GB sets Olympic & Paralympic targets for Paris 2024

Lauren Rowles (left) and Olivia Breen both won medals for ParalympicsGB at Tokyo 2020

UK Sport expects Team GB to win between 50 and 70 medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The UK’s high performance sport agency has also set a target of 100-140 Paralympic medals this summer - and a top-five finish in both medal tables.

At the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, Britain finished fourth in the Olympic table with a total of 64 medals and second in the Paralympic table with 124.

No strict targets were set for Tokyo because of the impact of the Covid pandemic, although UK Sport hoped British athletes would win between 45 and 70 Olympic medals and between 100 and 140 in the Paralympics.

At Rio 2016, GB finished second in both the Olympic and Paralympic medal tables, with 67 and 147 medals respectively.

That made it the nation's most successful overseas Olympics ever and its most successful Paralympics since Seoul 1988.

In Tokyo, British athletes won medals in 18 Olympic sports and 18 Paralympic sports, the most of any nation ever.

"GB boasts 41 current world champions in Olympic disciplines and a further 61 in Paralympic disciplines, highlighting the immense talent across our sports," said Dr Kate Baker, UK Sport's director of performance.

"We’ve built a world-class system with brilliant people which has been fantastically well supported by government and The National Lottery so I’m confident British athletes will write the next chapter of British Olympic and Paralympic success in the coming weeks."

Over the course of the Paris build-up, UK Sport has invested £315m of government and National Lottery funds into 53 Olympic and Paralympic sports.

A further £70m has been distributed directly to 1,100 athletes in the form of athlete performance awards.

“In recent years, we’ve also seen some of our most successful athletes utilise their sporting platform to drive societal change on issues ranging from the environment to LGBTQ+ rights to mental health, to female body image, and so much more," said Dame Katherine Grainger, chair of UK Sport.

"Chasing the dream of winning an Olympic or Paralympic title is incredibly tough so I’m especially proud of those who decide to go a step further and use their sporting success to make a difference in society."