Sir Keir Starmer hails ‘excellent’ Team GB athletes ahead of Paris Olympics

The Prime Minister backed the athletes to ‘inspire a new generation to take up sport’.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer applauds the Great Britain team during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer has extended his well-wishes to Team GB’s 327 athletes after watching flag-bearers Tom Daley and Helen Glover lead out the British contingent at the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris.

The Prime Minister – who unlike his neighbours opted out of a protective poncho – was amongst the dignitaries braving the downpour at the Trocadero, the end-point of a six-kilometre flotilla of athletes down the Seine  marking the first time a summer Olympic curtain-raiser has ever taken place outside a stadium.

Sixteen-year-old Megan Havers got the British contingent off to their competitive start on Thursday when she fired the first arrow at the archery preliminaries, while campaigns in men’s rugby sevens, women’s football and handball – all without British representation – also began earlier this week.

The Games have now kicked into full gear with a Saturday programme featuring 14 medal events and a first look at three-time Olympic champion Adam Peaty in his 100m breaststroke heat.

The whole country is rooting for our excellent Team GB athletes and coaching staff

Sir Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister said: “The whole country is rooting for our excellent Team GB athletes and coaching staff who have made it to these Olympics after years of hard work and dedication.

“Their incredible skill and talent will inspire a new generation to take up sport in their community, creating a real and lasting legacy from these games.”

The Prime Minister will be joined by sports minister Stephanie Peacock in the French capital, where Team GB will be aiming to follow on from its 64-medal success at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a target of between 50 and 70 medals in Paris.

The sports and athletes that make up Team GB and Paralympics GB have been backed by £385 million in Government and National Lottery funding through the Paris cycle.

The funding programme has seen Team GB and ParalympicsGB’s performance improve significantly over the last 20 years, with Team GB achieving consecutive top-four finishes in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021, from 36th on the medal table at Atlanta in 1996.

With 14 teenagers and 158 debutants part of the Team GB class of 2024, these Games are being viewed by some as a natural passing of the torch from London 2012 competitors to a new generation of rising British talent inspired by them.

More than 100 athletes have also signed up to the National Lottery-funded ChangeMakers programme, which will see them supporting social impact projects in local communities across the UK in the days after they return from Paris.

Ms. Peacock added: “This generation of amazing Team GB athletes have grown up inspired by the success of London 2012, and are ready to make the nation proud at the Paris 2024 Olympics as they take on the world’s best.

“We are committed to giving our kids every possible chance to chase their dreams of becoming the next Helen Glover, Tom Daley or Dina Asher-Smith and the whole country will be right behind the team as they go for gold.”