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MILLIONS will tune in to watch Team GB veterans Tom Daley, Adam Peaty and Max Whitlock try to boost their gold medal collection when the Olympics begin on Friday.
But they are not the only talented British athletes hoping to stand on the winners’ podium at Paris 2024.
Getty
AlamyThere are 327 competitors heading from the UK to the French capital, and 155 of them are men.
They will compete in sports ranging from archery and golf to handball, trampolining and marathon swimming.
At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, our athletes notched up an impressive collection of 64 medals, including 22 golds.
But this year the group, which has a mix of Olympic, World and European medallists, aims to bring home 70.
Nadia Cohen looks at the lads hoping to put the great into Great Britain’s squad at the Games.
Mahamed Mahamed – MARATHON RUNNER
INSPIRED BY MAGIC MO
THE runner grew up chasing off wild animals while protecting herds of cows, sheep and goats in Jarso, Ethiopia.
That was before emigrating to Southampton at the age of 14.
ReutersKeen to fit in, Mahamed tried a range of sports at school but only started running marathons a year ago — finishing fourth at the 2024 London Marathon with a personal best of 2:07.05.
That made him the third-fastest Briton ever over the distance.
The 26-year-old Muslim was fasting in the lead-up to the marathon and says keeping his fitness while observing Ramadan was a challenge, but worthwhile.
British long distance runner and Olympic hero Mo Farah is his idol.
Mahamed said: “Mo Farah has played a big role in my sporting career.
“He gives me a call whenever I need something, which is one of the best feelings ever.”
Lewis Richardson – BOXER
THE TICKET TO VICTORY
LEWIS started boxing at the age of 13 as a way of keeping fit between games of football.
The fighter from Colchester played footie for Essex.
GettyHe was first selected as a middleweight boxer for Team GB in 2018.
But he suffered three stress fractures in his back, which left him out of action and meant he missed out on Tokyo 2020.
Now he has had to drop down a weight class after the 75kg category was removed from the Olympic programme.
Lewis, 27, wept when he qualified for Paris at a nail-biting fight in Thailand earlier this year.
After a celebratory party organised by his girlfriend, he said: “I’m super-professional and I’ll get myself in the best possible shape I can be in for the Olympics.
“I’ve got the golden ticket after putting in years and years of hard work.”
Louie Hinchliffe – 100 METRE RUNNER
HE’S AS FAST AS A SPEEDING MULLET
IT is not Louie’s distinctive mullet hairstyle or even his safety-pin earrings that make this young sprinter instantly recognisable.
What really sets him apart is his incredible speed.
GettyThe 22-year-old from Sheffield fired himself into the Olympic team after running 100m in 10.18 seconds earlier this year.
He is a lover of all sports — and talented at many, too.
Louie was once scouted by Manchester City, boasts a golf handicap of one and his coach is the American legendary former track and field athlete Carl Lewis, who won nine Olympic gold medals.
Louie’s mum is from the Philippines and his dad, a former goalkeeper for London football team Leyton Orient, hails from Rotherham.
When the 100m final takes place in Paris on August 4, it will be exactly 40 years to the day since his mentor Carl clinched a fourth Olympic gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, with the 100m relay.
Louie says: “To think I am now inspiring people is crazy.”
Zharnel Hughes – 100 METRE AND 200 METRE RUNNER
CALL HIM ‘THE SWIFT’ …FASTEST BRIT EVER
NICKNAMED The Swift, he is the fastest British man ever, having broken our 200m and 100m records that stood for 30 years.
The 100m was held by Linford Christie, whose photo is Zharnel’s phone screensaver to inspire him.
GettyThe runner, a qualified pilot who trained with Olympic sprint great Usain Bolt in Jamaica, is from the Caribbean isle of Anguilla, which is not recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
But as a resident of a British Overseas Territory, he joined Team GB in 2015.
Zharnel is ready to win after a false start in the 100m final and his silver relay medal being stripped following a teammate’s doping violation in Tokyo.
Zharnel’s partner, social media influencer Shenel Francis, is his biggest supporter.
Adam Burgess – CANOEIST
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
THE Black Sabbath and Stoke City fan has four European Championship and five World Championship medals to his name.
Sponsored by National Lottery Good Causes, Adam first represented Britain at the age of 14 and moved from his homecity of Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham, to train full-time two years later.
GettyAdam, 32, missed out on bronze by 0.16 seconds in Tokyo and says he has “unfinished business” in Paris.
He loves yoga, is a professionally qualified speciality coffee brewer and also an “oxygen advantage instructor”.
He teaches how the simple act of breathing can build a stronger, healthier and more resilient body.
He became fascinated by the power of breathing when it helped him recover from a shoulder injury in 2017.
Jacob Dawson – ROWER
OARSOME RECOVERY
QUALIFIED tree surgeon Jacob plans to enter the trade professionally when his rowing career ends.
The 30-year-old DIY fan from Plymouth is known as the GB rowing team’s handyman.
Jacob Dawson is known as the GB rowing team’s handymanGettyHis crew took home a bronze medal in Tokyo but Jacob almost died two years later from a life-threatening pulmonary embolism — a blood clot on his lung — caused by Covid complications.
He said: “It turns out the bottom part of my lung had collapsed.
“In moments, everything was shattered. But my mind was just in survival mode.
“The hardest thing of it all was having to tell my mum.
“Of course, there were tears but I’m grateful that I’m here to tell the story. It’s given me a new lease of life.”
Jacob returned to full fitness after three weeks of bed rest and two months away.
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