Lola Anderson warmed hearts and Leon Marchand won more golds than any other athlete – but what was SIR STEVE REDGRAVE’S favourite Team GB performance at the Paris Olympics?

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris have come to an end and are a testament to the dedication and perseverance of Team GB.

By winning two bronze medals on the final day of the Games, Great Britain improved on its performance from Tokyo 2020 and completed one of the most successful tournaments of the past two decades.

Despite only winning 14 golds, Team GB claimed 22 silvers and 29 bronzes, for a total of 65.

Here, legendary rower SIR STEVE REDGRAVE reflects on the Paris Olympics, discussing everything from the atmosphere at the event to Team GB’s hottest prospects!

FAVORITE BRITISH PERFORMANCE

After contracting Covid and having to pull out of the Tour de France, Tom Pidcock returned just two weeks later to win mountain bike gold at the Games. Yes, Covid affects people in different ways, but it is a lung condition and so anything to do with endurance is going to be affected.

He then had a puncture in the race, was 40 seconds behind, but had the mental strength and focus to get back into the fight for that dramatic finish, when he went the other way around the trees to take the lead. I thought that was an incredible performance.

BIGGEST BRITISH HARD CUCK STORY

I know Emma Wilson’s family quite well and know how hard they have worked on this over the past three years.

She won eight of her 14 preliminary rounds in the iQFoil windsurfing, which was far more than anyone else. But unlike the other sailing classes, windsurfing and kitesurfing have changed the rules to adopt a winner-takes-all medal race.

It must have been difficult for her to lose that race and take bronze like in Tokyo, after having been so dominant in the preliminary rounds.

MOST ATTRACTIVE BRITISH STORY

Rower Lola Anderson wrote a note at 14 saying she was going to be an Olympic champion and then threw it away. Her father rescued it from the trash and gave it back to her before he died in 2019. She then won gold in the women’s quad sculls.

Another rower, Heidi Long, who won bronze in the women’s eight, lost her father to cancer a year ago. He would have loved to see his daughter compete at the Olympics. But before he died, he bought tickets for the whole family, which they only found out about after he passed away. I barely know Heidi and that story makes me emotional.

FAVORITE OVERSEAS PERFORMANCES

Jessica Fox won two gold medals in canoe slalom – in the individual kayak and individual canoe. Yes, you can switch from one to the other, but that rarely happens. She won both by a wide margin.

The other must be Leon Marchand, who won five medals, four of them gold. Take him out of the equation and Britain would have been ahead of France on the overall medals list.

TEAM GB PERFORMANCE

When I was competing I always felt that Britain should win 15 to 20 gold medals, which almost certainly means you’ll finish somewhere between third and fifth in the medal table.

We didn’t win that many golds here, which put us in seventh place, and that would be my only minor criticism. But winning 65 medals in total is still amazing. In terms of total medals, we’re third, behind only the US and China. Compared to where we were 30 years ago, before National Lottery funding, that’s remarkable.

PARIS 2024 AS A WHOLE

It was very special indeed. The excitement in the city was amazing. They followed in the footsteps of London 2012 by using iconic backdrops and the crowd was fantastic, with smiles on their faces and a great time. Being so close to home made it easy for British fans to pop in and come back. It was almost like a home game for our athletes.

Overall, I think it has been a fantastic Games, which in some ways are an improvement on what has come before.

TEAM GB ATHLETES TO WATCH IN LA

Sport climber Toby Roberts has already won a gold medal at the age of 19 and we will be hearing a lot more from him in the future.

Rower Becky Wilde is a little older at 26. Originally a swimmer, she switched to rowing and won a bronze medal in the double sculls. She has only raced internationally over 2000 meters seven times, three of which were at the Olympics. She will certainly be there in LA.

My third athlete is Louie Hinchliffe. He is 22 and just missed the 100m final but won bronze in the 4x100m relay. He is a huge talent. If he loses his mullet he might be even faster!

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