a run of 70.11 was enough to qualify, despite a worse second run of 63.91, in 6th. Summerhayes’ first run of 66.56 was also good enough, rendering a second run of 59.11 irrelevant, for tenth. The final could have gone better, however. Summerhayes posted runs of 60.01, 64.75, and 23.31 for 9th, while Muir scored 41.86, 71.30, and 69.21, en route to 8th.
Isabel Atkin’s bronze medal in 2018 is the only one GB has ever won in freestyle skiing. While we couldn’t replicate it, I still think freestyle skiing is a sport with potential for GB in the future, although a lot can happen in six years.
Golf
Golf has a men’s and women’s tournament. Paul Casey (8th) and Tommy Fleetwood (13th) qualified for GB in the men’s side, with them both looking to emulate Justin Rose’s gold in 2016 (our other golfer came joint 37th). After shooting 70 and 69 in the first two rounds, a 64 from Fleetwood put him back into contention (−10, joint 9th). A 70 in the final round meant he finished on 273 at −11, joint 16th. Casey shot a 67 on the first day to go joint 8th at −4, and he stayed in touch on day two with a 68 to go −7 and joint 7th. A 66 on day three was enough for −12 and joint third. In the final round he shot a 68 to finish on 269 (−15) and with six others tying on that score for third, a playoff was played. Unfortunately, he could only manage par while others birdied, so no medal for him, his ranking officially joint 4th.
On the women’s side, Mel Reid and Jodi Ewart Shadoff qualified through the rankings. The Brits came joint seventh and 29th in 2016. Neither made a mark, with Ewart shooting 74, 68, 70, and 72 for 284 (E, joint 40th), while Reid shot 73, 75, 76, and 68 for 292 (+8, 55th). Golf is a sport where Brits normally make up some of the elite, but with only two events and many pros not entering the event, medals are not guaranteed. Golf is suffering some turmoil at the moment, although you can read about that in better places than here. Overall, BOA chiefs can only really cross their fingers rather than do anything to help Britain’s medal chances here.
Handball
Handball is a very popular sport with a rich pedigree, but not over here. GB were not even close to qualifying for any qualifier, and the sport hasn’t taken off here. There’s a men’s and women’s tournament, and the story was the same in both genders. The teams were actually dormant for a while until they were reformed for London 2012, the only time we participated (qualifying automatically as hosts). They are still going though, they’re just a long way away from Olympic qualification.
Hockey
Another sport with both men’s and women’s events, hockey saw GB’s men come ninth in 2016. GB won 9-3 over Malaysia in a qualifier over two legs to qualify (4-1 and 5-2). The team announced by Danny Kerry (a replacement for Bobby Crutchley in 2016) retained defender David Ames, midfielders Harry Martin, Ian Sloan, and Adam Dixon (who was made captain), and forward Sam Ward. The team also included goalkeeper Ollie Payne, defenders Brendan Creed, Jack Waller, Liam Sanford, and Tom Sorsby, midfielders Jacob Draper and James Gall, and forward Alan Forsyth, Rupert Shipperley, Chris Griffiths, Phil Roper, Liam Ansell, and Zach Wallace. Group B got off to a perfect start with a goal from Ward from a penalty corner against South Africa, before Matthew Guise-Brown’s penalty corner quickly equalised. However, goals from Ansell and Waller sent us to a 3-1 victory. The next game against Canada was decided by the same scoreline: Ansell opened the scoring before a Ward penalty corner, and though Canada got one back through Floris Van Son, Ansell scored his second to end their resistance.
Germany were next, and Roper scored for the perfect start, but that was as good as it got. A penalty corner from Florian Fuchs before goals from Christopher Rühr, Justus Weigand and two more from Fuchs gave the Germans a 5-1 win. The Netherlands were next, and they raced ahead, with goals from Thierry Brinkman and, from a penalty corner, Jip Janssen. However, two goals from Ward, the second from a penalty corner, meant it finished 2-2. GB’s final group game was against Belgium, and Shipperley’s penalty corner meant it started the right way. However, Tom Boon equalised with a penalty corner of his own. Ansell soon re-established our lead, but Thomas Briels equalised to finish the game at 2-2. This meant GB finished third and set up a quarterfinal with India. Dilpreet Singh and Gurjant Singh scored in the early stages, and though Ward fought back with a penalty corner goal, India finished us off through Hardik Singh and it finished 3-1. This was still an improvement on 2016 though.
On the women’s side, GB qualified with a 5-1 aggregate win over Chile (3-0 and 2-1). In 2016, the team, coached by Kerry (now the men’s coach) won gold, and Australian gaffer Mark Hager retained goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, defender Giselle Ansley, midfielders Laura Unsworth, Susannah Townsend, Shona McCallin, and forward Lily Owsley. Others in the squad were defenders Anna Toman, Leah Wilkinson, Hollie Pearne-Webb (the captain), Grace Balsdon, and Amy Costello, midfielders Sarah Evans, Sarah Jones, and Fiona Crackles, and forwards Hannah Martin, Sarah Robertson, Elena Rayer, and Isabelle Petter. Against Germany, Jones got us off the perfect start with a goal from a penalty corner but a penalty stroke from Viktoria Huse and a goal from Charlotte Stapenhorse gave them a 2-1 win. Against South Africa, a Nicole Walraven penalty corner made things difficult but goals from Rayer, Toman (a penalty corner), Unsworth and Rayer again made it 4-1. Against India, two goals from Martin put us in a good place, before a Sharmila Devi penalty corner put them back in it. However, a penalty corner from Owsley and a penalty stroke from Balsdon was enough to make it a second 4-1 victory in a row. The Netherlands were next, but they won 1-0 due to a Frédérique Matla penalty stroke. The final game was against Ireland, and a penalty corner by Townsend was followed by a field goal from Martin to win 2-0 and finish third in the group, setting up a quarterfinal with Spain. A goal from Martin was immediately responded to with a penalty corner from Belén Iglesias, while Balsdon’s own penalty corner was responded to with a goal from Berta Bonastre, sending it to a penalty shootout. Spain went first, but Clara Ycart couldn’t convert – but neither could Toman. Next was Begoña García Grau, who also missed, but Martin made no mistake. After Georgina Oliva missed and Jones scored, Beatriz Pérez had to score, but couldn’t and GB were through to the semifinals against the Netherlands. Here GB had no match, with Marloes Keteels putting them ahead through a penalty corner, with Felice Albers making it two, a penalty corner from Maria Verschoor and Albers scoring again. While Ansley put in a penalty corner to get one back, a penalty corner from Matla meant it was 5-1 to the Dutch. The bronze medal match was a rematch against India, and it was an enthralling encounter. Rayer and Robertson put us ahead early on, but a brilliant five minutes saw India score three goals: two penalty corners from Gurjit Kaur, and another goal from Vandana Katariya. However, Pearne-Webb scored to level it and Balsdon’s penalty corner gave us a 4-3 win and bronze.
While the Rio 2016 gold was special, few expected us to repeat it. Hockey is a sport with a large (but niche) following and so it is always a medal hope, with the women’s side performing better generally than the men’s side.
Ice Hockey
Ice hockey seems to be developing in Great Britain, but we have not qualified for this sport since 1948. On the men’s side, our qualification started with a group where only the top team would advance. Wins against Romania (4-3) and Estonia (7-1) were followed by a 4-1 loss to Hungary, eliminating us from qualification. The women’s side was the same, with a 5-0 win against Iceland followed by a 2-1 loss to Slovenia and a 1-0 win over the Republic of Korea not enough. British ice hockey is still in a bit of a golden age and let’s hope they can convert that to a first ever qualification some time soon.
Judo
Judo has fifteen events, up from fourteen in 2016. A mixed team event has been added to go with the events for men and women: seven each, segregated by weight. For men, the weights are 60kg, 66kg, 73kg, 81kg, 90kg, 100kg, and +100kg, while for women they are 48kg, 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 70kg, 78kg, and +78kg. Qualification was done by ranking in the individual events, and we qualified a place in the men’s 60kg (Ashley McKenzie), women’s 52kg (Chelsie Giles), women’s 63kg (Lucy Renshall), women’s 70kg (Gemma Howell), women’s 78kg (Natalie Powell), and women’s +78kg (Sarah Adlington, who got a continental allocation). For the mixed team, we needed at least three of each gender, and that didn’t happen this time.
