Thirteen gymnasts have been confirmed to compete for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The team of ten artistic gymnasts and three trampoline gymnasts includes multi-Olympic medal winners alongside those making their Games debuts with every gymnast having won major championships medal this cycle.
Six-time Olympic medallist and gymnastics legend, Max Whitlock OBE, will once again headline the men’s line up. Announcing earlier this year that Paris will be his last Olympic Games, Whitlock’s legacy as the greatest British Olympic gymnast is already secured and he’ll be aiming for more medal joy this summer. Joe Fraser, who appeared in the Tokyo 2020 line up, returns to Team GB for a consecutive Olympic Games and he and Whitlock are joined by teammates Jake Jarman, Harry Hepworth, and Luke Whitehouse, who all make their Olympic debuts this summer.
“This Olympics is even more crazy for me because it’s going be my last one,” commented Whitlock. “I am excited to trust the process and give it everything I’ve got as there’s nothing to lose at this stage.
“My family are coming out to Paris, which I’m so grateful for. This is the first Olympic Games where my daughter can watch me compete. I am excited for her to experience the Games, especially now she’s taken up gymnastics herself, it’s going to be really special.
“Paris is the closest thing we have had to a home Games since London 2012. Having such a small time difference, being so close to the UK and having lots of British support in the crowd will give the whole team a massive boost.”
Alice Kinsella, who was part of the history making bronze medal women’s team at the Tokyo 2020 Games, leads the women’s artistic team to Paris. She is joined by Becky Downie MBE, who will be competing in her third Games after making her debut aged 16 at Beijing 2008, with Georgia-Mae Fenton, Ruby Evans, and Abi Martin all set to compete for Team GB for the first time in the French capital.
Olympic debutant, Martin, said; “I’m really excited, it feels great to be selected for such a big competition, especially being only 16, so I’m just going to make the most of the experience. This is my first year as a senior gymnast, so it feels amazing to be headed to Paris as it’s the first time I’m eligible to go to compete at an Olympic Games, so to have made the team is a big achievement.”
“During the Tokyo Olympic Games, I remember watching the girls on the TV with my mum and cheering them on from home, hoping that one day that could be me, and now three years later I’m part of the team competing at the Games – it’s so strange to think about it like that.”
In trampoline gymnastics, double Olympic medalist, Bryony Page, who heads to the Games off the back an incredible year in which she became both World and European Champion, is joined by Games debutants Izzy Songhurst and Zak Perzamanos who complete the thirteen strong gymnastics team.
Page added, “It really hasn’t sunk in yet that this will be my third Olympic Games. I have all the feelings – happiness, pride, excitement – I just want to stay in the moment as I know how fast everything goes. I’m excited to share the experience with Izzy and Zak who are first time Olympians, to meet the wider Team GB athletes and to get to Paris. My preparations are heading in the right direction and I’m looking forward to continuing that progress in my training in the next eight weeks alongside the whole gymnastics team together towards one Olympic goal.”
Team GB Chef de Mission, Mark England OBE, said: “Team GB has proven itself as a serious medal contender in all three of gymnastics disciplines selected today, and it is fantastic to head to Paris with athletes who not only have Games experience, but experience of standing on that Olympic rostrum. I am sure all eight Olympic debutants in the team will lean on their experience this summer, and the team will once again make the nation proud.”
Tracy Whittaker-Smith MBE, British Gymnastics Performance Director – Olympic Disciplines, said: “Announcing the line ups for Paris 2024 is an extremely exciting and proud moment for everyone involved. We are delighted to have selected such a strong team of gymnasts who we know will do Team GB and the nation proud this summer. With first Games debutantes alongside established Olympic greats like Max Whitlock OBE and Bryony Page we feel we have a fantastic mix of athletes all of whom have achieved major championship medal success this cycle. We head to the Games with medal ambitions across the board and more than that, with the aim to unite the gymnastics community in a celebration of our incredible sport with these inspirational Olympic role models at the heart of that. We look forward to celebrating all that’s great about gymnastics, drawing on the huge support from back home to enjoy a memorable Olympic Games.”
With thanks to Team GB
