It’s less than one month until the Olympics gets underway in France. With over 350 Team GB athletes flying over the English Channel to compete, we take a closer look at ten athletes and their stories so far.
Joe Clarke – Canoe Slalom
Joe made history in Rio 2016 as he became the first British athlete to win the K1 Canoe Slalom gold medal. It was also the first medal won in this event since Campbell Walsh brought home a silver medal in Athens in 2004.
After missing out on Team GB’s selection for Tokyo 2020, the 31-year-old has enjoyed his best run of form on the water, winning five medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. He took home the gold medal in Kayak 1 Slalom in 2023, consecutive gold medals in the Kayak Cross between 2021 and 2023, and a silver medal in the K1 team event in 2022. Clarke also won the overall World Cup title in Kayak Cross in 2023.
Clarke enters the Olympics in fine form and will compete in both the K1 and Kayak Cross events. The latter is making its Olympic debut this summer and involves four athletes racing down a course at the same time.
Jake Jarman – Artistic Gymnastics
The local gymnast from Peterborough makes his Olympic debut this summer in Paris. The 22-year-old is a part of Huntingdon Gym, where former Olympian Louis Smith also used to train. Jarman travelled to Tokyo 2020 as a reserve but has been selected for Team GB following his recent success on the world stage.
Jarman won four Commonwealth gold medals in Birmingham in 2022 in the Team event, All-Around, Floor Exercise and Vault. He has since won three golds, three silvers and two bronze medals at the World Championships in a mixture of events. During the 2023 World Challenge Cup Series, he was the first gymnast to perform a 3 ½ twisting double layout Salto on the floor, with the judges consequently naming the skill after him. The reigning World, European and Commonwealth champion on the Vault, will be looking to continue his form in Paris and stake his claim for a medal in his debut Olympics.
Tom Daley – Diving
After initially retiring after Tokyo 2020, Tom Daley is back diving for his fifth Olympic games. The diver made his Olympic debut at 14 in Beijing 2008 and won a bronze in London 2012 on the 10 metre platform. Daley added another bronze medal in Rio 2016 with Dan Goodfellow on the 10m platform synchro, but failed to qualify for the 10m platform individual final. After taking a small break away from the sport, Daley was back for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics where he placed third in the 10m platform individual before gaining gold in the 10m platform synchro with Matty Lee.
Daley announced his retirement from the sport following his Olympic success but opted to get back into the sport following his son’s plea. The 30 year-old is set to defend his gold medal in the 10m platform synchro this summer, but with Matty Lee forced out with injury will partner up with Noah Williams. They secured their spot in Paris having won silver at the World Championships earlier this year.
Toby Roberts – Sport Climbing
Following the events’ debut in Tokyo 2020, Toby Roberts will become the first British male climber to compete at an Olympics this summer. The 18 year-old has a YouTube channel where he documents his rise to global fame. Sports Climbing will have two categories in Paris: speed (climbers race to the top of a 15m route) and combined (bouldering where athletes compete several routes in the fewest attempts and lead where climbers negotiate an unknown route in the quickest time).
The teenager from Surrey has won five medals in the IFSC World Cup; a bronze medal in 2022 in lead, two golds and one bronze in both lead and bouldering the following year, and a final gold in 2024 for lead.
Kimberley Woods – Canoe Slalom
Kimberley Woods made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, finishing tenth in the final of the women’s K1 event having racked up 56 seconds in penalties. The 28 year-old has been in fine form since then, winning two golds, two silvers and one bronze medal in the World Cup Kayak Cross event. Woods was also one of the star performers in the World Championships last year claiming four medals on home soil at Lee Valley.
The 29 year-old has enjoyed a strong competitive run since her Olympic debut and will be looking to take that momentum into Paris next month.
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieux – Diving
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieux made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 as she competed in the women’s 10m platform final aged just 16 years-old, finishing in seventh place. The daughter of TV personality star Fred Sirieux made her breakthrough in the sport in 2022, where she won double European gold (10m platform individual and synchro), double Commonwealth gold (10m platform individual and mixed synchro) and a bronze medal at the World Championships.
This year, the 19 year-old took home two bronze medals at the World Championships in Doha (women’s 10m platform individual and synchro) and gold medal with Team GB.
Alex Yee – Triathlon
Team GB have enjoyed recent success in one of the Olympics toughest disciplines, with the Brownlee brothers bringing home gold and silver, and Vicky Holland claiming bronze back in Rio 2016. Alex Yee added his name to list of Team GB athletes, as he won silver in the men’s race and gold in the mixed relay team in Tokyo 2020. The 26 year-old won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games before adding several World Triathlon Series wins to his accolades. Yee confirmed his place in this summer’s Olympics after winning the Paris 2024 Test Event in August last year.
Sky Brown – Skateboarding
Skateboarder Sky Brown is not only Great Britain’s youngest ever Summer Olympian, but also the youngest ever Olympic medallist. Despite suffering life-threatening injuries during training in 2020, Brown participated at the postponed Toyko Olympics in 2021, taking home a bronze medal in the first ever women’s skateboarding park final. Following her success at the games, Brown was awarded BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
The half British half Japanese teenager, resides her time between California and Japan with her family. Following on from her success in Tokyo, the 15 year-old, won gold medals at the X Games in 2021 and 2022, whilst also becoming World Champion in 2023 in Sharjah.
Brown’s place in Paris was confirmed last month as she was part of the top 20 in the world rankings. The 15 year-old was hoping to participate in both skateboarding and surfing (the first time an athlete has competed in two different sports in over a century) but Brown missed out on qualifying for surfing after being knocked out at the World Surfing Games in March.
Emma Wilson – Windsurfing
Emma is not the first of the Wilson family to feature at the Summer Olympics, her mother Penny was also a two-time Olympian in windsurfing. The 25 year-old made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 where she claimed bronze; the first women’s windsurfing medal since Beijing 2008. In IQFoil European Championships, Wilson claimed a silver in 2022 before taking home a bronze medal the following year.
In 2023, the Nottingham-born athlete claimed bronze in the IQFoil World Championship before going one better this year. These accolades meant she qualified for this summer’s Olympics and we'll be looking to improve on her third place finish in Tokyo.
Max Whitlock – Artistic Gymnastics
Whitlock is the most decorated Great British Olympic Gymnast with three golds and three bronze medals to his name. Whitlock made his Olympic debut in London 2012, where he claimed a bronze on the pommel horse and as part of the men’s team event. Ever since then, the gymnast has not looked back.
The gymnast now has 14 gold medals, 12 silver and 6 bronze medals varying over the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games. The 31 year-old is set to compete in his fourth and final Olympics in Paris this summer. Whitlock’s run up to the Paris games has been far from ideal. After having a 18 months off after Tokyo 2020, Whitlock was scheduled to return to competitive action at the 2023 European Championships but had to withdraw through injury.
Whitlock made his comeback later that year at the World Championships where he fell off in the Pommel Horse and finished fifth before finishing fourth in the men’s team event. He will be looking to claim a gold medal on the Pommel Horse for the third consecutive games this summer.
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