In 2016, we qualified for three men’s events, but only McKenzie returned. He reached the round of 16 in that event, and faced Karamat Huseynov of Azerbaijan in his round of 32 this time. However, a waza-ari from Huseynov gave him a 01-00 win and sent McKenzie packing.
On the women’s side, we didn’t have a 52kg athlete in 2016, but Giles was looking to go well here as number 7 seed. She faced Arbresha Rexhepi of North Macedonia, and an ippon gave her an 11-00 victory. Next was Soumiya Iraoui of Morocco, who suffered the same fate, a 10-00 win for Giles. Uta Abe of Japan was next, and it went to a golden score, but the Japanese took a waza-ari to win 01-00. In the repechage was Belgian Charline van Snick, and a great counter earned her an ippon and a 10-00 win. Finally, in the bronze medal match was Switzerland’s Fabienne Kocher, and two waza-aris equalled one ippon to take home a brilliant bronze, 10-00.
The British athlete (Alice Schlesinger) reached the Round of 16 in the women’s 63kg in 2016, but Renshall was given a tough draw this time, losing by waza-ari to number 3 side, Japan’s Miku Tashiro, 01-00. Sally Conway won bronze in the women’s 70kg in 2016, but Howell faced María Pérez of Puerto Rico in the Round of 32 this time, and was no match for her, losing 10-00 with an ippon. Powell reached the quarterfinal and the repechage in 2016, but couldn’t repeat it, losing 11-00 to the Republic of Korea’s Yoon Hyun-ji. Finally, in the +78kg, which GB missed in 2016, Adlington lost in the Round of 32 to Tunisia’s Nihel Cheikh Rouhou 10-00.
For the third Games in a row, GB took home a medal in judo, and for the second in a row the haul was one bronze. Not bad in a sport GB have never taken gold in, let’s hope our judoka can keep impressing in 2024.
Karate
Karate is another temporary Agenda 2020 event that wasn’t in 2016 and won’t be returning in 2024. There was a men’s and women’s kata, and three kumite events for men and women segregated by weight: for men, 67kg, 75kg, and +75kg; and for women, 55kg, 61kg, and +61kg. Qualification was from a mix of tournmanets and ranking, but I won’t waste your time – no Brits qualified. Oh well.
Luge
Luge has a men’s and women’s singles event, an “open” doubles event (although in practice, this is always men, for what should be obvious reasons), and a mixed relay. Qualification was won by a quite complicated ranking system, and GB only got a place in the men’s singles (in 2018 we got two places in this event, they came 22nd and 33rd). Rupert Staudinger, who came 33rd in 2018 returned, and a 58.731 put him in 22nd after his first round. Further funs of 58.960 and 58.622 put him in 23rd after three, and with only the top 20 participating in the final run, he finished 23rd with a time of 2:56.313. GB have never won a medal in this event and that doesn’t seem to be changing soon.
Marathon Swimming
Marathon Swimming has a 10km open water event for both men and women. Qualification was the top 10 at the World Championships (which GB missed in both genders) and then 9 at the Olympic Swim Qualifier, which Hector Pardoe and Alice Dearing snatched up. In 2016, the British man was disqualified while the woman came 7th. This time, Pardoe took an elbow to the eye in the race and had to get a DNF, while Alice Dearing did finish, in 19th, with a time of 2:05:03.2. A disappointing return for GB’s marathon swimmers, although our aquatics programme is much more focused on swimming and diving currently.
Modern Pentathlon
Modern pentathlon has both a men’s and women’s event, and two spots could be qualified per NOC. On the men’s side, Joe Choong qualified by winning the 2019 World Cup Final, while Jamie Cooke qualified in the European Championships. On the women’s side, Kate French qualified at the European Championships while Joanna Muir qualified from the world rankings.
Choong and Cooke came 9th and 14th in 2016 and were hoping to improve. They started well in the swimming, with times of 1:53.80 and 1:54.87 putting Cooke and Choong 2nd and 3rd respectively in the swimming, with 323 and 321 respective points. In the fencing, Choong won 25 bouts and one bonus point to take 252, the most of anyone, while Cooke took 18 and no bonuses for 208 points. In the riding, Cooke took 293 points with a time of 80.41, while Choong took 286 points with a time of 75.37. Finally came the laser run. Choong led and made no mistake in the shooting and came home in 11:17.53, taking 623 points for a total of 1482 points, an Olympic Record, and a gold medal. Meanwhile, Cooke finished in 11:12.30, taking home 628 points and a total of 1452 for 9th.
French came 5th in 2016, the other Brit in 8th, but Muir was making her Olympic debut. They had work to do after the swimming, with times of 2:10.18 (French) and 2:14.52 (Muir) earning 290 and 281 points respectively. French took home 20 wins and one bonus win in the fencing for 221 points, while Muir struggled with 13 wins and one bonus win for 179 points. A good riding for French came with 294 points for a time of 86.26, while 78.81 yielded Muir 293 points. French came into the laser run fifth, but a masterful performance both in running and shooting earned her 580 points for a time of 12:00.34, and an Olympic Record 1385 points to win gold. Muir came home in 12:15.13 for 565 points, a total of 1318, and 14th place.
Modern pentathlon will be making changes in 2024 and again in 2028, so who knows how we’ll be doing in those games. But two golds from two events is of course extremely positive.
Nordic Combined
Nordic Combined is a men-only sport at the Olympics, with three events: individual large hill/10km, individual normal hill/10km, and team large hill/4x5km. This event has been going since 1924, the first Winter Olympics, and we have sent an athlete once, in 1936. Qualification was by some ranking system, but unsurprisingly, we didn’t qualify, and probably won’t any time soon.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Rhythmic Gymnastics is a women-only sport (at the Olympics), with a group and individual all-around competition. We did not qualify anyone in 2016, and this didn’t change this time. The 2019 World Championships were the main qualifier, and we didn’t even send anyone to that, which shows you the state of rhythmic gymnastics in this country. This is not a medal sport for us and won’t be any time soon, but qualification in 2024 is a reasonable goal.
Rowing
Ah, now this is a sport that has been discussed a fair bit. Let’s first remind everyone what happened. Gender parity was reached in this sport in 2020, with seven men’s events and seven women’s ones (compared to an 8-6 split in 2016). The men’s lightweight four (which we came 7th in in 2016) was replaced by a women’s four, so there are now men’s and women’s events in single sculls, pair, double sculls, lightweight double sculls, four, quadruple sculls, and eight. Qualification was mostly (but not exclusively) won at the World Chapionships in 2019. We missed out on the men’s single sculls (an event we came 12th in in 2016), but in the men’s double sculls 4th in the World Championships was enough for John Collins and Graeme Thomas to qualify. Collins was part of a duo that came 5th in 2016. 6:12.80 in the first heat got them through to the semifinal, before second in that semifinal with 6:22.95 was enough to get to the final. Despite battling in the final, they could only manage 4th in a time of 6:06.46.
We didn’t qualify for the men’s lightweight double sculls (we came 7th in this in 2016), but there were high hopes in the men’s four which we gold medalled in in 2016. The new team of Sholto Carnegie, Oliver Cook, Rory Gibbs, and Matthew Rossiter qualified with bronze at the World Championships. We won our heat in 5:55.36, but an awful race where Britain were steering all over the place ended in fourth place with a time of 5:45.78. This ended a run of golds in this event which stretched back to Sydney 2000.
In the men’s quadruple sculls, 8th in the World Championships was enough to qualify. Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont returned from the crew that came 5th in 2016, whlie Tom Barras and Harry Leask joined them. A 5:42.01 in the heat was only good enough for third, but they won the repechage in a time of 5:55.91 to reach the final. Great Britain led for much of it, but after a poor start, the Netherlands rallied to finish ahead of them. GB settled for silver in 5:33.75.
In the Men’s Eight, bronze was won in the World Championships to qualify, and GB had high hopes after gold in this event in 2016. A whole new squad of Josh Bugjaski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, and cox Henry Fieldman represented us this time. Third in their heat in 5:34.40 earned them a spot in the repechage, but they qualified for the final in second with 5:23.32. Second for much of the final, Germany overtook them so it was bronze for GB with a time of 5:25.73.
