Olympic Games Paris 2024: Team GB Rowing Chances

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 Olympic Games Paris 2024 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. We continue our mini series of what to expect as the Olympics approach.

Can Team GB row their way to victory? Great Britain have had huge success in recent history courtesy of the Olympic rowing and they will be eager to repeat the same feat when they arrive in Paris. The first major rowing race began in the UK in 1829, which is now the UK’s annual Cambridge and Oxford boat race.

In Olympic rowing there are two disciplines and a number of events. The two disciplines are sweep rowing, which is when competitors hold one oar with both hands and double scull, when competitors hold an oar in each hand on each side of the boat. Races can be contested alone or in teams of 2, 4 and 8 with races spanning over 2000m.

Rowing events have been involved in the Olympic games since the first modern Olympiad in 1896 in Athens. Since then, the USA initially dominated until Germany took the place as the country to beat.

In recent years, Team GB have also had their success in the sport, with Briton Steve Redgrave hailed as the greatest rower ever with five gold medals and one bronze medal across six Olympic Games. For three Olympics in a row, 2008, 2012 and 2016, Great Britain topped the rowing medal tables as the best nation with their most impressive haul on home waters.

At London 2012, Team GB took home 4 gold medals with the men winning the coxless fours while the women took home the double sculls, coxless pairs and the lightweight double sculls. They were roared on by a 30,000 capacity crowd at Dorney Lake as the UK enjoyed hosting its first Olympics since 1948. Britain took home medals in 9 out of the 14 events, an incredible achievement, and the sixth biggest medal haul in Olympic rowing history.

So what could the GB team look like in 2024? With no team announcement just yet, it’s hard to say who could be on the plane to Paris at the moment, however, after disappointment in Tokyo 3 years ago, they will be keen to improve.

The rowing team only brought home two medals in 2021, none of which were gold. Team GB will be determined to make amends this year as the men will try to better their silver and bronze medals in the quadruple sculls and coxed eight respectively.

While for the women, they will be hoping to retain the success of Heather Stanning and Helen Glover in the coxless pairs after the duo won gold in 2012 and 2016. Stanning announced her retirement after 2016, however, Glover continued her rowing career, competing in Tokyo alongside Polly Swann where they finished in 4th place. They will both be determined to turn 4th place into a medal in Paris.

Athletes will make their way to the French capital and will be greeted by a state of the art, brand new facility built especially for the games, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, but who will come out on top?

Team GB will be met by fierce competition from a strong New Zealand team who finished on top at Tokyo 2020 with 5 medals across the events. Rivals Australia weren’t far behind with four medals, with only one gold medal less than their neighbours. Team GB will have their work cut out if they are to battle for the top of the medal table especially as the Netherlands and Germany will also be licking their lips at the possibility of Olympic honours.

With plenty of events in the Olympic rowing, fans will not be short of entertainment and as the competition draws ever nearer, anticipation for Paris 2024 is creeping up. How do you think Team GB will get on? Will they be back to winning ways after Tokyo?

Fancy watching rowing from the banks of the River Thames in preparation for the Olympics? Check out Engage’s range of hospitality options for the Henley Regatta at the start of July as athletes prepare for the big event of the summer.

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