Connect with us

Sports

Vote: Team GB’s Top 10 Olympic moments since 2000

Published

on

Vote: Team GB’s Top 10 Olympic moments since 2000

The 2024 Olympic opening ceremony is on Friday 26 July [Getty Images]

With Paris 2024 fast approaching, BBC Sport is counting down Team GB’s greatest Olympic moments at a summer Games since 2000.

The Olympics open on Friday, 26 July and Great Britain are hoping for another successful edition after winning 64 medals at Tokyo 2020.

There have been so many breathtaking achievements in the past 24 years that it’s hard to pick the best.

But our expert panel of broadcaster Eleanor Oldroyd, BBC executive producer Ron Chakraborty and former GB Olympians Katharine Merry and Steve Parry have whittled things down to a non-exhaustive shortlist of 10 standout moments since Sydney 2000.

Vote for your favourite at the bottom of the page.

Results of the vote will be announced on BBC Radio 5 Live from 19:30 to 21:00 BST on Wednesday, 24 July, with Oldroyd presenting alongside Merry and Parry.

The vote opens at 08:00 BST on Thursday, 11 July and will close at 22:00 BST on Tuesday, 16 July.

Sir Steve Redgrave wins his fifth gold (Sydney 2000)

Sir Steve Redgrave is hugged by team-mate Matthew Pinsent in the boat as the GB crew won the gold medal in the Olympic mens coxless four final.Sir Steve Redgrave is hugged by team-mate Matthew Pinsent in the boat as the GB crew won the gold medal in the Olympic mens coxless four final.

Sir Steve Redgrave won his fifth consecutive gold at Sydney 2000. Only Hungary’s Aladar Gerevich has a higher tally in team events, with six successive golds between 1932 and 1960 in the team sabre fencing [Getty Images]

When Great Britain edged Italy by just 0.38 seconds to win gold in the coxless fours rowing event at Sydney 2000, a roar bellowed out from the crowd of 22,000 spectators. Sir Matthew Pinsent fell into the water as he rushed to hug his fellow oarsmen.

Meanwhile, veteran Sir Steve Redgrave, who had just become the first Briton to win five Olympic gold medals, slumped over his oars in exhaustion.

Dame Kelly Holmes’ dream double (Athens 2004)

Dame Kelly Holmes holds both arms aloft as she crosses the finish line ahead of competitors during the final of the women's 1500m at the Olympic Stadium.Dame Kelly Holmes holds both arms aloft as she crosses the finish line ahead of competitors during the final of the women's 1500m at the Olympic Stadium.

After a career dogged by injury, Holmes made history at Athens 2004 by winning double Olympic gold [Getty Images]

Days after winning the 800m, Dame Kelly Holmes set a British record of three minutes 57.90 seconds in the 1500m event.

Starting the final lap eighth out of 12, she burst forward and even had time to look over her shoulder and raise her arms in triumph as she approached the finish line.

Holmes became the first Briton in 84 years to achieve the Olympic middle-distance double. The only other British athlete to achieve that feat is Albert Hill, in Antwerp in 1920.

Rebecca Adlington’s double gold (Beijing 2008)

Rebecca Adlington holds her arm aloft to celebrate in the pool after winning gold in the Women's 800m Freestyle Final during Beijing Olympic Games.Rebecca Adlington holds her arm aloft to celebrate in the pool after winning gold in the Women's 800m Freestyle Final during Beijing Olympic Games.

Adlington’s two gold medals in Beijing equalled the best performance by a British woman at a single Olympics, following Dame Kelly Holmes’ double gold in Athens four years earlier [Getty Images]

In Beijing, Rebecca Adlington became Britain’s first female to win Olympic gold in the pool in 48 years with victory in the 400m freestyle. Days later, she added a gold in the 800m freestyle – making her the most successful British swimmer in 100 years.

The then-19-year-old also set a world record in the 800m, finishing 2.12 seconds inside the previous world best.

Sir Chris Hoy’s triple triumph (Beijing 2008)

Sir Chris Hoy holds up three fingers in celebration of his triple gold.Sir Chris Hoy holds up three fingers in celebration of his triple gold.

In 2008, Hoy became the first Briton in 100 years to win three golds at the same Olympics [Getty Images]

A 32-year-old Sir Chris Hoy gave the victory salute as he crossed the line in the individual sprint in Beijing to claim a historic treble.

After winning gold in the team sprint and keirin, the cycling great beat team-mate Sir Jason Kenny in the individual event to claim his third gold medal of the Games.

