11th August 2024

British athletes win most medals at an Olympic Games since 1984

Great Britain & Northern Ireland were the life and soul of the Parisian party across 11 glorious days of Olympic athletics.

The numbers speak for themselves as the 59-strong squad produced a historic collective performance and a clutch of magical moments.

10 medals were won in track and field, the most by Great Britain at the Olympics in 40 years.

Beyond the crude metric of gold, silver and bronze, no fewer than eight British records were set as the athletes rose to the grandest of occasions.

They were roared on by thousands upon thousands of British fans who packed out Stade de France and lined the streets of the French capital for the marathon events.

The unique environment of the Games brings so much that is positive but also so much that can distract and derail, however hell-bent you are on success, making each lifetime best and positive performance all the more laudable.

The moment that will burn brightest in the national memory was Keely Hodgkinson’s note-perfect 800m victory.

Hodgkinson became the third British woman to win the two-lap event, following in the footsteps of Ann Packer and Kelly Holmes, as well as being crowned GB’s first new Olympic champion since London 2012.

“I think on paper, people said it was mine to lose and I guess to a degree it was,” reflects Hodgkinson, who is expected to race next at the Diamond League final in Brussels on 13-14 September.

“But I’ve come into the championships as number one before and I haven’t crossed the line first. So to do that, I’ve really dug deep this year. It hasn’t gone smoothly. I’ve been injured, I’ve had all sorts of stuff going on in my personal life.

“The last Olympics was such a surreal experience, so to come here. with this much pressure on my shoulders, it really was tough but I think it just shows how resilient I am and how much I really wanted it.”

Middle distance also saw another Olympic medal for Josh Kerr, who upgraded his 1500m Tokyo bronze to silver in Paris in one of the most-anticipated races of the entire Games.

It lived up to its billing, with Kerr part of a blockbuster finish that eventually saw American Cole Hocker take gold on the line and the Scot clocking a new British record to take silver.

You will struggle to find two more popular silvers than those won by Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Matthew Hudson-Smith, athletes of limitless ability who have been assailed by injuries and bad luck on their Olympic journeys.

Johnson-Thompson put together the second-best heptathlon of her life, with a massive personal best in the shot put a particular highlight, revelling in the ‘relief’ of finally reaching the rostrum at the fourth attempt.

Hudson-Smith ran the fifth-fastest 400m ever to get hold of the Olympic gong that his talent has long promised: whichever of the beer or kebab that he craves comes first, they will certainly both be deserved.

The pride of Wolverhampton returned to power Team GB to bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay as part of a powerhouse team performance with baton in hand.

Indeed, GB were the only nation to win medals in all five relays.

The mixed 4x400m bagged bronze on opening night with Sam Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Amber Anning and heat runner Nicole Yeargin getting the ball rolling in British record time.

“We are unbelievably confident,” said Imani-Lara Lansiquot. “This was not just a week or two weeks or a year in the making, this was eight years in the making.

“You feel the energy in the camp. There is a level of confidence that we can hold our heads high, no matter what happens.We know we’re getting that baton round and we know we’re going to kill it.”

That ruthless mentality spread throughout the group as silver followed in the women’s 4x100m and bronze in the men’s 4x100m. Hudson-Smith returned to the track to engineer men’s 4x400m bronze in a new European record and in a resounding showcase of strength in depth, GB fielded completely different line-ups in the heats and final of the women’s 4x400m to win another bronze, with all heat and final relay runners standing on the podium for the first time.

“I love how the championships are giving everyone medals and letting the full squad get their moment because this is truly a team effort,” said Dina Asher-Smith. “We’ve worked so hard as a women’s relay squad since 2012 and for the last ten years we’ve been pushing and we know we’re that good but we had to put the work in.”

Look away from the medals and there was plenty to suggest the future is bright.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes finished fifth in the men’s long jump on Olympic debut, a superb display that should be a catalyst for the 27-year-old’s rapid improvement.

Max Burgin shed tenths from his personal best to navigate the notoriously tricky men’s 800m semi-finals, the first British man to reach the two-lap showpiece since Andrew Osagie at London 2012.

Emile Cairess finished a brilliant fourth in the men’s marathon, with his finishing position equalling Jon Brown’s result at the 2004 Games in Athens.

Daryll Neita is the third Team GB athlete to qualify for the final in the women’s 100m and 200m, Amber Anning took a chunk out of Christine Ohuruogu’s British 400m record on Olympic debut and Lizzie Bird broke the British record to finish seventh in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, the best-ever finish by a British woman in that event.

The most remarkable story arguably revolves around Georgia Bell, who had given up on her Olympic dream and quit athletics in 2017, instead training and then taking on a job in cyber security.

She gradually returned just a couple of years ago, training alongside her full-time job. On August 31, she is due back at work after a 12-month sabbatical, unless she decides to commit full-time to the track.

On the evidence of her four-second personal best that won women’s 1500m bronze and broke the British record, it should not be a difficult decision.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy,” she said.

“That was an absolutely crazy race. I woke up this morning really calm and in a very good mood and thought I’m not the fastest person in that race but if I was brave and got stuck in then I can make something happen.

“So yeah, I am over the moon and I’m an Olympic medallist.”

 

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