Team GB: What Are Our Strongest Sports?

5 months ago

Ten teams to keep your eye on

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While London has hosted the Olympics a record three times (joint with Paris), it’s perhaps more impressive that Team GB has competed at every single Olympics since 1896, when Athens hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era. We are joined by Greece, Switzerland (who competed in equestrian events in Melbourne 1956 but boycotted the rest of the Games) and Australia in this mammoth achievement, while France is just one game off.

In this time, we’ve wracked up a whopping 950 medals across Summer and Winter sports (another factoid: we’re the only team to have bagged at least one gold medal at every game). But which sports are our strongest? Here’s a peek at where we’ve won big in the past, plus where we might go for gold this year.

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What Are Team GB’s Most Successful Olympic Sports?

Purely based on the number of medals won, Team GB’s 10 most successful Olympic sports are:

Athletics, 210 medals (55 gold, 83 silver, 72 bronze) – ranked third overall
Cycling, 99 medals (38 gold, 34 silver, 27 bronze) – ranked second overall
Swimming, 82 medals (20 gold, 31 silver, 31 bronze) – ranked seventh overall
Rowing, 70 medals (31 gold, 25 silver, 14 bronze) – ranked third overall
Sailing, 64 medals (31 gold, 21 silver, 12 bronze) – ranked first overall
Boxing, 62 medals (20 gold, 15 silver, 27 bronze) – ranked third overall
Shooting, 47 medals (13 gold, 15 silver, 19 bronze) – ranked sixth overall
Tennis, 43 medals (17 gold, 14 silver, 12 bronze) – ranked second overall
Equestrian, 40 medals (13 gold, 12 silver, 15 bronze) – ranked fourth overall
Judo, 20 medals (8 silver, 12 bronze) – ranked 34th overall

Notable mention: Gymnastics is a fast-rising sport for Team GB, with 14 of its 18 medals won at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, despite the team competing in Gymnastics events since 1896.

So far in 2024, our strongest sport is Rowing, with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. We’re also doing well in Swimming (one gold and two silver medals) and Diving (one silver and two bronze medals).

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Are We The Best At Any Sports?

Yes, Team GB is the most successful Olympic team in Sailing, with 31 gold, 25 silver and 12 bronze medals. We are followed by Team USA with 61 medals (19 gold, 23 silver, 19 bronze) and Norway with 32 medals (17 gold, 11 silver, 4 bronze).

We also perform well in Cycling and Tennis, in which we are ranked second overall (behind France and the USA respectively) – as well as ranking third overall in Athletics (behind the US and the USSR), Rowing (behind the US and East Germany) and Boxing (behind the US and Cuba).

Who Are Team GB’s Most Successful Athletes Ever?

Cyclist Jason Kenny is Team GB’s most successful athlete in history with seven gold and two silver medals – as well as being the most successful cyclist in Olympic history. His wife, fellow cyclist Laura Kenny, is the most successful female Olympian with five gold and one silver medals. Our top 10 most successful athletes are:

Jason Kenny, Cycling, 9 medals (7 gold, 2 silver)
Bradley Wiggins, Cycling, 8 medals (5 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
Chris Hoy, Cycling, 7 medals (6 gold, 1 silver)
Laura Kenny, Cycling, 6 medals (5 gold, 1 silver)
Steve Redgrave, Rowing, 6 medals (5 gold, 1 bronze)
Adam Peaty, Swimming, 6 medals (3 gold, 3 silver)
Charlotte Dujardin, Equestrian, 6 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
Max Whitlock, Gymnastics, 6 medals (3 gold, 3 bronze)
Duncan Scott, Swimming, 6 medals (1 gold, 5 silver)
Ben Ainslie, Sailing, 5 medals (4 gold, 1 silver)

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How Many Medals Does Team GB Have At Paris 2024?

