The female Team GB athletes to watch out for in the Paris Olympics
Keely Hodgkinson
Helen Glover
Emma Finucane
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
The Paris Olympics are finally here. And while headlines dominating the media have recently been full of concern – Will the Seine be clean enough? Will the transport infrastructure cope? Will a densely populated city, which already feels crowded during regular summer tourism, be overwhelmed by the influx of visitors? – now, it’s time to mark the start of the 2024 Summer Games, and celebrate athletes from around the world, coming together to showcase their extraordinary human achievements.
Us Brits will, of course, be closely supporting Team GB athletes (there are 327 in total) over the 16-day period. Exciting? Absolutely. But who to watch? These are the female British athletes you should look out for in 2024....
Keely Hodgkinson
Sport: Athletics, Women's 800m | Age: 22
Keely Hodgkinson is a medal favourite. After winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago – breaking Dame Kelly Holmes’ British record – she’s since set a new national record at the London Diamond League (just a few weeks ago) and is gunning for gold.
Emma Finucane
Sport: Cycling | Age: 21
Since the days of Becky James and Victoria Pendleton, and the London 2012 Olympics, Team GB has not qualified for the Olympic team track sprint. However, this summer, Finucane and her team are poised to change that. Just 21 years old, Finucane will make her debut at the Olympics this summer (and she’s already achieved something James and Pendleton could not: three European titles at a single event). Expect speed!
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Sport: Athletics, Heptathlon | Age: 31
Three-time Olympian and World Champion KJT will be competing in Paris for what could be one last chance at an Olympic medal. She won her first World Championship title in 2019, but an Achilles injury disrupted her performance at Tokyo 2020, and she was forced to withdraw from the 200m. Will her crown be restored? Let’s hope so!
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix
Sport: Diving | Age: 19
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix was only 16 years old when she reached the 10m platform final in Tokyo – her Olympic debut. Since then she’s secured individual 2022 Commonwealth and European titles. At Paris, she’ll be competing in both the individual women’s 10m platform and women’s synchronised platform. We expect to see her dad – First Dates maitre d’ Fred Sirieix – cheering from the stands.
Rose Harvey
Sport: Marathon | Age: 31
Rose Harvey has one of the best rose-to-Olympic-fame stories we've heard. In just four short years Harvey has gone from full-time lawyer made redundant in lockdown to representing Team GB in the marathon at her first-ever Olympics in Paris. She’ll join teammates Charlotte Purdue and Calli Hauger-Thackery.
Eva Okaro
Sport: Swimming | Age: 17
Eva Okaro will be making history in Paris as the first Black woman to represent Team GB in the pool (after Alice Dearing blazed an open water trail at Tokyo 2020). The teenager is the youngest British swimmer in Paris for the Games and will be competing as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team.
Rosie Eccles
Sport: Boxing | Age: 28
After multiple setbacks on her path to Olympic glory (due to catch Covid not once, but three times ahead of the last Games), all eyes are on Welsh wonder Eccles to win big this time around. Previously, Eccles won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games – so she has a real fighting (sorry) chance in Paris.
Read our exclusive interview with Rosie Eccles here
Beth Potter
Sport: Triathlon | Age: 32
The Paris Olympics will be Beth Potter’s second Games – although, this time she’s competing in a completely different sport. Eight years ago, she debuted in Rio competing in the 10,000m. Since then she’s transitioned to triathlon from athletics – and won the World Triathlon Championship Series final in Spain last year. Potter is the one to beat in Paris.
Dina Asher-Smith
Sport: Athletics, 100m and 200m | Age: 28
Dina Asher-Smith has won many accolades during her career, most notably a gold World Championships medal in the 200m in 2019 when she became Great Britain’s first female sprinter to do so, and two Olympic bronze medals for the 4x100m relay. She’ll be representing Team GB in Paris in the 100m, 200m and the women’s 4x100 relay – and is a strong contender for setting new records.
Sky Brown
Sport: Skateboarding | Age: 16
Skateboarder Sky Brown was just 10 years old when she signed a contract with Nike (the youngest professional athlete they've ever had on their roster). At 12, she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. And at 13, she became Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist. She then became a world champion aged 14. Now, she’s the favourite to become the youngest-ever British Olympic champion in Paris.
Bryony Page
Sport: Gymnastics Trampoline | Age: 33
There's plenty of buzz around Page this year, who was the first Team GB trampolinist to win an Olympic medal (silver) back in 2016 – she also bagged bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Games. Can she do it again in Paris... and maybe even bring home the gold?
Read our exclusive interview with Bryony Page here
You Might Also Like
