Team GB medal hopefuls in action today: July 31

Bryony Shaw (GETTY IMAGES)

Your one-stop guide to the Team GB medal hopes in action at the Olympics today...

Bryony Shaw

Age: 29

Place of Birth: England

Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X

Rival: Marina Alabau, Spain

Medal Prospects: Gold is the dream but silver or bronze might be more realistic.

Bryony Shaw became Britain’s first Olympic women's windsurfing medallist when she took home bronze from the 2008 Games. Since Beijing she has seen great success, her biggest highlight being a gold medal at the 2010 World Cup in France. She ranked fourth at the last World Championships but will see herself as having a great chance of winning gold.

Dates of event: July 31 – August 7

Odds: 4/1

Nick Dempsey

Age: 31

Place of Birth: England

Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X

Rival: Nimrod Mashich, Israel

Medal Prospects: Determined to get gold but current world No1 Mashich will probably get in his way. Silver at best.

Nick Dempsey comes into the 2012 Games determined to finish on the podium after a disappointing fourth place in Beijing. Since 2008 he has worked hard and enjoyed success, winning World Championship gold for the first time in 2009. That World Championships happened to have been at Weymouth and Portland, the venue for this year’s Olympic – surely a promising sign for the first Britain to win a medal in windsurfing.

Dates of event: July 31 – August 7

Odds: 4/1

Zara Phillips, Kristina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Piggy French and Mary King

Ages: 31, 41, 43, 31 and 51

Main Event: Team Eventing

Rival: Germany won gold in Beijing

Medal Prospects: The team will be confident of improving on the bronze they won in 2008.

Team GB have a wealth of experience in their eventing team this summer. London will be Mary King’s sixth Olympics, William Fox-Pitt’s fourth and Kristina

Cook’s second. Surprisingly this is Zara Phillips’ first Games as she missed the last two because her horse was injured, while it is also Piggy French’s Games debut. The combination of experience and ability mean that the team will be hopeful of improving upon the bronze that they won in Beijing in 2008.

Dates of event: July 28 – July 31

Odds: 5/2

Chris Bartley, Peter Chambers, Richard Chambers and Rob Williams

Age: 28, 22, 27 and 27

Main Event: Men’s Lightweight Fours

Rivals: Australia

Medal Prospects: Will be in the fight for either a gold or silver medal.

A very encouraging last year saw the crew take silver at the Rowing World Cup in Belgrade followed by bronze in Lucerne and then a superb gold in Munich in June, overcoming great rivals Australia. This excellent run of results suggests that London could be the time for this crew to really shine.

Dates of event: July 28 – August 2

Odds: 15/8

Andy Murray

Age: 25

Place of Birth: Scotland

Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis

Rival: Anyone of the two men ranked above him – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.

Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.

Andy Murray became the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 years in July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Murray's job became a little easier when Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Games.

Dates of event: July 28 – August 5

Odds: 17/2

Ben Ainslie

Age: 35

Place of Birth: England

Main Event: Men’s Finn

Rival: Zach Riley, USA

Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four gold medals.

London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off-day when he capsized and finished second.

Dates of event: July 29 – August 5

Odds: ½

Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson

Age: Both 36

Main Event: Men’s Star

Rival: Robert Scheidt & Bruno Prada, Brazil

Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver

The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However,

the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.

Dates of event: July 29 – August 5

Odds: 7/2

Annie Lush, Lucy MacGregor and Kate MacGregor

Age: 32, 25 and 20

Main Event: Women’s Elliot 6m Team

Rival: Team USA are their closest competitor for top spot.

Medal Prospects: Should get at least silver but will be aiming for gold

The team first came together in 2010 and have since won National, European and World Championship titles. Annie Lush has experience at Olympic level having been part of the GB set up in Athens in 2004. Lucy MacGregor, the elder of the two sisters, skippers the boat and has a long and impressive track record for a 25-year-old. Her younger sister Kate, 20, may not have as much experience but has ample skill. As a group they have already shown their ability and will be firmly in the hunt for a medal come Games time.

Dates of event: July 29 – August 11

Odds: 11/5

Zac Purchase & Mark Hunter

Ages: 26 and 34

Main Event: Lightweight Double Scull

Rivals: New Zealand

Medal Prospects: A disrupted 2012 so far means the pair are unlikely to do better than bronze.

Although they won in Beijing and are current world champions, the duo suffered some setbacks in their preparations for London. Illness played its part in some of their performances this year and they finished a disappointing sixth place in Munich. With their opponents pulling ahead there needs to be a real improvement but it would be a mistake to write this duo off.

Dates of event: July 29 – August 4

Odds: 7/2

Women’s Hockey

Rival: The Netherlands are favourites and are also in Team GB’s group.

Medal Prospects: The team should be in the hunt for bronze.

Team GB’s women are ranked 4th in the world coming into the Olympics. An encouraging performance saw them finish runners-up in the Women’s Championship Trophy at the start of the year but their most recent competition, the London Cup, saw them finish in fifth. However, four of the side’s key players were unavailable for the competition so the team will almost certainly put on better displays in the Games.

Dates of event: July 29 – August 10

Odds: 11/2

Paul Goodison

Age: 34

Place of Birth: England

Main Event: Men’s Laser

Rival: Tom Slingsby, Australia

Medal Prospects: Hot favourite for gold

Paul Goodison is the current reigning Olympic champion is his category and London will be his fourth Games. Coming into the Games the Yorkshireman is ranked number one in the world and holds the Olympic, European, World and British titles. With such a wealth of success and experience behind him, he will be expected to take gold but the highly talented Tom Slingsby cannot be discounted.

Dates of event: July 30 – August 6

Odds: 4/1

Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs-Hodge

Ages: 28, 28, 30 and 33

Main Event: Men’s Four

Rivals: Australia beat Team GB in June

Medal Prospects: Will be a hard fought battle for gold between GB and Australia

The team won gold in 2008 in a close race for the finish against Australia and France. This time round, with Alex Gregory rowing instead of Steve Williams, they will be looking to recreate that success. The Australian team are in great form so it promises to be a real battle.

Dates of event: July 30 – August 4

Odds: 8/13

Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins

Age: 36 and 29

Main Event: Women’s Double Scull

Rivals: The closest team to them are the Australians

Medal Prospects: Firm favourites for gold.

Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins should be Britain’s most certain gold at London 2012 and a victory in London would be the icing on the cake for Grainger who has won three Olympic silver medals in her career. The duo have been a fearsome undefeated partnership since they joined up in 2010, winning all three World Cup events this summer in the build-up to the Games.

Dates of event: July 30 – August 3

Odds: 4/11