Team GB Olympic sport weekend wrap (3-4 February) and what's up next
'Terrified' Tom Daley wins gold on return, Katie Archibald secures trio of track-cycling bling, and Hector Pardoe obtains marathon swimming World medal plus one of three Paris 2024 quota berths for GB.
Welcome to Team GB's weekend wrap featuring highlights from the Brits' wondrous weekend of Olympic sport, plus what not to miss in the coming week, up to Sunday 11 February.
With less than six months to go until the Olympic Games Paris 2024, we take a look at some of the headline moments from the weekend of Saturday 3 to Sunday 4 February, before turning our attention to what not to miss in the week ahead.
Tom Daley wins World gold on diving return
The Brits are showing superb form in the early days of the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, across a number of sports.
Where to start but with the formerly tiny tyke we saw make his debut, aged 14, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Tom Daley.
After finally winning Olympic gold 13 years later at Tokyo 2020, delayed to 2021, the now 29-year-old took a lengthy break but announced his return to the diving fray last year.
In his first competition back – granted this was Friday – Daley, alongside Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, Scarlett Mew Jensen and Dan Goodfellow, took gold in the mixed team event.
“I was so nervous doing my first dive in an international for 2.5 years AND IT WAS ON SPRINGBOARD!” said Daley afterwards.
The GB squad have been taking it in turns to step up onto the podium at the 2024 Worlds in Doha with Grace Reid winning 1m springboard silver in a fabulous first day at the Worlds for the Brits.
Spendolini-Sirieix secured a sensational bronze on Monday, behind the ridiculously talented People's Republic of China pairing of Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi who won gold and silver, respectively, with the Brit ripping her entries left, right and centre to become the first British female diver to win an individual World Championship medal in an Olympic discipline.
The history-making artistic swimming duo of Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe claimed a stunning silver in the Tech Duet event - a first GB duet medal at a World Championships.
But, let's get to the weekend action as promised, shall we?
For only the second time ever, a British man has won a marathon swimming World medal and that came courtesy of Hector Pardoe on Saturday (3 February). Not only that, but a trio of open water swimmers from GB have qualified quota spots for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Tobias Robinson, and Leah Crisp in the women's event, also secured places in Doha courtesy of their respective 15th and 17th places in Qatar's capital.
If officially selected by the British Olympic Association, the trio will take the plunge in the river Seine in August with the race starting and finishing at the iconic Pont Alexandre II*.*
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As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
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Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
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2024 World Aquatics Championships: All results, scores and medals - complete list
Brits on course for first ever Olympic judo gold with podium places at Paris Grand Slam
British judokas very much enjoyed competing a stone's throw from where they will descend – should they be selected by their National Olympic Committee – at Paris 2024 as they took to the Champ-de-Mars Arena over the weekend for the Paris Grand Slam.
With the Brits chasing a first ever Olympic gold in the sport, any podium places in competitions heading closer to the Games help build confidence toward that end.
Chelsie Giles, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist in the -52kg category, secured silver in Paris, just losing out to the reigning Olympic champion from Kosovo, Distria Krasniqi in the final.
Lucy Renshall, meanwhile, claimed bronze in the -63kg competition, after securing gold the week before in the World Cup in Portugal.
The chase for Olympic gold is ON.
The Judo Grand Slam next heads to Baku, Azerbaijan on 16-18 February but British judokas will also compete at the Gyor European Open from 10-11 February.
GB cycling add eight medals to take-home luggage after first Nations Cup
Meanwhile, quietly making progress on the other side of the world, the British track cycling team competed in the first UCI Track Nations Cup of the season, coming away with eight medals. Yes, eight!
Two-time Olympic champion Katie Archibald, secured three at the three-day event in Adelaide, the first of a trio of Nations Cup rounds which will complete the qualifying period for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Following the first round in Australia, riders will compete in Hong Kong from 15-17 March and Milton, Canada from 12-14 April.
On the muddier side of the cycling fraternity, one to watch is Zoe Backstedt, a five-time junior world champ in cyclo-cross (up and down muddy hills, basically, carrying your bike for some parts of the race, and slip sliding on the oozy course).
As of this weekend, the 19-year-old is the Under-23 women's world champion, having taken the lead from halfway through lap one and never looking back.
Seonaid McIntosh's quick response to disappointing result
Seonaid McIntosh "was not happy" after missing out on the Cairo World Cup 10m air rifle shooting final by a centimetre.
Two days later, in her less-favoured 50m event, she won gold, narrowly missing the world record while she was at it.
A title in the 10m air rifle mixed pairs with Dean Bale secured Britain's first-ever medal in that event, presumably putting a smile back on the face of the 2018 world champion.
McIntosh will return at the 10m rifle and pistol European Championships from 24 February to 3 March in Hungary.
Windsurfing fightback for Emma Wilson
Emma Wilson, an officially selected athlete for Team GB for Paris 2024, took home World Championship silver in the women's iQFOiL windsurfing discipline at the global gathering in Lanzarote on Saturday.
In a dramatic climax, Wilson, who had won 15 of the 20 qualifying races, was handed a time penalty from the judges for starting early in the final in the new format in which the top ten finalists' scores are wiped from qualifying and into a winner-takes-all race.
Wilson, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist in RS:X fought back to secure the silver, but has eyes firmly on gold come Paris.
Team GB – selected events for the week of Monday 5 February to Sunday 11 February
2-18 February Aquatics World Championships, Doha
8-11 February Equestrian Nations League - Jumping, Abu Dhabi
8-11 February FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments hosted in China, Belgium, Brazil, Hungary
9-11 February Fencing World Cup, Georgia
10 & 11 February BMX Racing World Cup - Round 1 and 2, Rotorua, New Zealand
