Athletics 

Matthew Hudson-Smith – 400m (7th August)

This Birmingham boy has had a turbulent career. He has suffered with injuries and struggled to find the right coaching setup. Since moving to Gary Evans’ group in Florida, he has progressed massively. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships, which was a big confidence boost for him. Despite struggling with achilles tendonitis all season, he managed to get silver at last year’s World Championships and break the European record in the process. That trend suggests that this is his year to claim Olympic gold and his season so far seems to agree. At the Oslo Diamond League, he ran brilliantly to defeat a strong field and lower his European record to 44.07 seconds. In Paris, he will face stiff competition from his Bahamian training partner Steven Gardiner and the new European Champion Alexander Doom.

Molly Caudery – Pole Vault (7th August)

Caudery has had a great year and winning Olympic gold would be the ultimate cherry on top

It could be a Wonderful Wednesday in Paris as the men’s 400m and women’s Pole Vault finals are on the same night. Caudery has had a great year and winning Olympic gold would be the ultimate cherry on top. She has added 11 cm to her PB so far this season; it currently stands at 4.86m. She won her first major international gold at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow earlier this year. She handled the pressure of being the favourite at a home championship brilliantly. She told BBC Sport: ‘I catch myself in a daydream about the Olympics more often than I’d like to. I will just be sat down and I’ll start drifting off for 10 minutes before I come back to reality.’ Let’s hope she can hold her nerve once more and make that dream a reality.

Swimming

The 200m freestyle is the best event in swimming

Matthew Richards – 200m Freestyle (29th July)

The reigning World Champion will hope to continue the British dominance in this event. Britain won gold and silver at the Tokyo Olympics and at the 2023 World Championships. I may be biased as a Brit, but I think the 200m freestyle is the best event in swimming. It is so tactical and there are so many ways it can be swum. 21-year-old Richards has a very mature head on his shoulders and has displayed his ability to time his effort to perfection multiple times in the last 18 months. David Popovici, Sunwoo Hwang and Lukas Märtens will all be strong rivals, but his main competition will likely come from his teammate, Duncan Scott, who is yet to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Richards has the opportunity to break Scott’s record for the most medals won by a British athlete at a single Olympics with medal chances in the 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay and the men’s 4x100m medley relay.

Gymnastics 

Jake Jarman – Vault (4th August)

The current World and European Champion will be aiming to add the Olympic title to his growing collection of medals. In the Vault final, the gymnasts have to compete two different vaults. Jarman’s vaults are two of the most difficult. To watch him twisting his body three and a half times is to see him defying the laws of gravity. When he sticks his landings, his scores are untouchable by the other gymnasts. Speaking to British Gymnastics after winning his first World Title in 2023, he said: ‘I’m super proud to be able to perform the way I did today, it gives me a huge confidence boost especially heading into next year.’ Clearly, he is full of confidence going into the Olympics.

Bryony Page – Trampoline (2nd August)

After winning two consecutive Olympic medals and regaining her world title in Birmingham last year, Page’s gaze will be firmly set on Olympic gold. Her routine at the 2023 World Championships was by far the hardest and she will likely need to complete this routine again to claim Olympic glory. She is experienced and has shown many times that she can harness the power of the trampoline to catapult herself ten metres into the air and onto the podium.  

Diving 

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix – 10m Platform (6th August)

She could become the first British woman to win a diving medal

This incredibly talented teenager said that her goal for the Olympics is to enjoy herself, but she may well have history on her mind. She could become the first British woman to win a diving medal. Since finishing her A levels last summer, she has had more time to focus on training. This resulted in a bronze medal at this year’s World Diving Championships. Her consistency in her dives allows her to be high in the rankings regularly. The Chinese divers are always very skilled, agile and elegant, but Spendolini-Siriex has the ability to mix it with them.

Triathlon

Alex Yee – Men’s Triathlon (30th July)

Britain has a great tradition in the triathlon, having won three gold, three silver and two bronze medals from 2012 to 2021. Yee contributed to that tradition when he won silver in the Tokyo Olympics and he will hope to go one better in Paris. As a former long distance track athlete, Yee’s best part of the triathlon is the 10k run. He told the Guardian: ‘I definitely feel much more of a mature and complete athlete than I did in 2021.’ This suggests that he has worked on swimming and cycling to become a more balanced triathlete, which will help him in his pursuit of gold. 

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