Team GB hire former weather forecaster to boost bid for bumper Paris medals haul

Beds in the Athletes’ Village are made from recycled cardboard and GB have brought their own blankets and mattress toppers.

Beds at the athletes’ village at Paris 2024 are made from recycled cardboard (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Team GB have hired former BBC weather forecaster Penny Tranter as they look to find the extra one per cent in their bid for a bumper medals haul at the Paris Olympics.

As well as providing daily weather reports, Tranter, who worked for the BBC from 1992 to 2008, has been brought on board to predict longer-term patterns amid fears these Games will be the hottest on record.

Temperatures in the French capital are currently in the mid-20s degrees Celsius but it is forecast to get even hotter by the middle of next week.

In an attempt to offset the carbon footprint, Paris organisers have rolled out a number of initiatives, the most high-profile of which is following the lead of Tokyo 2020 and having all beds at the Olympic village made from recycled cardboard.

To improve sleep for their own athletes, Team GB have brought 942 blankets and 578 mattress toppers.

UK Sport has issued a target of between 50 and 70 medals for Team GB in Paris. If they win 70 medals, it would represent their best result at an overseas Games, overhauling the 67 they won at Rio 2016.

• 6,500 bags of sweet + salted popcorn
• Over 1,000 bottles of squash
• 200 boxes of 500g cornflakes
• 945 boxes English Breakfast tea - 47,250 tea bags
• 22,000 cereal bars
• Over 1,000 boxes of muesli
• 700 jars of whole earth peanut butter
• Nearly 1,000 bags of dried mango

They have also brought with them a freight weight in excess of 22 tonnes in food and drink supplies alone, which includes 6,500 bags of sweets, salted popcorn, 22,000 cereal bars, 700 jars of whole earth peanut butter and more than 1,000 boxes of muesli.

More than 1,000 bottles of squash have also been brought across the Channel as well as 945 boxes of English Breakfast tea – estimated to contain 47,250 tea bags.

A total of 85,000 items of kit have been distributed thanks to the efforts of 400 staff and volunteers.