Meet the male athletes from our region looking to take the Olympics by storm:
The 23-year-old from Wordsley will compete in his first Olympics for Ireland less than a fortnight after completing his first Tour de France.
“But for me it is going to be a bit of a guessing game, really. I am going to do my best to try and recover well and take some good legs to the Olympics.” Healy, who claimed his maiden Grand Tour win at last year’s Giro d’Italia, has been among the most aggressive riders at this year’s Tour de France and claimed an impressive fifth-placed finish on stage nine, which took place on gravel roads around Troyes.
But for a long time in British Cycling, he was seen as something of an outsider and was better known for his expertise in engineering than racing. Bigham continued: “There are many to thank for the time and effort they’ve put into me on this journey. I’ll make sure I give everything I have so I can thank you with the best version of me on the start line and hopefully achieve a result to match.”Matthew Hudson-Smith wants Paris 2024 to be the culmination of a decade-long journey – as he attempts to do what no other British man has accomplished in a century.
“That is definitely the goal for me – be the second Brit to get the Olympic gold and create my own history,” said Hudson-Smith, in a recent interview. “Last year was bittersweet. I came away with the world silver but the gold was on the table. This year, we have got a plan and it is just now sticking to it and executing it.
A surprise invitation to a Diamond League meeting in Glasgow, where he ran the second fastest time in Europe that year, quickly changed those plans, getting him out of his job working on the tills at Brierley Hill Asda and on the path to becoming the continent’s fastest ever athlete over 400m. “When I said it I looked at my agent because I didn’t want it to be a headline. I didn’t really want to be one of those people who used it as an excuse. But now I think it’s good to be open and honest about mental health because I think more athletes are now talking about it.
Carvell, who turned 20 last month, will be among the youngest members of the GB track and field squad after being selected for the men’s and mixed 4x400 metre relay squad. Carvell, who trains at Loughborough University, is mentored by former Olympic medallist Martyn Rooney, who also coaches the relay teams. Despite his relative inexperience, he is heading to Paris with ambitions of bringing home a medal.
Carvell was due to compete at the London Diamond League before heading to France for preparation camp later this week.That is the attitude which has paid off for Wolverhampton marathon swimmer Toby Robinson, who will finally make his Olympic bow in Paris after two previous agonising near misses. “So 10 minutes went by before I actually found out I’d qualified it, and when I found out, I was so overwhelmed and speechless, just so happy that I’d achieved what I’ve been working for.”
The former Ellesmere Titan and Whitchurch Wasps swimmer was elbowed by a competitor with such force it snapped his goggles and cut his eye to the extent he had to call for the rescue boat and abandon. “When you think of open water swimming you don’t see it as a contact sport – it opened people’s eyes.Born in Wales, Pardoe grew up in Shropshire and took up open water swimming aged 14. He underlined his potential by winning bronze at the 2016 world junior championships before moving to Montpellier in France for two years to train under respected coach Philippe Lucas ahead of Tokyo.
“The emotions were quite high, following the path of redemption from Tokyo with the eye injury,” he said after securing his place earlier this year. “I was feeling great throughout the whole race , and that last lap I made it happen and followed my strategy perfectly. I went into Tokyo as a 20-year-old without much experience. The experience I’ve gained in the last three years will really set me up nicely to compete with the big boys in Paris.
“If you asked me two years ago if I would be in this position I’d have said there’s no way,” explained the 20-year-old back in April. “I can’t put it into words.” “It proves you don’t have to be there as a youngster,” said Morgan. “I did what I enjoyed when I was young. I played football and mountain biked.Those hours spent in the Ludlow pool also instilled in Morgan a pure enjoyment of the sport which persists as he prepares for the biggest stage of all.
Now, he is back, a different, markedly more relaxed character who has found religion and looks upon his achievements and career through very different eyes. There is no such thing as a sure thing in sport. Yet for many years, Peaty was about as close as you could get, such was the way he dominated his event.
The big question is whether it will be good enough to beat China’s Qin Haiyang, the reigning world champion who got the better of Peaty in last autumn’s World Cup meetings. “I’m on the front foot, like I was in Rio, on the full attack but present, calm and relaxed, which is when Mel would say I’m most dangerous. I like being the underdog. I’ve enjoyed being the person with the bow and arrow and not the one being fired at.”
Eight years after becoming the first British athlete to win gold K1 slalom canoe gold in Rio, Clarke has the chance to be the first man ever to win two Olympic kayak titles. “I proved to myself at the home world championships that two golds is possible. That makes it quite exciting, that is the dream and the ultimate goal.”
“Your first Games is a learning experience, the second is the one you perform at so to go to your first and win gold, you have almost cheated the system a bit. Shropshire hockey star David Goodfield has battled through the pain barrier to make his Olympic dream a reality. “The issues came back with a massive vengeance in November. From November until eight weeks ago, I didn’t really play a huge amount of hockey.“The timing was always going to be really tight. The nature of my back is that you don’t get a warning sign that it’s going to go, it just goes and you can either play or you can’t play.
Burgess, who like Joe Clarke is a member of Stafford & Stone Canoe Club, was a whisker away from claiming a medal in the C1 slalom event three summers ago, missing out on third place and bronze by less than two-tenths of a second. “The harsh reality is that I match the world champion and the reigning Olympic champion in main qualifying and in semi-finals but he’s winning a lot more medals and we need to address that.
“There is also a performance element and there are certain things in my warm-up that I don’t see any other athlete doing. The proof is in the pudding, I think.”In that respect, the former Sandwell Academy student even making it to Paris for his second Olympics feels something of an achievement. Fraser, who won a world title on the parallel bars in 2019, has a track record of delivering under pressure. Two summers ago he was a poster boy for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and still delivered on the expectation, winning three gold medals, despite competing throughout with a fractured foot and just weeks after having his appendix removed.
“Going into this year, a lot of people probably thought I was not going to get back in time for Paris.” But there is so much more to his story. Born in Moscow to a Nigerian father and Russian mother, Orie arrived in the UK aged seven when dad Justin decided to move the family in order to escape racism.
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