Sir Keir Starmer has extended his well-wishes to Team GB’s 327 athletes after watching flag-bearers Tom Daley and Helen Glover lead out the British contingent at the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris.
The Prime Minister – who unlike his neighbours opted out of a protective poncho – was amongst the dignitaries braving the downpour at the Trocadero, the end-point of a six-kilometre flotilla of athletes down the Seine marking the first time a summer Olympic curtain-raiser has ever taken place outside a stadium.
Sixteen-year-old Megan Havers got the British contingent off to their competitive start on Thursday when she fired the first arrow at the archery preliminaries, while campaigns in men’s rugby sevens, women’s football and handball – all without British representation – also began earlier this week.
The Games have now kicked into full gear with a Saturday programme featuring 14 medal events and a first look at three-time Olympic champion Adam Peaty in his 100m breaststroke heat.
The Prime Minister said: “The whole country is rooting for our excellent Team GB athletes and coaching staff who have made it to these Olympics after years of hard work and dedication.
“Their incredible skill and talent will inspire a new generation to take up sport in their community, creating a real and lasting legacy from these games.”
The Prime Minister will be joined by sports minister Stephanie Peacock in the French capital, where Team GB will be aiming to follow on from its 64-medal success at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a target of between 50 and 70 medals in Paris.
The sports and athletes that make up Team GB and Paralympics GB have been backed by £385 million in Government and National Lottery funding through the Paris cycle.
The funding programme has seen Team GB and ParalympicsGB’s performance improve significantly over the last 20 years, with Team GB achieving consecutive top-four finishes in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021, from 36th on the medal table at Atlanta in 1996.
With 14 teenagers and 158 debutants part of the Team GB class of 2024, these Games are being viewed by some as a natural passing of the torch from London 2012 competitors to a new generation of rising British talent inspired by them.
More than 100 athletes have also signed up to the National Lottery-funded ChangeMakers programme, which will see them supporting social impact projects in local communities across the UK in the days after they return from Paris.
Ms. Peacock added: “This generation of amazing Team GB athletes have grown up inspired by the success of London 2012, and are ready to make the nation proud at the Paris 2024 Olympics as they take on the world’s best.
“We are committed to giving our kids every possible chance to chase their dreams of becoming the next Helen Glover, Tom Daley or Dina Asher-Smith and the whole country will be right behind the team as they go for gold.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here