Team GB’s athletes will be part of the “most sophisticated high-performance system in the world, bar none” at the Paris Olympics and could win a record-breaking tally of medals. That was the message from UK Sport and the British Olympic Association on Monday as they confirmed that Team GB would send 327 athletes in 24 sports to France. Notably, there will be significantly more women (174) than men (153) for the second Games in a row.
UK Sport has set a broad range of 50-70 medals as it aims to be top five in the medal table yet again. However, its director of performance, Kate Baker, predicted that if all went well, Britain could eclipse the record 67 medals won at the 2016 Rio Games.
“We are feeling confident that we are on an upward trajectory as we head towards the Games,” she said. “We feel very confident that we will get between 50 and 70 medals and that on a good day that 70 is really within our grasp.”
Since 2016, several British sports – including cycling and gymnastics – have been subject to major investigations after athletes spoke out about a culture of fear in the organisations. Baker pointedly said it was important the GB team “won well” at the Games. “Over the last three years we have done a lot of work on our ethical culture.”
The team’s chef de mission, Mark England, said he was confident Britain’s athletes were peaking at the right time. “This is the most sophisticated high-performance system in the world, bar none,” he said. “I don’t see anything at the moment that we are missing a trick. This is just an incredibly talented team that I am fortunate enough to lead in Paris.”
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ParalympicsGB, which has never been outside the top five of the medal table since the inaugural Games in Rome in 1960, is targeting 100 to 140 medals in Paris. “Even on a bad day I think our Paralympics team will get 100 medals,” Baker said.