On the women’s side, Victoria Thornley took fourth in the World Championships to qualify in the single sculls, which is already better than what we managed in 2016. Thornley won her heat in 7:44.30, and came third in her quarterfinal in 7:59.93. Second in her semifinal, in 7:25.12, she reached the final, and was in a close battle with Magdalena Lobnig of Austria for bronze, but came fourth in atime of 7:20.32.
GB won gold in the women’s pair in 2016, but qualified 10th in the World Championships (although it wasn’t our strongest duo in that event). Helen Glover returned but was joined by Polly Swan this time, and third in their heat with 7:23.98 was enough to advance. A much improved 6:49.39 was enough for second in the semifinal, but it was only fourth in the final with 6:54.96. In the double sculls, we won silver in 2016, but didn’t even qualify this time.
In the lightweight double sculls, which we came 14th in in 2016, Emily Craig and Imogen Grant took bronze at the Worlds to qualify. They came second in their heat in a time of 7:03.29, won their semifinal in a time of 6:41.99, and reached the final. Fourth at the end, they nearly got a bronze when the Dutch crew caught a crab, but missed out by 0.01 seconds and came fourth in a time of 6:48.04.
In the new women’s four, GB qualified with a 7th at the World Championships. The crew was Karen Bennett, Rowan McKellar, Rebbeca Shorten, and Harriet Taylor, and they came 4th in their heat with a time of 6:41.02, but won the repechage in a time of 6:46.20 to reach the final. GB’s team rowed well but their time of 6:21.52 was only good enough for bronze. The quadruple sculls was missed in 2016, but in 2020 we did qualify, with 6th at the Worlds. Lucy Glover, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, and Hannah Scott were our crew this time. 6:20.82 in the first heat was only good enough for third, and in the repechage, a 6:42.97 was only good enough for a disappointing fourth and a place in the Final B, which they won in 6:25.14 for a final position of 7th.
The women’s eight yielded a silver medal in 2016, and we claimed a 5th in the Worlds to qualify. A whole new squad of Chloe Brew, Katherine Douglas, Rebecca Edwards, Emily Ford, Fiona Gammond, Caragh McMurtry, Rebecca Muzerie, Sara Perfett and cox Matilda Horn arrived for this one, and performed badly, coming fourth in the heat in 6:26.76, and 5th in the repechage in 6:05.26, miles off the pace in both races.
So, GB’s medal haul went from three golds and two silvers to one silver and one bronze, a huge decline. Plenty of reasons have been given, with bad luck a factor (there were six fourth-placed finishes), but also the loss of coach Jürgen Gröbler. With this being a well-funded sport, and self-funded sports like Cycling BMX Racing giving more medals, there will be nervous people at British Rowing when the Paris 2024 funding is announced. With the World Championships in Račice in September, we will see if GB blipped in Tokyo or something much worse happened.
Rugby Sevens
Rugby Sevens is a sport with men’s and women’s tournaments, and both have separate teams for the home nations. England’s results counted for qualification. In the European qualifier, England beat Lithuania (40-0), Georgia (24-7), and Germany (33-7) to top the group. In the quarterfinals they beat Italy 35-0, and Portugal were bested 29-12 in the semifinal. In the final against France, an easy 31-7 win sent us to the Olympic Games.
In 2016 GB won silver, and backs Dan Norton, Tom Mitchell (who is captain), Dan Bibby, and Ollie Lindsay-Hague returned to Simon Amor’s squad. New to the lineup were backs Max McFarland, Robbie Fergusson, Harry Glover, and Tom Bowen, and forwards Ben Harris, Alex Davis, Ross McCann, Alec Coombes, and Ethan Waddleton.
The first pool match against Canada went smoothly, with a try from Norton converted by Bibby, and then another, with the conversion missed. McCann then scored a try, the extras added by Bibby, and Fergusson rounded off with an unconverted try to win 24-0. Japan were the next opponents, and in the first two minutes there were two tries, with Bibby and Mitchell both scoring, although the conversions were missed. Glover (con Bibby), Harris, Waddleton, and Davis (con Bibby) added tries for a 34-0 win. Against Fiji the story was different. Asaeli Tuivaka scored an early unconverted try to set the tone, with Sireli Maqala scoring soon after and Napolioni Bolaca adding the extras. Jiuta Wainiqolo scored the next and Bolaca made no mistake with the conversion, before Tuivaka got his second in the second half and Bolaca added the extras. Harris did get a consolation, converted by Bibby, before Aminiasi Tuimaba’s late try was converted by Kalione Nasoko to give Fiji a 33-7 win.
We still came second in the pool to set up a quarter-final against the United States of America. It started awfully, with a try from Danny Barrett and then two from Perry Baker, all three converted by Madison Hughes to give the Americans a 21-0 lead. But GB battled back with Lindsay-Hague getting a try before half-time and Bibby converting it. Harris and Davis then acted after half time and Bibby got the conversions to level it, and then Norton scored, taking advantage of an American yellow card. Though the conversion was missed, GB won 26-21 to set up a semifinal against New Zealand.
This was too tough a test in the end. Scott Curry’s early try was converted by Andrew Knewstubb, but GB immediately responded through Norton (con Bibby). However, NZ got an second before half-time through Regan Ware (con Knewstubb), and three unconverted tries from Ware, Dylan Collier, and Curry in the second half gave NZ the win, 29-7. This set up a bronze medal match with Argentina, and it started perfectly, with a try from Harris, although the conversion was missed. However, Argentina responded with tries from Lautaro Bazán (missed con) and Marcos Moneta (con Santiago Mare) to go ahead. We fought back through Lindsay-Hague (con Bibby) to level things, but Ignacio Mare’s late unconverted try gave them a 17-12 win and consign GB to fourth.
The women came fourth in 2016 and were desperate to do better this time. England won the European qualifier, with pool stage wins over Germany (59-0) and Sweden (50-0), a 26-5 loss to the Russian Federation, but then wins over Ireland (17-7) in the quarterfinals, and France (14-12) in the semifinals, and then a final rematch against the Russians which we won, 19-0. Backs Abbie Brown (who was co-captain), Natasha Hunt and Jasmine Joyce returned with newcomers including backs Holly Aitchison, Deborah Fleming, Helena Rowland, Hannah Smith, Lisa Thomson, and Emma Uren, and forwards Abi Burton, Megan Jones (co-captain), Alex Matthews, and Celia Quansah.
The first game was against the ROC, and it started badly, with Baizat Khamidova scoring an unconverted try, but Brown responded with a try and Aitchison added the extras to put our noses in front. However, with little time left, Kristina Seredina scored a try and then converted it herself to put the pressure on. However, after time had expired, a try from Brown on the final play saved us and Aitchison converted to confirm a 14-12 win.
Next was New Zealand, and a perfect start with tries from Rowland, Jones, and Joyce all converted by Aitchison to give us a 21-0 lead. However, Michaela Blyde put them back in it with a try converted by Tyla Nathan-Wong, and before half-time Blyde scored again, this time unconverted to close the gap to nine. Nathan-Wong then scored and converted to close the gap to two, and with time running out Blyde completed her hat-trick and converted it to complete a turnaround 26-21 win.
This made the last game against Kenya crucial, and we started well, with a Joyce try converted by Hunt, while Burton and Joyce again stepped up with unconverted tries in the first half. Jones and Thomson saw their tries converted by Rowland and Aitchison in the second half as GB won 31-0 to come second in their pool. Once again, the Americans were the quarter-final opponents, and after a delay due to lightning GB started well, with early tries from Joyce and Brown converted by Aitchison. In the second half, Joyce had a nother try converted by Aitchison, before the Americans fought back, with Kristi Kirshe scoring a try, although the conversion was missed. Naya Tapper scored another one and Nicole Heavirland added the extras, but GB won 21-12.