Team GB has bagged 49 medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics so far, landing us fifth on the medal table behind the US, China, Australia, and France. The medal breakdown is:

12 Gold Medals

Athletics: Keely Hodgkinson – women’s 800m
Cycling: Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant – women’s team sprint
Equestrian: Laura Collett, Tom McEwan and Ros Canter – three-day team eventing
Equestrian: Scott Brash, Ben Maher and Harry Charles – team jumping
Gymnastics: Bryony Page – women’s trampoline
Mountain Biking: Tom Pidcock
Shooting: Nathan Hales – men’s trap
Swimming: Matt Richards, James Guy, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott – 4x200m freestyle relay
Rowing: Lauren Henry, Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott and Georgina Brayshaw – women’s quadruple sculls
Rowing: Emily Craig ad Imogen Grant – women’s lightweight double sculls
Rowing: Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin, Tom Ford and Harry Brightmore (cox) – men VIII
Triathlon: Alex Yee

17 Silver Medals

Athletics: Josh Kerr – men’s 1500m
Athletics: Matthew Hudson-Smith – men’s 400m
BMX: Kieran Reilly – men’s freestyle
Canoeing: Adam Burgess – men’s slalom singles
Canoeing: Joe Clarke – men’s KX-1
Cycling: Anna Henderson – women’s time trial
Cycling: Jack Carlin, Ed Lowe and Hamish Turnbull – men’s team sprint
Cycling: Dan Bigham, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wood – men’s team pursuit
Diving: Tom Daley and Noah Williams – men’s synchronised 10m platform
Golf: Tommy Fleetwood – men’s individual
Rowing: Helen Glover, Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave, Rebecca Shorten – women’s four
Rowing: Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George – men’s pair
Shooting: Amber Rutter – women’s skeet
Swimming: Adam Peaty – men’s 100m breaststroke
Swimming: Matt Richards – men’s 200m freestyle
Swimming: Ben Proud – men’s 50m freestyle
Swimming: Duncan Scott – men’s 200m individual medley

20 Bronze Medals

Athletics: Sam Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson and Amber Anning – mixed 4x400m relay
Boxing: Lewis Richardson – men’s welterweight
Canoeing: Kimberley Woods – women’s kayak slalom
Canoeing: Kimberley Woods – women’s KX-1
Cycling: Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts – women’s team pursuit
Diving: Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen – women’s synchronised 3m springboard
Diving: Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson – women’s synchronised 10m platform
Diving: Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher – men’s 3m synchronised springboard
Equestrian: Laura Collett – individual eventing
Equestrian: Lottie Fry, Carl Hester and Becky Moody – team dressage
Equestrian: Lottie Fry – individual dressage
Gymnastics: Jake Jarman – men’s floor
Gymnastics: Harry Hepworth – men’s vault
Rowing: Oli Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson – men’s four
Rowing: Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Becky Wilde – women’s double sculls
Rowing: Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Hattie Taylor, Annie Campbell-Orde and Henry Fieldman (cox) – women’s VIII
Sailing: Emma Wilson – women’s IQFoil
Skateboarding: Sky Brown – women’s park
Triathlon: Beth Potter
Triathlon: Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and Beth Potter – mixed relay

Has Team GB Ever Won The Olympics?

We’re always up top in the medal table, but we’ve never won the Olympics, either in terms of overall medals or total gold medals. Our best performance was Rio 2016, where we finished second with 67 medals, including 27 gold. This unprecedented performance beat our record at the previous Games, London 2012, where we finished third with 65 medals, including 29 golds.

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Which Country Is The Most Successful Ever?

Team USA is the most successful national team at the Olympic Games, with a total of 2,959 medals (2,629 medals at Summer Games, 330 medals at Winter Games). The team is miles beyond the rest of the world: taking the second place on the podium is the now-defunct USSR team, with 1,204 total medals (1,010 Summer, 194 Winter) earned at just 18 Olympic appearances thanks to heavy state investment in sport to showcase the nation positively on an international stage.

The top 10 nations are: