The final day of action at the European Games saw Team GB claim two golds and one bronze, with heavyweight boxer Delicious Orie selected to carry the flag at the Closing Ceremony after claiming the +92kg title.

Team GB won a total of 49 medals throughout the Games, topping their previous record of 47 medals won at Baku 2015.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” said Orie. “I’m so proud to represent Team GB – it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I started boxing, and here we are. I’m a flagbearer… all my dreams are just coming true in one day! It’s all come together. I’m very grateful.

“It means everything to be able to carry this flag and represent Great Britain. I’ve been through so much growing up, and this country has given me so many opportunities. Great Britain is the reason I’m here standing, it’s the reason I’ve got a gold medal. The people are amazing, it’s a land of opportunity, and here I am, proving it.

“Man, I just can’t put it into words. For me, this is my thank you – winning gold medals for my country. To be able to hold this flag above my head and show the Great British public that I adore them… I just want to say thank you everyone so much for your support – you’re the reason I’m here doing my thing.”

Ahead of Orie’s gold medal bout against Mahammad Abdullayev of Azerbaijan, the 6 foot 6 heavyweight had already confirmed Team GB a quota place Paris 2024. He adds the European title to his collection alongside the Commonwealth Games title he brought home in 2022.

On the final day of competition in canoe slalom, Ryan Westley stormed to victory in the men’s C1 final to secure Team GB another quota spot for Paris 2024. This marks an emotional return to form for Westley, who has had a difficult season to date.

“I can’t really believe it,” Westley said afterwards. “I came into the season with loads of confidence, felt like I’d had a really good winter’s training. I was in the best shape I’ve been for a long time, then my races just weren’t stacking up like I thought they should be, so I really came into this one with no expectations and I’ve had three pretty good runs across the competition.

“We got a bronze in the team competition the other day and I saw the Germans’ gold medals and thought ‘those look nice and shiny’. Never thought I’d get one for myself, so I’m buzzing. I’m really looking forward to standing up there in my Team GB tracksuit and hearing the national anthem.”

And in the women’s competition, Mallory Franklin added to the medal haul with a bronze, with her turn of speed enough to book her a place on the podium.

Franklin had mixed emotions after her run: “It definitely feels a bit odd. There was a lot I left out there in – my run wasn’t amazing and three touches feels like a bit much. I knew I had the pace and gained a bit with a couple of the spins […] I’m pleased to come away with a medal. To have that kind of pace to get away with the three touches is pretty cool, too!”

Hear a round up of all the action from Team GB at the European Games here, with featured interviews from gold medallists Abbie Brown and Meg Jones – co-captains of the women’s rugby sevens side – taekwondo fighters Jade Jones and Caden Cunningham, BMX rider Kieran Reilly and many more.

Joe Choong, the current Olympic and World champion, secured one of Team GB’s modern pentathlon spots at next year’s Games following his silver in the men’s individual competition.

Choong, who needed to achieve a top eight finish to claim the quota place, went into the laser run in third position, with teammate Miles Pillage right behind him in fourth, after strong performances across the showjumping, fencing and swimming disciplines.

However, it was Italian Giorgio Malan that stormed to the European title with his 09:58:00 laser run helping him power home to victory by a significant distance. Choong crossed the line in second following a resilient run (10:05:70), with Csaba Bohm of Hungary completing the podium spots.

Fellow Brits Pillage and Charlie Brown finished fourth and 11th respectively, meaning Team GB clinched the men’s team gold medal, with their combined score of 4,548 bettering that of their French and Italian challengers.

Speaking after collecting his two medals, Choong said, “This competition has been fantastic. I really think it shows how good pentathlon can look for an audience when it’s organised well. In terms of facilities and organisation, this has definitely been one of the nicest competitions and we’ve been so lucky to be able to be to compete here.

“For my last two [Olympic] Games, I managed to get that qualification spot the year before, which means you don’t have to travel the world the year of the Games, doing every competition trying to chase the qualification points. It means you can really focus on which competitions you want and really get in a good block of training without the distraction and pressure of trying to get those points at the last minute.”

In the women’s competition, Team GB debutant Olivia Green brought home a bronze after a thrilling comeback in the laser run, also clinching an all-important quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

After dropping two poles in the showjumping round and facing a tough field in the fencing, Green had a long way to climb going into the swim. Despite clocking a personal best in the pool (02:14:35), she lined up for the start of the laser run in 11th behind teammates Kerenza Bryson and Emma Whitaker in eighth and ninth, with Italy’s Alice Sotero kicking off the race twenty seconds ahead of her closest rival.

Aided by precision in the shooting, Green inched her way up the field and a gutsy final 600m saw her overtake a number of competitors, including Laura Asadauskaite (Lithuania) and Marie Oteiza (France) to take bronze just behind silver medallist Laura Heredia of Spain.

Green said, “Honestly, I just feel out of this world, I feel amazing. I’ve never had my own international medal on the World Cup series, Euros, any big competitions, so, to come and do it where there’s Olympics spots available as well, it just feels unreal.

“Coming into the competition, I obviously wanted to medal, wanted to win, wanted to get the Olympic spot, but it’s really difficult with pentathlon because there’s five sports and trying to pull them all together on the day there’s so much that could go wrong. So, for it to actually come together when I needed it to is just the best feeling.”