A semi-final against France was next, and it started poorly, with tries from Anne-Cécile Ciofani and Séraphine Okemba both converted by Caroline Drouin. Joyce responded and Aitchison added the extras. Coralie Bertrand fought back, with Jade Ulutule adding the extras, before Joyce responded with an unconverted try right before the break. The second half also started poorly, with a Ciofani try unconverted, and though Smith scored and Hunt converted it, GB needed one more score which they couldn’t find, losing 26-19.
In the bronze medal match, Fiji were the opponents, and they started perfectly, with two tries from Alowesi Nakoci both converted by Viniana Riwai. A try from Jones was unconverted before Reapi Ulunisau got another one, and Riwai added the extras. Jones got her second, and Aitchison converted it, but it wasn’t enough as GB lost 21-12.
So, two fourth placed finishes which will be agonising. The GB teams seem to be doing alright (just alright) at the moment but with rugby sevens an afterthought to rugby union in this country a medal will always be an outside shot if not an impossibility.
Sailing
Sailing has ten events, just like 2016. On the men’s side, there are RS:X, Laser, Finn, 470, and 49er events; on the women’s side, RS:X, Laser Radial, 470, and 49er FX events, and also the mixed Nacra 17 event, for a total of ten.
4th at the World Champonships of 2018 qualified Tom Squires for the Olympics in the Men’s RS:X after Nick Dempsey won silver in this event in 2016. A difficult start gave him finishes of 9th, 13th, and 14th on Day 1, but Day 2 was better, with finishes of 2nd, 10th, and 3rd. On Day 3, he came 4th, 1st, and 8th, and Day 4 had finishes of 2nd, 6th, and 10th. He qualified for a medal race but was a long way behind, and he came 7th in the race for a total of 82 points and 7th place overall.
Elliot Hanson came 5th in the Worlds to qualify for the Men’s Laser event. GB came 6th in 2016, and Hanson started with a 5th-placed finish on Day 1. On Day 2, finishes of 12th and 17th made things more complicated, with finishes of 10th, 3rd, and 28th on Day 3 not helping matters. Finishes of 7th and 20th on Day 4 was followed by a 2nd placed finish in the penultimate race giving Hanson hope, but a disqualification (which he disagreed with) in the final race meant he finished 12th overall with 104 points, missing out on the medal race.
GB qualified for the Men’s Finn event through an 8th placed finish at the Worlds and Giles Scott returned to defend his gold medal from 2016. Things started dangerously, with two 9th-placed finishes on Day 1, but on both Day 2 and Day 3 he won both races. Day 4 saw a 6th-placed finish and a 1st, while Day 5 saw another win and a 7th-placed finish. Despite a false start in the medal race, he came back to come 4th, enough for gold with 36 points.
Chris Grube and Luke Patience hoped to improve on their 5th-placed finish in 2016 after they qualified in 11th at the World Championships. A 3rd and 8th on Day 1 was intriguing before a very positive Day 2 with finishes of 2nd and 4th. Day 3 was challenging with finishes of 10th and 5th, and 9th and 6th on Day 4 was difficult. On the delayed Day 5, 7th and 10th left only an outside hope of a medal but 8th in the medal race ended that, the duo finishing 5th overall with 70 points.
A 5th-placed finish in the World Championships qualified GB in the Men’s 49er event that yielded a 6th-placed finish in 2016. Dylan Fletcher returned, this time accompanied by Stuart Bithell. A second-placed finish on Day 1 set the tone before on Day 2 positive finishes of 8th, 4th, and 1st. A 12th and 2nd on Day 3 was followed by finishes of 2nd, 16th, and 3rd on Day 4. 9th, 6th, and 7th on Day 5 meant GB were sitting in second but a brilliant win in the medal race by centimetres earned them gold with 58 points.
The women’s RS:X earned GB a 9th place in 2016 but Emma Wilson was hoping to do better after coming 4th in the Worlds. A good start on Day 1 with finishes of 5th, 2nd, and 6th, were followed by an even better Day 2: 1st, 4th, and 2nd. Two race wins on Day 3 were followed by a disqualification in the ninth race for going over the start lane early. Finishes of 6th, 1st, and 5th on Day 4 put her in a good position going into the medal race and she came 2nd in that to claim a bronze medal with 38 points.
In the women’s Laser Radial, Alison Young was trying to improve from 2016’s 8th placed finish when she qualified in 7th in the Worlds. Things never really got going though, with a 24th and 8th placed finish on Day 1, 9th and 20th on Day 2, two 12th placed finishes on Day 3, 10th and 8th on Day 4 and 14th nad 27th on Day 5. This meant she squeaked into the medal race but came 8th, finishing 10th overall with 133 points.
In the women’s 470, Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills won gold in 2016. This time, Mills was joined by Eilidh McIntyre and the pair qualified in 3rd in the Worlds. 4th and 3rd on Day 1 were followed by 7th and 1st on Day 2 to set the tone, and two third placed finishes on Day 3 and a race win and another 3rd in Day 4 put them ahead. A 9th and 3rd on Day 5 put them miles ahead going into the medal race, and 5th was enough to claim gold for Great Britain with just 38 points.
In the women’s 49er FX, Charlotte Dobson came 8th in 2016, and this time was joiend by Saskia Tidey. GB qualified in third in the Worlds, and started well with two race wins and a 6th on Day 1. 4th, 2nd, and 5th on Day 2 was a positive, but then things unravelled, with finishes of 16th, 13th, and 14th on Day 3, and 15th, 4th, and 18th on Day 4. Medals were still possible but 7th in the medal race led to a finish of 6th with 95 points.
In the mixed Nacra 17 event GB came 9th in 2016 but a new team of John Gimson and Anna Burnet entered after coming 8th at the Worlds. 7th, 5th, and 2nd on Day 1 was followed by a brilliant Day 2 with two race wins and a 2nd place. Next was Day 3 with 5th, 10th, and 1st, but Day 4 had 5th, 2nd, and 4th. GB came 5th in the medal race, but it was still enough for silver with 45 points.
So just like 2016, GB topped the medal table in sailing, and two golds and one silver became three golds, one silver, and one bronze. A historically strong sport, we will have to adapt to Agenda 2020, as in 2024 the programme is changing: instead of a 5-4-1 split of men’s, women’s, and mixed events, it will be 3-3-4. Both RS:X events, the Men’s Finn, and both 470 events will disappear, with iQFoil events for men and women added in addition to a Mixed 470, Mixed Kiteboarding and another mixed event which is to be determined.
Shooting
Shooting has had a rejig due to Agenda 2020, achieving gender parity. There are rifle, shotgun, and pistol events, and gone are the men’s 50m rifle prone (replaced by a mixed 10m air rifle), the men’s 50m pistol (replaced by a mixed 10m air pistol), and the men’s double trap (replace by a mixed trap), the latter yielding us a bronze and a fourth-placed finish in 2016. Therefore, the event programme is: in rifle, a men’s and women’s 50m rifle three positions; and a men’s, women’s, and mixed 10m air rifle; in pistol, a men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, a women’s 25m pistol, and a men’s, women’s, and mixed 10m air pistol; and in shotgun a men’s, women’s and mixed trap, and a men’s and women’s skeet.
The qualification was long and complicated, with a number of events qualifying places. GB missed out on the men’s 50m rifle three positions and the 10m air rifle. On the women’s side, Seonaid McIntosh’s top 4 finish at the 2018 World Championships earned us a place in the 50m rifle three positions. She hit 390 points kneeling, 391 prone, and 386 standing for a total of 1167 points (55x) and came 14th in qualification, missing the final. This also entitled McIntosh to enter the 10m air rifle event. The first three rounds in qualifying were difficult, with scores of 104.3, 104.4, and 104.2 giving her work to do, but scores of 105.6, and 105.2 gave her a chance. However, a 103.5 in the final round meant she came 12th, missing out on qualifying by 1.3 points. With no man having qualified, we didn’t enter the mixed 10m air rifle.
Moving on to the pistol now, and just like 2016, we did not qualify for a single event here. So, onto the shotgun. Edward Ling earned us a bronze medal in the men’s trap event in 2016, and Matthew Coward-Holley qualified in the fifth stage of the 2019 World Cup, while Aaron Heading qualified at the 2019 European Championships. In qualifying, Coward-Holley shot a 24, 24, 25, 25, and 25, for a total of 123, then a 21 in the shoot-off to come 2nd, while Heading shot a 23, 22, 23, 25, and 25 for a total of 119, only enough for 23rd and missing out on qualification. In the final, Coward-Holley survived the first series with 21, then hit 25 in the second. 29 in the third series was enough to guarantee a medal, but a 33 meant he just missed out on getting anything but bronze. We did not qualify in the men’s skeet.
