Top-five target for Tokyo – with peak to arrive in Paris
➤ Young Team GB not expected to hit highs of London and Rio ➤ Robertson: 70 per cent of athletes should medal in 2024
Team GB have set themselves the target of remaining at least in the top five of the Olympic medal table, but have suggested that this generation may peak in Paris in 2024, when more than two-thirds of the team are rated as podium prospects.
After record-breaking medal hauls in London and Rio de Janeiro, when Team GB were respectively third and second in the medals, the youngest team for more than a decade will be competing in Tokyo following the departure from the main stage of serial winners such as Dame Jessica Ennis-hill, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Dame Katherine Grainger, Alistair Brownlee and Mo Farah.
UK Sport, which has distributed almost £350 million of Lottery money to the sports during this fiveyear cycle, has not set specific targets, but a medal range of 45 to 70 has been projected.
Team GB won a record 67 medals in 2016, but even the lower end of that threshold has only been surpassed over the past century at Beijing 2008 (51 medals) and London 2012 (65 medals), as well as in Rio five years ago.
“I think anybody watching at home will realise these are wholly unique Games taking place against a backdrop we have never seen or dealt with,” Sir Hugh Robertson, the chair of the British Olympic Association, said. “It’s been a real achievement to get 375 athletes in 26 different sports out here.
“This is going to be a slightly bumpy ride – if we manage to get those athletes to the start line safe and sound, it will be an extraordinary achievement.
“We actually have a much younger squad than in London and Rio – 70 per cent of athletes would probably be expected to medal in Paris. I think when you put the two together that will help manage expectations.”
Sally Munday, the chief executive of UK Sport, said that there were still “bumper medal opportunities” across a greater spread of sports than virtually any other nation.
“At this most extraordinary of Games, success is definitely not just about counting medals,” Munday said. “It’s about our athletes reaching Tokyo, their well-being, and reaching their dreams, but also about bringing us as Britons together and sharing that national pride. We are not shying away from our target of wanting to keep winning medals and our long-term aspiration is to always be in the top five, but it will feel very different this time and be very emotional, and we also want every athlete to have a really positive journey.”
She added: “We have got more athletes making their debuts in Tokyo than we did in Rio, which suggests the future is pretty bright.
“We are clear, for the long term, we consistently want to be in the top five. We believe we have got the capability and the talent to do that. We think there will be plenty of medal moments.”
And Munday also believes the new sports coming into the Games mean Britain has a chance of success in more events than previously, while emphasising that impressive performances are as important for raising the profile of their events than just medals.
“We are excited about the breadth and at some of the new sports coming in, so there will be a real range of medal opportunities,” she said.
“But the athletes are also willing and keen to share their own experiences, and it is important to tell those stories and show that this Games is more than medals.
“I think the British public get it and are just thrilled that the Games are going ahead and that the athletes who have trained so hard to compete are able to be here.”