Ben Lane and Sean Vendy scooped a silver medal in the final of the badminton men’s doubles, where they took on the Danish pairing of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

While the first game went to the Danes, the British duo fought to turn the tide and take the second on a score of 21-19. The third started well for the Danes but, with everything on the line, the Brits came back from behind even the score and to take it to the wire. The match stayed point for point as the game reached its nail-biting conclusion, before the Danes finally pulled again to win 21-19.

Respective semi-finals for Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the mixed doubles, and Kirsty Gilmour in the women’s singles resulted in two further bronze medals from the badminton court.

Ellis and Smith faced French opponents, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, who were yet to drop a set at the European Games – a streak that was initially continued as they overturned a six-point deficit against Ellis and Smith in a captivating first set. The Minsk 2019 European Games champions fought back to take the match into a third set with a 21-14 win in the second, but were denied the opportunity to retain their title with the French duo sealing match point with a three-point lead.

Gilmour’s run deep into the competition was halted by Spain’s Carolina Martin, with a 2-0 loss not dampening the spirits of two-time Olympian who had come through a number of electric knockout matches to reach the last four.

Team GB’s mixed relay triathlon team of Barclay Izzard, Connor Bentley, Sophie Aldon, and Sian Rainsley navigated treacherous, rainy conditions to win silver at the Nova Huta Lake, in Krakow.

Following some strong work from Izzard, Aldon and Bentley, the British quartet were well-placed in fifth going into the final leg, just 00:13 behind leaders Norway.
Rainsley battled hard and managed to claw the team back into medal contention, gaining three places after the swim. However, she couldn’t quite close the gap on European Games individual champion Solveig Lovseth, eventually bringing the team home in second (01:07:33), just four seconds behind their Norwegian counterparts.

Shooting finished their trip to Poland on a high by taking silver in the trap mixed team event. Lucy Hall and Matt Coward-Holley proved untouchable in qualification, with a score of 144 out of a possible 150. A shoot-out decided that Italy would go up against them in the gold medal match. The final was tightly fought, with the lead switching back and forth between teams, but the Italians eventually come out on top with a final score of 6–4 against the British pair.

After a rain-soaked medal ceremony, Team GB debutant Hall commented: “It feels absolutely amazing – my first Team GB medal! We shot great throughout and we just got pipped at the post, but I’m really, really happy. There isn’t a better feeling than wearing the Team GB kit with the Olympic rings on it. Hopefully, this is the first of many – I feel so proud.”

Elsewhere, Joe Clarke continued his blistering form in the 2023 season, winning his fourth medal of the calendar year with bronze in the K1 canoe slalom competition.
Clarke, who has won four international medals on the Krakow course previously, showed great character to recover from hitting the opening gate to set the overall standard, with his time of 89.80 placing him top of the standings with nine paddlers left to go.

However Swiss paddler Martin Dougoud and reigning Olympic Champion (Czech Republic) snuck in ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Champion, pushing him down to third position.

Hear a round up of all the action from Team GB at the European Games so far here, with featured interviews from gold medallists Abbie Brown and Meg Jones – co-captains of the women’s rugby sevens side – taekwondo fighters Jade Jones and Caden Cunningham, BMX rider Kieran Reilly and many more.

With thanks to Team GB

Rugby sevens co-captain Brown, who hopes to make Paris 2024 her third Olympic Games, and Olympic canoe slalom champion Clarke were selected for the honour by Team GB Chef de Mission Paul Ford. They were put forward for consideration by their sports as athletes that exemplify the Olympic Values and uphold the Team GB Values of Pride, Responsibility, Respect and Unity.

Brown and Clarke follow in the footsteps of double Olympic champion boxer Nicola Adams, who carried the flag at the Baku 2015 European Games, and Olympic bronze medal-winning judoka Sally Conway, who had the honour at Minsk 2019.

Brown and her teammates will be looking to secure a quota spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by claiming European Games gold, while Clarke will seek to lay the foundations for his own Paris 2024 qualification in the kayak off the back of his gold medal at the World Cup in Ljubljana-Tacen last weekend.

Brown said: “I was so shocked when Paul rang me, I didn’t expect it at all and I never thought this would be something I’d get the chance to do. It’s going to be a really special moment for me, but also a really special moment for my team because that’s who I’m going to be representing. It’s such an honour to be chosen and a privilege to be able to walk out alongside the rest of the Team GB rugby girls and boys.”

Clarke said: “It’s an absolute honour to be one of the flagbearers. When I got asked I was super proud and excited. I told my parents and they were buzzing! To carry the flag for Team GB is a massive thing and something you dream of – I’ve seen plenty of athletes do it on TV so to be among them is pretty special. ”

Team GB Chef de Mission Paul Ford said: “Being given the honour of leading Team GB out at a Games is a big milestone in an athlete’s career, and when I spoke to both Abbie and Joe you could hear the excitement in their voices. Both are world class performers and leaders whose values represent what the entire team is here to do: be highly competitive, advance qualification for Paris 2024, and embrace being part of One Team GB.”