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Louise Thomas

Editor

Great Britain’s rowers achieved their best medal haul from an overseas Olympics, while the athletes upgraded on their Tokyo tally at Paris 2024.

There was disappointment elsewhere, however, as the cycling and sailing teams fell short of expectation overall.

Here, the PA news agency presents its post-Games report on how a selection of Team GB’s sports performed.

Athletics

Keely Hodgkinson’s lung-bursting 800 metres triumph apart, near-misses were the order of the day, with Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s superb heptathlon silver following agonising close calls for the likes of Josh Kerr and Matt Hudson-Smith. The sense of what might have been was especially painful in the pole vault, where medal hope Molly Caudery crashed out in qualifying. Still, 10 medals (one gold, four silver, five bronze) represents a significant upgrade on five in Tokyo (two silver, three bronze).

GRADE: B

Swimming:

One gold and four silvers represents a climb-down from a record-breaking eight medals in Tokyo. Three years ago, Team GB won four golds and might have emulated that here but Adam Peaty, Matt Richards and Ben Proud were all denied by hundredths of a second. All five pool medals were won by males (or men’s teams), although Freya Colbert was within a whisker of a bronze. Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe delivered silver in the artistic swimming.

GRADE: B-

Cycling

Was this the Games where Britain’s dominance in Olympic cycling came to an end, or just a blip? They won 11 medals, only one fewer than in Tokyo, but a tally of two gold medals was the lowest number since Athens 20 years ago, far removed from the tallies of eight in both Beijing and London, six in Rio and Tokyo. Emma Finucane, still only 21, took a gold and two bronzes to point the way forward to Los Angeles but there is much work to do.

GRADE: C-

Rowing

Eight medals, including three golds, represented Team GB’s best ever haul from an overseas Olympics. It marked a spectacular return to form for a sport which shockingly yielded just a pair of medals – and no golds – in Tokyo three years ago. Mum-of-three Helen Glover’s dramatic silver as part of the women’s four provided one of the Games’ most memorable moments.

GRADE: A

Boxing

A difficult qualification process ended in five of Britain’s six-strong boxing team exiting in their opening bouts. Lewis Richardson’s gutsy bronze failed to deflect attention from a dismal Games by GB Boxing’s high standards, and while there were plenty of mitigating circumstances, much improvement is required if the sport is to be restored to the programme for Los Angeles 2028.

GRADE: D-

Equestrian

Two golds and three bronze medals marked Team GB’s best horse haul since 2000 and was all the more remarkable given the controversy surrounding Charlotte Dujardin’s enforced withdrawal on the eve of the Games. Golds came in team jumping and eventing but arguably it was the dressage bronze – with late substitute Becky Moody – that was most impressive.

GRADE: B+

Diving

Team GB’s divers had their most successful Games, bringing home five medals in total. The divers completed a clean sweep in the synchronised events with three bronzes and a silver before Noah Williams secured the sole individual medal, producing a stunning comeback to take bronze.

GRADE: B

Sailing

Ellie Aldridge saved the day with a kitesurfing gold on the final day of an Olympic regatta to forget. A persistent lack of wind cancelled huge swathes of races, and often botched reorganisation failed to give a number of crews a fair crack. Emma Wilson’s complaints after having to settle for a second straight bronze in the women’s windsurfing summed up a difficult period from which the GB sailors emerged just about afloat.

GRADE: C-

Gymnastics

Trampoline gold for Bryony Page, and individual bronzes for Jake Jarman and Harry Hepworth, only told half the story of a plucky Games from Team GB’s gymnasts. An injury-ravaged women’s team worked wonders to come agonisingly close to a medal in the women’s team event, while the men also finished fourth. Max Whitlock bowed out in an emotional finale but his team-mates showed that his legacy is in good shape.

GRADE: B-

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