In the women’s trap, Kirsty Hegarty qualified after a good finish in the 2019 World Cup’s third stage. She shot 24, 24, 23, 22, and 23 for a total of 116 and 16th place. Amber Hill qualified in the 2019 European Championships for the women’s skeet. However, she tested positive for COVID-19 and had a DNS next to her name. Finally, in the mixed trap team, Hegarty and Coward-Holley went for GB. Hegarty shot a 22, 23, and 25 for a total of 70, while Coward-Holley shot a 24, 25, and 24 for a total of 73, with their total of 143 being enough for 10th in qualifying and no further participation.
GB’s shooting took a small step back with two bronze medals becoming one as the men’s double trap was erased. This has never been our strongest sport, but we have kept up our record of winning at least one medal in every Games since 2012. We have a tough battle on our hands to keep that going in Paris.
Short Track Speed Skating
Short track speed skating has had an upgrade since 2018: joining the men’s and women’s 500m, 1000m, and 1500m, as well as the women’s 3000m relay and the men’s 5000m relay is a new mixed 2000m relay.
Qualification was based on World Cup ranking, and though we missed out on the 500m, a 15th and 25th spot gave us two places in the 1000m, with Farrell Treacy and Niall Treacy entering. Niall went first in Heat 1 but crashed and came 4th with a time of 1:32.243, while Farrell, returning from 2018, slowed down early, apparently losing count of the laps he had remaining, and came 4th in heat 2 with a time of 1:24.935. 26th was enough for Farrell to qualify for the 1500m as well, and he did well in quarterfinal 6, with a time of 2:16.880 qualifying for the semifinals by 0.095 seconds. In the semifinal he had a time of 2:13.376, only good enough for third, but was advanced to the final after an illegal overtake by Canada’s Charles Hamelin. In the final, he came 9th with a time of 2:11.988, and was unable to keep up with the medalists. GB did not qualify for the relay, being the seventh reserve in the rankings.
The women’s 500m earned us a 4th-placed finish in 2018, and Kathryn Thomson’s 23rd in the World Cup gave us a spot in the event this time. We missed out on a second spot as our next best athlete was 34th, two places off. However, she crashed in her heat and finished in a time of 1:06.594, enough for 4th. In the 1000m, Thomson qualified in 30th, and finished 4th in her heat with a time of 1:30.037. Finally, in the 1500m, Thomson qualified in 23rd but withdrew on “medical grounds”. Just like the men’s relay, we missed out, being the seventh reserve, and we needed to many extra quotas to be in contention for the mixed relay.
So, this was obviously a step back. After Thomson’s withdrawal from the 1500m, we only had five entries, down from the twelve in 2018. However, as this is a sport that we have not won a medal in since 1994, there is no use crying over what is obviously spilt milk.
Skateboarding
Another Agenda 2020 temporary sport, skateboarding had events in men’s and women’s park and street. With most qualification places being snagged in the World Rankings, GB only got a spot in the women’s park, with Sky Brown qualifying, while Bombette Martin qualified at the World Championships. Martin went in the first heat, but couldn’t put away a clean run, with scores of 14.40, 16.21 and 14.31 only good enough for 18th. Brown did in the third heat, with 55.26, 57.40, and 40.03 good enough for 2nd and a spot in the final. She attempted a kickflip indy in her first two runs but fell and scores of 47.53 and 47.37 weren’t good enough for medals, but in her final run she made it and her score of 56.47 earned her a brilliant bronze medal.
Skateboarding is being brought back as an Agenda 2020 sport in Paris so interest will remain for Team GB, and it is rumoured that from 2028 onwards it will be part of the core programme. It can be a source of medals if funding is put in to this developing sport.
Skeleton
Skeleton has men’s and women’s events, with qualification based on rankings. In the men’s, the top two countries would get three places, and the next six would get two, and GB qualified two, being in fifth. British athletes came 3rd and 10th in 2018, with Dominic Parsons brining home a bronze medal. Entering this time were Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt. However, they never got going. Weston’s times were 1:01.34, 1:01.15, 1:01.12 and 1:01.63 for a total of 4:05.24 and 15th, while Wyatt managed 1:01.56, 1:01.72, 1:01.28 and 1:01.35 for a total of 4:05.91 and 16th.
In the women’s event, the top two get three places again, and the next four get two, and GB in sixth were those two. In 2018, Lizzy Yarnold won gold and Laura Deas won bronze; Deas returned to be joined by Brogan Crowley. Again, there was disappointment. Crowley had runs of 1:03.32, 1:03.23 and 1:02.82, with her total time after three runs of 3:09.37 only enough for 22nd and she did not qualify for the final run. Deas did, with times of 1:02.99, 1:03.15, 1:02.71 and 1:02.70 enough for a time of 4:11.55 and 19th.
So how did GB go from one gold medal and two bronzes in 2018 to missing out on medals in this sport for the first time ever? The media consensus seems to be that the sleds were not up to scratch. How something like this could happen in one of the best-funded winter sports is an absolute joke, and it will put the sport’s funding, and our status as a skeleton powerhouse in doubt, if it hasn’t disappeared already.
Ski Jumping
Ski Jumping is a sport that has recieved an upgrade from 2018, with a mixed team event joining the men’s and women’s normal hill and the men’s large hill and team events. This did not change the fact we didn’t qualify (this was based on a ranking system), and we haven’t qualified any athlete in this sport since 2002.
Snowboard
Snowboarding is a sport that has received a boost too, with the men’s and women’s big air, halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, slopestyle and snowboard cross being joined by a mixed team snowboard cross event. Qualification is based on a ranking system, but we missed out on every men’s freestyle event, including the big air in which Billy Morgan won a bronze medal in 2018. However, Huw Nightingale qualified for the snowboard cross. His time of 1:20.79 in the first seeding run meant he had to go again, but 1:20.72 was only enough for 29th. He couldn’t keep the pace in Heat 4 and came 4th.
Big air and slopestyle qualification are joined, and Katie Omerod qualified to be our only freestyle athlete, entering both. In the big air, a first run of 14.75 was followed by a 60.25, putting her in touch of qualification, but an unsuccessful third run gave her 9.50 for a total of 69.75, only enough for 25th. In the slopestyle, runs of 47.38 and 44.01 meant she finished 18th and missed out on the final.
Charlotte Bankes qualified in the snowboard cross, and was a huge medal hope, coming in 2nd in her seeding run with a time of 1:22.72. She won Heat 8 to go into the quarterfinal, but here, with Canada’s Tess Critchlow having overtaken her, she was pipped by Australia’s Belle Brockhoff at the line and came 3rd in her heat and was eliminated. Having entered both a man and a woman we also entered the mixed team in snowboard cross with Nightingale and Bankes running. They won Heat 4 but in the semifinal Nightingale was too far off the pace and Bankes couldn’t catch up as GB came third. Second in the small final meant we finished 6th overall.
So, after winning our first medal in 2014 and winning one again in 2018, GB could not repeat that in 2022. This is a disappointment but with four years to go until the next Games who knows what talent we have that is waiting to be unearthed, if any.
Speed Skating
Speed Skating is a sport with fourteen events. Men have the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, mass start and team pursuit. Places would be earned based on World Cup Ranking, with Cornelius Kersten in 11th in the Men’s 1000m with 119 points. Though he missed out on the 1500m in 26th with 56 points, he was reallocated a place for both that and the 500m.
In the 500m he went in the second heat, and won it in a time of 35.36, enough for 25th. In his strongest event, the 1000m he won Heat 10 in a time of 1:08.79 with a very impressive 9th overall. Finally, in the 1500m he lost Heat 4 in a time of 1:47.11 and came 19th.
