Nine young Olympians to watch from Team GB
- Published
BOXING: Caroline Dubois is a Youth Olympic champion, World Youth champion and four-time European Youth champion! The 20-year-old from Enfield is now going for gold at the Tokyo Games. She first started boxing aged nine and after success at the European Youth Championships and the Youth Olympics, she was named the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2019. And with an amateur record so far of 35 wins and just two losses, she will be confident of bringing a medal back home this summer.
SKATEBOARDING: Sky Brown isn't the only young skateboarder appearing at the Tokyo Olympics, Bombette Martin has just turned 15 and will also be representing Team GB. Despite being born in Manhattan in New York City, Bombette says she's an out and out Brummie, having grown-up in Birmingham. Making its first Olympic appearance at Tokyo, skateboarding will be judged on the difficulty and the execution of the boarders tricks, similar to some of the snowboarding events we're used to at the Winter Olympics.
SWIMMING: When Matt Richards was five, he gave his parents a shock on a family holiday in Tenerife by jumping into the hotel pool without any armbands on. His swimming lessons began as soon as they returned home. Matt would train at his school in Worcester and was a talented junior - winning the European junior title over 100m just two years ago. Since then it has been a rapid rise to the top. The 18-year-old says: "We're not just going to get the tracksuit... what's next?"
GYMNASTICS: You might recognise Amelie Morgan as she was one of CBBC's Gym Stars - a show which went behind the scenes of the lives of some of the UK's most promising young gymnasts. Starting gymnastics at the age of seven, 18-year-old Amelie from Slough was home schooled so she could fit in her 35-hour weekly training schedule. As a junior, she won two silvers at the 2018 European Championships, and also won two silvers at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. Can she get an Olympic medal next?
BMX: Two wheels run in the family for Kye Whyte - his brothers Daniel and Tre are racers too - and he joins seven other Team GB BMX stars to come from Peckham BMX Club! Kye started his BMX career when he was just three years old but only started training full-time in September 2017. He went on to win 10 consecutive British junior titles on his path to the senior level. He took European Championship silver and a World Cup victory in 2018 and 2019. At the 2019 World Championships he was caught behind a crash but still managed to come fifth!
ROWING: Coleraine's Hannah Scott will make her Olympic debut in Japan as part of the women's quadruple sculls crew, which involves a team of four, with two oars each rowing a long, narrow boat with a sliding seat. Scott, who is 22 has juggled Olympic training with studying for a degree in sociology at America's famous Princeton University in New Jersey.
HOCKEY: Jacob Draper's performances for Wales at the 2019 EuroHockey Championships caught the eyes of the Team GB bosses. Within a few weeks he made his debut. He now has 16 caps to go with the 50 he has already won for Wales. Jacob from Cwmbran is a key member of the GB defence and will be one of the first two Welsh male hockey players at a Games since Sydney 2000.
ROAD CYCLING: Anna Shackley will be making her Olympic debut in Tokyo with Team GB in her first year as a professional cyclist. Anna, who's 20, comes from Milngavie, just north of Glasgow. She first started racing when she was just six years old and only turned pro in 2021. She's actually coached by Emma Trott - the sister of the most successful female track cyclist in Olympic history, Laura Kenny.
GYMNASTICS: The Tokyo Olympic Games will be a family affair for Jennifer and her twin sister Jessica Gadirova who are both selected to represent Team GB. Aged 16, the sisters were born in Dublin, Ireland to parents from Azerbaijan. Both started gymnastics at six years old, and are now two of the best gymnasts Britain have.
- Published20 July 2021
- Published16 July 2021
- Published19 July 2021
