With the season of Spring in full swing and Summer fast approaching, we can start looking forward to what will be an enthralling year of sport. The big event of the Summer for sports fans will be the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with Team GB expected to enter teams in most events.
It is a chance for fans of all sports to come together and watch the best athletes in the world go head-to-head to win what is arguably the most historic title on the planet in their respective sports. Here at Engage we will be doing a mini series of what to expect as the Olympics approach.
Arguably one of the most popular Olympic Sports, Athletics will again be a prominent feature for Team GB at Paris 2024. With medal hopes across the majority of disciplines, the British team will be hoping to come away with a considerable amount of success. With a plethora of events on show, who will shine for Great Britain under the Stade De France lights? We take a look at Britain’s medal hopes for 2024.
For the majority of the team, athletes will have to compete at the UK Athletics Championships on the 28th-30th June as part of the Olympic trials as well as gaining the qualifying standard with final selection taking place on the 1st July 2024.
There are a number of athletes who have already booked their plane ticket to Paris including a strong men’s marathon lineup. 3rd and 4th at the London Marathon in 2024 Emile Cairess and Mahamed Mahamed lead the line as serious medal contenders while Cairess’ fellow Leeds City teammate Phil Sesemann is the third member of the team. A very strong lineup for Team GB in the marathon, could we see the first medal in the event since Charlie Spedding in 1984?
Dropping down the distances, Britain’s relay sprint teams booked their places in Paris at the weekend in all 5 relay events competing at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas.
Team GB will be looking to improve their relay results from Tokyo after only one bronze medal in 2021 in the women’s 4x100m relay. Team captain for the championships in the Bahamas, Zharnel Hughes, will also be gunning for individual success. National Records in both the 100m and 200m last year sees him mixing it with the World’s best. As we know from previous years, he will be met by fierce competition including World Champion Noah Lyles and defending Olympic Champion Andre De Grasse.
Other medal hopes for Team GB include Keely Hodkingson as she takes on the world at 800m. The 22 year-old burst onto the scene as a junior becoming the first junior women to break the 2 minute barrier in the 800 as well as winning British 800m gold in 2020.
Announcing herself to the World in 2021, she won Olympic silver, running 1:55. World Silver in 2022 and 2023, she will be determined to get the better of Athing Mu and Mary Moraa who have both snatched gold from her grasp in recent years. Fellow Briton Jemma Reekie has shown fine form over the 800 as well with silver in the World Indoors in 2024.
In the men’s middle distance events Ben Pattison will be looking to improve on his World 800m bronze in his first Olympic outing while the names of Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman will haunt defending champion Jakob Ingebritsen.
Runner-up to the two Brits at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships in almost equivalent fashion, the superstar Norwegian will be determined to not see a repeat of events in Paris. There has been a lot of ‘trash talk’ from Josh Kerr throughout the year, can he back it up with a win?
In the Women’s 1500m, Olympic Silver Medallist, Laura Muir, will be eager to upgrade to gold in 2024 but will have to contest Faith Kipyegon, unbeaten at the Olympics and World championships since 2021 in the 1500m.
World Heptathlon Champion, Katarina Johnson-Thompson has been deprived of Olympic success throughout her career, she will be eager to add an Olympic medal to her astonishing CV. Team GB will also be hopeful that the women’s pole vault team will be amongst the medals with Molly Caudery and Holly Bradshaw. Bronze for Bradshaw in Tokyo as well as golf for Caudery at the World Indoor Championships in 2024, could we see two medallists in the women’s pole vault for the first time?
So, Paris 2024 is only just around the corner and with one of Britain’s strongest athletics teams in years, you will not want to miss this. With the possibility of one of Britain’s most successful Olympics yet, athletics could play a huge part in contributing to the medal haul. Want to see Britain mix it with the very best? Check out Engage Hospitality’s offers to watch the athletics in Paris from the best seats in the house.
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