On the women’s side, we did not qualify anyone, with Gemma Cooper a reserve in the mass start after coming 27th with 86 points. However, we were reallocated a spot in the 1000m and 1500m, and this was taken by Ellia Smedding. She lost Heat 2 in the 1000m and came home in a time of 1:17.17, in 23rd, while in the 1500m she lost Heat 1 and finished in a time of 2:01.09, enough for 27th.
This was GB’s first qualification in Speed Skating since 1992, so a positive development. Kersten just missed out on getting an Olympic diploma, and GB can be positive about this sport. This is also the final winter sport, so I want to discuss that. One gold and four bronze medals in PyeongChang became one gold and one silver in Beijing; technically an improvement but it didn’t feel like it. Improvement will have to come, but to a large extent the feelings aren’t too positive, especially after the failure to medal in skeleton; there seems to not be the most talented team. While this is to be expected, with GB not really a winter country, we put money into programmes to win medals, and when this doesn’t happen, there are questions to be answered.
There will be one new sport at Milan Cortina 2026, that being Ski Mountaineering, which is an Agenda 2020 sport. There will be a men’s and women’s sprint and individual competition, as well as a mixed relay event. It is not a particularly strong sport for GB, and do not expect a medal. There is still time for the event programme to be finalised.
Sport Climbing
Sport climbing is an Agenda 2020 sport, with a men’s and women’s combined event. Qualification was done through a number of ways, but no British man qualified. However, bronze for Shauna Coxsey at the 2019 World Championships was enough for her to qualify. A 9.65 in her first speed event was followed by a 10.07, putting her down in 16th with 16 points. However, in her first bouldering event, and she started well with a run of two tops and one zone followed by one top and one zone, but in her final runs she could only get one zone each. This was enough for 4th in this round and four points. In the lead round she reached the 21st hold, and lost the tie breaker with Canada’s Alanna Yip by nine seconds in 2:23, coming 13th for 13 points. In combined, they are multiplied together for the total score, and she got 832 points, coming 10th and missing the final.
Therefore, GB missed a medal in this sport. However, it is returning in 2024, with two new events, as the speed section has been removed from the combined event, and made its own event for men and women. It is also rumoured to be in contention for the core programme from 2028 onwards, so we will be seeing it for the forseeable future. Medals could be up for grabs here.
Surfing
Surfing made its debut as an Agenda 2020 sport. There were men’s and women’s shortboard events, but unsurprisingly, no Brits got even near qualifying. This sport will return in 2024 with the same events and like skateboarding and sport climbing, is rumoured to be added to the core programme in 2028. However, hopes of us earning a medal any time soon are slim.
Swimming
Swimming had a boost due to Agenda 2020, with the Men’s 800m Freestyle, Women’s 1500m Freestyle, and Mixed 4x100m Relay being added. There were thirty-seven events in total, with the men’s and women’s 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle; 100m and 200m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly; 200m and 400m individual medley, 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay, and 4×100 medley relay.
Most places are got by meeting the Olympic qualification time, and there are at most two places per NOC. In the men’s 50m freestyle, Ben Proud who came 4th in 2016 met the time of 22.01. A 21.93 in his heat set him through in 13th, but a much improved 21.67 set him through in joint fifth in his semifinal. In the final, he came home in 21.72, finishing joint fifth. In the men’s 100m freestyle, Matthew Richards and Jacob Whittle both reached the time of 48.44. Whittle won Heat 6 in a time of 48.44, enough for 16th overall, while Richards did not start. In the semifinal, Whittle came through in 48.11, coming in 13th.
In the Men’s 200m freestyle, where GB got a 4th in 2016, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott came home in 1:47.02. Both came through their heats with ease, with Dean coming home in 1:45.24, and Scott getting a 1:45.37, 3rd and 5th respectively. In the semifinal, Scott swam a 1:44.60 and Dean a 1:45.34, coming 1st and 5th respectively. In the final, Hwang Sun-woo of the Republic of Korea went out early, but tired early, and both Brits caught him. In the end it was an amazing one-two, with Dean coming home in a national record 1:44.22 and Scott just behind him in 1:44.26.
The men’s 400m freestyle earned us 6th in 2016, and this time, Kieran Bird represented us after reaching the time of 3:46.78. He came 20th overall, in a time of 3:48.55. Bird was also the only man to make the new 800m event from GB, reaching the time of 7:54.31. He came 25th in a time of 7:57.53. In the men’s 1500m, Daniel Jervis qualified after reaching the time of 15:00.99, and came through his heat in 14:50.22, enough for 5th. He couldn’t improve on that in the final, coming 5th with 14:55.48.
Moving onto the backstroke, and in the 100m both Luke Greenbank and Joe Litchfield qualified with the time of 53.85 reached. However, only Greenbank entered, and his time of 53.79 was just 0.02s off qualification as he came 17th. In the 200m, Greenbank was joined by Brodie Williams in getting the time of 1:57.50. Greenbank was first of anyone in the heats with a time of 1:54.63, while Williams advanced in 12th with 1:57.48. Williams’ 1:57.73 in the semifinal was only good enough for 15th, but Greenbank advance in 1:54.98. In the final, he came home in 1:54.72 to take home a brilliant bronze in an event GB did not even qualify for in 2016.
In the breaststroke, and Adam Peaty, who won gold in 2016, was joined by James Wilby in getting the 59.93. Wilby came 6th in the heats with 58.99, while Peaty’s 57.56 was fastest of anyone. Wilby got 59.00 in the semifinal, 6th overall, while Peaty again was fastest in 57.63. In the final, Peaty won in 57.37, while Wilby came 5th in 58.96. In the 200m, a sport that yielded us 4th in 2016, Wilby was joined by Ross Murdoch as the duo swam in 2:10.35. Wilby and Murdoch came home in the heats in 15th (2:09.70) and 16th (2:09.95) respectively, Murdoch qualifying by 0.02 seconds. Murdoch’s 2:09.97 was only good enough for joint 12th in the semifinals, but Wilby improved to 2:07.91 to come 2nd. He couldn’t find anything extra in the final however, and came home in 6th with a 2:08.19.
In the butterfly, James Guy returned from 2016 after swimming the 51.96 required, and he was joined by Jacob Peters. However, Peters did not enter the event and Guy did not start. Just like 2016, we did not qualify in the 200m. In the 200m individual medley, we got 8th in 2016. This time, Joe Litchfield and Duncan Scott qualified in 1:59.67. Litchfield’s 2:00.11 was only good enough for 34th in the heats, but Scott came through in 1:57.39, joint 5th. In the semifinal he improved to 1:56.69 and second, and he set a new national record 1:55.28 in the final to claim silver. Unlike 2016, we also qualified for the 400m, with Max Litchfield joined by Williams. Litchfield came 8th in his heat, in 4:10.20, while Williams came home in 4:17.27, enough for 21st only. In the final, Litchfield came joint 4th in 4:10.59.
Just like athletics, qualification was different for relays, with the top 12 at the 2019 Worlds qualifying, and GB doing just that, coming 5th. Guy, Richards, Joe Litchfield, and Jacob Whittle were the British team. However, they came home in 3:13.17, enough for 9th only, missing out on the final by 0.04 seconds. 5th at the Worlds were enough to qualify for the 4x200m, an event that yielded silver in 2016. The team of Richards, Guy, Calum Jarvis and Dean won their heat in 7:03.25, 1st overall, and with Scott replacing Jarvis in the final, they smashed away the competition in a European record 6:58.58. GB won silver in the medley relay in 2016, and gold at the Worlds qualified us again. Greenbank, Wilby, Guy and Scott went in the heats and came home in 3:31.47, 2nd overall, but Peaty came in for Wilby in the final, improving our time to a European record 3:27.51 and taking home silver.
Before analysing things we will go through the women’s events, too. The 50m freestyle earned us 4th in 2016 and this time Anna Hopkin reached the time of 24.77. However, she did not start the event. In the 100m, Hopkin was joined by Freya Anderson in reaching the time of 54.38. In the heats, Hopkin set a national record 52.75 to qualify in third, while Anderson set a 53.61 to come through in 14th. In the semifinals, Anderson’s 53.53 was only enough for 11th, while Hopkin’s 53.11 granted her 8th. 52.83 in the final meant Hopkin finished 7th overall.
In the 200m freestyle Anderson was the only Brit, qualifying in 1:57.28. 1:56.96 was enough for 11th in the heats, but she couldn’t improve, coming 12th in the semifinal with 1:57.10. No Brits qualified for the 400m, a shame considering Jazmin Carlin won silver in that event in 2016. The same was true with the 800m, which Carlin won silver in in 2016 as well. No Brits qualified for the new 1500m event either.
Moving on to backstroke, and Kathleen Dawson and Cassie Wild met the time of 1:00.25 in the 100m. Dawson came through the heats in 58.69 for 4th, while Wild’s 59.99 was enough for 14th. In the semifinals, Dawson’s 58.56 was enough for 5th while Wild’s 1:00.20 was only enough for joint 14th. In the final, Dawson came home in 58.70 and came 6th. Dawson and Wild both also qualified for the 200m, the requisite time being 2:10.39, but only Wild entered. Her 2:12.93 was only enough for 21st in the heats.
In the breaststroke, Molly Renshaw and Sarah Vasey qualified for the 100m with a time of 1:07.07, only Renshaw entered. 1:06.61 put her through the heats in 11th, while 1:06.87 was enough for 11th in the semifinals only. In the 200m, Renshaw was joined by Abbie Wood, with 2:25.52 the time. 2:22.99 in the heats put Renshaw through in 6th, with Wood joining her in 15th with a time of 2:24.13. Renshaw reached the final with a 2:22.70, coming 7th in the semifinal, while Wood improved massively with a 2:22.35, coming 6th. In the final, Renshaw managed 6th, just like 2016, with 2:22.65 and Wood’s 2:23.72 was enough for 7th.
In the butterfly, Harriet Jones qualified for the 100m with the time of 57.92 being reached. Her 58.73 was only enough for 21st. In the 200m, Laura Stephens and Alys Thomas both reached the necessary 2:08.43. Both went through the (pointless) heats, Thomas in 8th with 2:09.06, and Stephens in 7th in 2:09.00. Thomas squeaked through to the semifinals in 8th with 2:09.07, while Stephens missed out with 2:09.49 only enough for 10th. In the final, Thomas came home in 7th, the time being 2:07.90.
In the individual medley, GB took home silver in 2016 through Siobhan-Marie O’Connor. This time, both Wood and Alicia Wilson qualified in 2:12.56. In the heats, Wood came joint third in 2:09.94, while Wilson’s 2:10.39 was enough for 9th. Wood came through the final in second with 2:09.56, while Wilson’s 2:10.59 also qualified her in 8th, safe by just 0.06 seconds. In the final, Wood came an agonising 4th in 2:09.15, missing out by 0.11 seconds on a medal. Wilson’s 2:12.86 was enough for 8th. In the 400m, Aimee Wilmott qualified in 4:38.53, and came second in her heat with 4:35.28. However, in the final she could only manage 4:38.30 and came 7th.
In the 4x100m freestyle relay, GB qualified as one of the four-best non-qualifiers (having not entered the event at the Worlds). Lucy Hope, Hopkin, Wood and Anderson entered, and a national record 3:34.03 was enough for 4th in the heats. They improved that national record to 3:33.96 in the final, coming home in 5th. GB would have qualified for the 4x200m as a best non-qualifier, but decided not to enter. In the medley relay, GB came 7th in 2016, and qualified with a bronze in the Worlds. A team of Wild, Vasey, Jones, and Anderson managed 3:58.12, missing out on the final in ninth.
Finally was the new mixed relay, and GB qualified with a bronze at the worlds. A team of Dawson, Peaty, Guy, and Anderson set an Olympic and European record 3:38.75 in the heats, coming 1st overall, and, with Hopkin replacing Anderson, smashed the competition to set a world record 3:37.58 in the final to take home gold.
Even thinking about some of these races makes me smile: 2016’s tally of one gold and five silvers became four golds, three silvers, and one bronze, our best result ever. While the only way is down for our team now (probably), I think this can only be good news for the future. With the World Championships in Budapest later this year we will see how far we have come. The one negative point was the lack of medals on the women’s side, seeing as GB’s swimming revolution started with a woman, Rebecca Adlington in Beijing 2008. However, British Swimming deserve a big pat on the back.
Table Tennis
Table tennis has five events: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and a mixed team event. The best way to qualify for individual events was through teams, but GB could not qualify for any of these (including the men’s event where we reached the quarterfinals in 2016) or the mixed doubles. In men’s singles, Liam Pitchford, who reached Round 3 in 2016, and Paul Drinkhall, who reached the Round of 16 both qualified based on world rankings. As 36th seed Drinkhall entered in Round 1, where he faced Iranian Nima Alamian, overcoming him 11-7 11-1 11-5 8-11 12-10. In the second round he faced Austria’s Robert Gardos, and won 13-11 6-11 11-4 12-10 11-6. In the third round he faced the Republic of Korea’s Jang Woo-jin, and lost 7-11 12-10 11-8 11-7. This is the round Pitchford entered as number 11 seed, but lost to Slovenia’s Darko Jorgić 11-8 7-11 12-10 13-11 11-9 12-10.
In the women’s event, Tin-Tin Ho qualified through her world ranking, and was seeded 51st. She faced India’s Manika Batra in the first round, and lost 11-7 11-6 12-10 11-9. GB has never won a medal in this event and probably took a step more-or-less sideways since 2016. It will probably stay an event of minor importance for the considerable future considering the strength of other nations.
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a sport with eight events, four per sex, separated by weight. On the men’s side, there are 58kg, 68kg, 80kg and +80kg, with 49kg, 57kg, 67kg and +67kg on the women’s side.
No Brits qualified in the 58kg, which was mostly based on ranking with some contiental qualifiers thrown in. However, Bradley Sinden’s ranking qualified him for the 68kg. In the Round of 16 he beat New Zealand’s Tom Burns 53-8, while Turkey’s Hakan Reçber was dispatched 39-19 in the quarterfinals. Zhao Shuai of the People’s Republic of China was bested 33-25 in the semifinals, but in the final Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan won 34-29 in a comeback victory, while Sinden came home with the silver. Lutalo Muhammad won silver in 2016 in the 80kg, but no Brit qualified this time. Mahama Cho did qualify through a re-allocated ranking place, he came 5th in 2016. However, he lost to the People’s Republic of China’s Sun Hongyi 7-4 in the Round of 16.
On the women’s side, no Brits qualified in the 49kg, just like 2016, but Jade Jones returned in the 57kg after winning gold in 2016, gaining a ranking place. However, a loss to the Olympic Refugee Team’s Kimia Alizadeh in the Round of 16, 16-12 cost her another chance at glory. In the 67kg, Lauren Williams qualified due to her ranking. In the Round of 16, the referee stopped the contest against Tonga’s Malia Paseka, before a close 13-12 win over the Egyptian Hedaya Wahba in the quarterfinal. Ruth Gbagi of Côte d’Ivoire was next and a 24-18 win in the semifinal guaranteed a medal. Finally was Matea Jelić of Croatia and despite leading she could not keep her nerve at the end and lost 25-22, still taking silver. Finally was the +67kg, where Bianca Walkden had taken bronze in 2016 and returned in 2020 by virtue of ranking. Reshmie Oognik of the Netherlands was first but did not start due to a positive COVID-19 test. Next was Cansel Deniz of Kazakhstan, who was dispatched 17-7. However, the Republic of Korea’s Lee Da-bin beat her 25-24 in an unfortunate semifinal defeat. In the bronze medal match, Aleksandra Kowalczuk of Poland was beaten 7-3 to claim a medal.
So, one gold, one silver, and one bronze was downgraded to two silvers and two bronzes, still a good return. It seems that Jones’ success in 2012 has inspired people to give taekwondo a try, and so even though she failed in this Games her legacy will be far greater than many medallists. Let’s hope our taekwondokas can keep it up in Paris.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport with five events: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. Qualification was by ranking, with Daniel Evans in 25th with 2,106 having to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. Next was Cameron Norrie in 41st, but he also decided not to participate. Kyle Edmund was 77th with 935 points, reaching the Round of 16 in 2016, but was injured. Andy Murray in 124th with 640 points, who won gold in 2016 did qualify. Finally, Liam Broady in 146th and 499 points qualified due to the withdrawal of others. Broady came through his first round match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerúndolo 7-5 6-7 6-2, while Murray withdrew due to injury. Broady then beat Polish number 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 3-6 6-3, before losing in the third round to France’s Jérémy Chardy 7-6 4-6 6-1.
In the men’s doubles, Joe Salisbury qualified automatically in 10th, and picked Murray as his partner. With a combined ranking of 40, Neal Skupski (19th) and Jamie Murray (21st) qualified as well, with Jamie Murray qualifying late on due to an injury elsewhere. The pair of Skupski and Jamie Murray beat Argentina’s Andrés Molteni and Horacio Zeballos 6-7 6-4 13-11 in the first round, while Salisbury and Andy Murray beat French second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-3 6-2. In the second round, Skupski and Jamie Murray lost to Japanese pair Ben McLachlan and Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-4, but Salisbury and Andy Murray did advance against Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz 6- 7-6. In the third dround they came unstuck against Croatia’s Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig, 4-6 7-6 10-7.
On the women’s side, Johanna Konta who reached the quarterfinals in 2016, in 30th with 2,265 poitns was the highest Brit but withdrew due to a positive COVID-19 test. Heather Watson who reached the Round of 32 that time also qualified in 70th with 1,129 points. She lost in the first round to Anna-Lena Friedsam, 7-6 6-3. No women’s doubles or mixed doubles pairs qualified.
So, for the first time since 2008, GB came away without a gold medal in this sport, partly due to the decline and injury of Andy Murray. While British tennis has been in better health, it was only going to bring a couple of medals anyway at its peak, so the decline while upsetting is only minorly so.
Trampoline Gymnastics
Trampoline has men’s and women’s events, but unlike 2016, no men qualified for GB. That year, British women came 2nd and 6th, and silver medallist Byrony Page, who qualified in the 2019 World Championships, was joined by Laura Gallagher who qualified in the World Cup series. Gallagher’s first routine brought her a 47.235, but a failed second one gave her 6.100 and a total of just 53.335, enough for 15th. However, Page went through with runs of 48.850 and 55.810, enough for 104.660 and third. Her final run was 55.735 points, with a full difficulty score of 15.000, execution of 15.5800, horizontal displacement of 9.400, and flight of 15.535 earning her a bronze medal.
So GB stepped back in these games, missing out on the men’s event, only qualifying one woman for the final and their silver medal becoming a bronze one. A very minor disappointment.
Triathlon
Triathlon received a boost in these games, with the men’s and women’s events joined by a mixed relay. In 2016, Alaistair Brownlee won gold for GB while Johnathan Brownlee won silver. Due to qualifying in the mixed realy, GB got two places in these games, with Johnathan returning to be joined by Alex Yee. Brownlee was doing better in the swimming with 17:49 ahead of Yee’s 18:09. Both were in the same pack in the cycling, with Yee’s 56:17 and Brownlee’s 56:38 equalising them. Yee battled with Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt but didn’t have enough in his legs, and his running of 29:44 meant it was silver in a total time of 1:45:15. Brownlee could only manage 5th with 30:22 giving him a total time of 1:45:53.
In the women’s event, Vicky Holland earned bronze in 2016, with Brits also coming 4th and 19th. Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown qualified through the mixed relay, with Holland returning in the world rankings. An 18:24 meant Learmonth was in front after the swimming, while an 18:31 meant Taylor-Brown was the next best Brit, with Holand trailing with a 19:12. A 1:02.56 cycling put Learmonth in a good position, while Taylor-Brown’s 1:03.11 kept her in contention, and Holland struggled with a 1:05.24. However, Learmonth struggled in the running, and her 35:51 gave her a total time of 1:58:28, enough for only 9th. However, Taylor-Brown’s 33:52 earned her a total time of 1:56:50 and a silver medal. Holland’s 34:20 meant she finished in 13th with a total time of 2:00:10.
In the mixed relay, Learmonth, Brownlee, Taylor-Brown and Yee went for GB. Total times of 16:13 in swimming, 39:57 in cycling and 23:14 in running gave a 1:23.41 total time and a gold medal, with Yee successfuly holding off a challenge from the American Morgan Pearson.
One gold, one silver and one bronze became one gold and two silvers as GB got their best ever medal haul in the triathlon. It was a brilliant showing and we can hope for more in Paris.
Volleyball
GB did not rank high enough to qualify for the qualifiers in either the men’s or women’s event. We needed to be in the top 24 in the world or the top 8 in Europe, and that will never happen, so we won’t qualify for this sport unless we host the games (2012 is the only time we did). Winning a medal is out of the question, next.
Water Polo
Another team sport in which GB are basically no-hopers, we didn’t even enter qualifying for either the men’s or women’s event. While the women’s team is in somewhat better health than the men’s one, there is no serious hope they will qualify any time soon.
Weightlifting
Weightlifting has had its problems and to achieve it’s gender parity it has lost an event, with fifteen events (eight for men and seven for women) becoming fourteen (seven each). The weight classes this time are 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 96kg, 109kg and +109kg for men, and 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 76kg, 87kg and +87kg for women. Qualification was earned by ranking. Unlike 2016, where we had a 14th-placed finish in the men’s 94kg, no men qualified. However, Zoe Smith qualified in the 59kg. In the snatch, she failed her first attempt at 87kg, but succeeded on her second, however, 91kg was too much for her. 113 kg on the clean & jerk was a success, but subsequent goes at 116kg and 119kg were failures, and her total score was 200kg, enough for 8th.
In the 64kg, Sarah Davies qualified based on ranking, and she snatched 97kg at the first attempt, but it took her a further two to reach 100kg. A failed clean & jerk of 127kg was followed by a successful one, but a failure at 133kg cost her a silver medal; instead, her total of 227kg was enough for 5th. In the 69kg in 2016, our athlete came 10th, and in the 76kg this time went Emily Muskett. Snatch attempts of 82kg, 95kg and 98kg were all successful, with a 117kg clean & jerk also being just that. A failure at 123kg was followed by a success at 124kg, and she came 7th with 222kg, although she was the bst in Group B. Finally, Emily Campbell went in the +87kg. A successful 118kg snatch set the tone, although two goes were required for 122kg. With successes at 150kg and 156kg, she required a 161kg if she was to beat Sarah Robles of the United States of America for silver, and she did just that. Her total score was 283kg.
Campbell was the first British medallist in weightlifting since 1984, and should be delighted for it. The only disappointment this time was that no Brits qualified, but still a brilliant performance to win a medal. Weightlifting is getting punished further for it’s maladministration with just ten events in 2024 (presumably five men and five women), exact weight categories are to be defined.
Wrestling
We come to the final sport, and there’s little to say. There are eighteen events, the same as 2016 (apart from some weights being altered), with six men’s freestyle events, being 57, 65, 74, 86, 97, and 125kg, six Greco-Roman (a men only category), being 60, 67, 77, 87, 97, and 130kg, and six women’s freestyle events (50, 53, 57, 62, 68, and 76kg). GB did have a small presence at the qualifying events, but no success, just like 2016. It is not a sport we have medalled in since 1984 anyway.
Finally, there will be a new sport in 2024, Breaking, an Agenda 2020 sport. With Men’s and Women’s (sorry, “B-Boys” and “B-Girls”) events, and I think that Britain can be considered outsiders to win this… prestigious event.
That is it, this huge round-up comes to an end. In Tokyo 2020, GB won 22 gold medals, 20 silvers, and 22 bronzes. This is down on Rio 2016’s total of 27 golds, 23 silvers and 17 bronzes, but still a great return and the best ever apart from that games, London 1908 and London 2012. It proves our Olympic growth is sustainable and with extremely impressive returns in sports like Boxing, Cycling BMX Freestyle, Cycling BMX Racing, Sailing, Swimming and Triathlon, disappointments like Athletics and Rowing can be viewed philosophically. Combining 2020 and 2022 you get 23 golds, 21 silvers and 22 bronzes, down from 2016/2018’s 27 golds, 23 silvers, and 21 bronzes. Overall, GB’s Olympic growth is sustainable, now let’s get ready for Paris. Follow this blog as I document Britain’s chances to qualify.
GB Games 