Team GB at Paris Olympics: Who are the British athletes to watch at the 2024 Games?

The first athletes to represent Great Britain at the Olympics Games in Paris next year have been announced.

Team GB have unveiled the majority of their sailors for the 2024 Games, with athletes from climbing, canoe slalom and triathlon also selected.

The Great Britain team comprises athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (although athletes from the province can represent the Republic of Ireland instead).

Team GB have recorded superb results in the last four Games, coming fourth in the medals table at Beijing 2008, third at London 2012, second at Rio 2016, then fourth at Tokyo 2020.

This file will updated as Britain announce more athletes for the XXXIII Olympic Summer Games in the French capital, which run from 26 July to 11 August.

Who are Team GB’s athletes?

Canoe slalom

Mallory Franklin: Women’s canoe single (C1) and kayak cross
GB’s most successful female canoeist, Franklin took silver in the first Olympic women’s C1 race at Tokyo 2020. She is the reigning C1 world champion and will also contest the kayak cross, which makes its Games debut in Paris.

Kimberley Woods: Women’s kayak single (K1) and kayak cross 
On her Olympic debut in Tokyo, Woods impressed en route to the final but suffered 56 seconds in penalties to finish 10th. She bounced back with bronze at the World Championships that year – just 10 days after being involved in a car crash. Woods, who won kayak cross gold and C1 silver at the 2023 World Championships, spoke candidly about her mental health battles in 2020 and has become a inspirational presence on the team.

Adam Burgess: Men’s canoe single (C1) 
The Black Sabbath and Stoke City fan has four European Championships and five World Championships medals to his name. Also a lover of yoga and a professionally qualified coffee brewer, Burgess missed out on bronze by 0.16 seconds on his Olympic debut in Tokyo and says he has “unfinished business” in Paris.

Joe Clarke: Men’s kayak single (K1) and kayak cross 
At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Clarke became the first Briton to win K1 gold and, after missing out on selection for Tokyo 2020, will look to make amends in Paris. He has enjoyed his most successful period between 2021 and 2023, winning a hat-trick of kayak cross world titles and K1 gold in 2023.

Sailing

John Gimson and Anna Burnet: Nacra 17 (mixed multihull)
Former Americas Cup sailor Gimson and Burnet were Tokyo 2020 silver medallists and will be looking to go one better in Paris after securing their place by taking bronze at the Olympic test event in July, followed by claiming the runners-up spot at the World Championships in August.

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt: 49er (men’s skiff) 
Peters, who was nominated for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2008, stepped away from sailing after being pipped, along with Sterritt, by eventual gold medallists Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell for GB selection for Tokyo, but he returned and perhaps has a point to prove in Paris. Peters and Sterritt are making their Olympic debut.

Freya Black and Saskia Tidey: 49erFX (women’s skiff)
Two-time Olympian Tidey will be the most experienced member of the Team GB sailing team, while crew-mate Black is the youngest sailor in the side at just 22. Tidey represented Ireland at Rio 2016 before switching to Team GB – qualifying through her father Don – for Tokyo 2020. Black is taking a break from studying philosophy and politics at the University of Exeter to focus on her maiden Olympics.

Emma Wilson: iQFOiL (women’s windsurfing)
Wilson won GB’s first women’s windsurfing medal since 2008 with bronze at Tokyo 2020 and has successfully adapted since switching from the RS:X to the iQFOiL – the foiling windsurfer which is new for Paris 2024 – two years ago.

Having learnt how to windsurf alongside her mother Penny, a two-time Olympian, Wilson won her first world title aged just 12 in the U15 category. She won bronze at the 2023 World Championships and silver at the test event in Marseille, the venue for the Paris 2024 sailing competition.

Sam Sills: iQFOiL (men’s windsurfing)
The naval architect missed out on selection for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 then stepped away from sailing and focused on helping to reduce its carbon footprint, working on eco-friendly boats in Norway and Sweden. The former junior world champion returned to sailing after the Olympic windsurfing equipment changed from RS:X to iQFOiL.

Ellie Aldridge: Formula kite (women’s kite)
Aldridge bounced back from a capsizing aged seven that put her off the water and took up kite foiling for weekend fun. Since the class was added to the Olympics for Paris 2024, she has become a regular medal contender at major events, winning silver at the Olympic test event and in August’s World Championships, then gold at the European Championships.

Michael Beckett: ILCA 7 (men’s dinghy)
After missing out on selection Tokyo, the Welsh sailor advised TV directors on race narratives at the Olympics in Japan. This time Beckett, the 2021 European champion who studied engineering in ship science at Southampton University, will be trying to break Australia’s three-Games winning streak in the class.

Triathlon

Beth Potter: Women’s individual 
The Glaswegian finished 34th in the 10,000m at the Rio 206 Olympics, before switching to triathlon. In 2023, the former physics teacher won the Olympic test event in Paris and was crowned world champion in Pontevedra, Spain.

Alex Lee: Men’s individual
A former training colleague of the Brownlee brothers, Yee claimed individual silver and mixed relay gold at Tokyo 2020. Having been awarded an MBE in 2022, Lee booked his spot at the 2024 Games by winning the test event in 2023.