The last Briton to achieve that feat was swimmer Henry Taylor, who did so in London in 1908.

Super Saturday (London 2012)

Jessica Ennis-Hill holds the British Flag in Victory lap after winning the Women's Heptathon.Jessica Ennis-Hill holds the British Flag in Victory lap after winning the Women's Heptathon.

On Saturday 4 August 2012, Team GB won three golds in the space of 44 minutes [Getty Images]

In front of 80,000 spectators at London’s Olympic Stadium, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill smashed her own British record to win the heptathlon.

Greg Rutherford became the first British man to win gold in the long jump since Lynn Davies in 1964.

And finally, Sir Mo Farah stormed to 10,000m gold, ending a run of four successive Ethiopian wins in the event.

Britain had already won golds earlier that day in men’s coxless four rowing, women’s double sculls and women’s cycling team pursuit.

Nicola Adams smashes through the glass ceiling (London 2012)

Nicola Adams is announced winner against Ren Cancan during the Women's Fly Boxing final.Nicola Adams is announced winner against Ren Cancan during the Women's Fly Boxing final.

Adams became the first British female boxer to win an Olympic gold medal in 2012 [Getty Images]

Women’s boxing made its debut at the London 2012 Games, 108 years after the men.

While fellow Britons Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall lost their first bouts, Leeds fighter Nicola Adams outclassed Chinese world number one lightweight Ren Cancan in the flyweight final, in front of a crowd of 10,000 at the ExCeL to take gold.

Max Whitlock wins two gymnastics golds (Rio 2016)

Max Whitlock with two gold medals at Rio 2016.Max Whitlock with two gold medals at Rio 2016.

Whitlock is Britain’s most successful gymnast and will retire after Paris 2024 [Getty Images]

Before Rio 2016, Great Britain had never won an Olympic gold in gymnastics.

Max Whitlock changed that with two in one day.

First he claimed victory in the floor final before following that up with gold on the pommel horse, where he pipped team-mate Louis Smith.

Earlier in the Games he had also won GB’s first all-around medal in 108 years with a bronze.

Women’s hockey team win gripping shootout (Rio 2016)

Great Britain celebrates after winning a penalty shoot outl during the Women's Hockey final between Great Britain and the Netherlands on day 14 at Olympic Hockey Centre on August 19, 2016.Great Britain celebrates after winning a penalty shoot outl during the Women's Hockey final between Great Britain and the Netherlands on day 14 at Olympic Hockey Centre on August 19, 2016.

Rio 2016 put women’s hockey on the map for Great Britain.

After a thrilling final against Netherlands finished 3-3 in normal time, the tie went to a penalty shootout.

Britain’s keeper Maddie Hinch made a string of remarkable saves during the match and stopped all four Dutch penalties in the shootout.

Meanwhile, Helen Richardson-Walsh and Hollie Webb scored the match-clinching efforts to seal Britain’s first Olympic hockey gold in dramatic fashion.

Laura Trott and Jason Kenny – fiances celebrate success on the track (Rio 2016)

Partners Jason Kenny and Laura Trott celebrate Kenny winning gold in the Men's Keirin Finals, 2016.Partners Jason Kenny and Laura Trott celebrate Kenny winning gold in the Men's Keirin Finals, 2016.

Partners Kenny and Trott won five golds between them at Rio 2016 [Getty Images]

The Rio Olympics were memorable for golden couple Laura Trott and Jason Kenny (now Dame Laura Kenny and Sir Jason Kenny) five weeks before they got married.

Kenny won three golds at the Games and took his overall tally to six, equalling Sir Chris Hoy’s record of the highest number of Olympic golds for any British athlete.

Meanwhile, his fiancée won two golds and became Britain’s most successful female Olympic athlete in history with four overall.

After an incredible medal haul, they shared a tearful embrace in the Rio Velodrome.

Tom Daley lands elusive gold (Tokyo 2020)

Tom Daley and Matty Lee pose with their medals after wining the men's synchronised 10m platform diving final event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.Tom Daley and Matty Lee pose with their medals after wining the men's synchronised 10m platform diving final event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Daley’s long wait for an Olympic gold medal finally came to an end at Tokyo 2020 [Getty Images]

Tokyo 2020 was Tom Daley’s fourth Olympics.

Alongside Matty Lee, he put on a superb display in the synchronised 10m platform to pip Chinese pair Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen and end China’s golden grip on the event, which dated back to 2000.

Wild celebrations followed as the result was confirmed and Daley, who had won bronze in Rio, wept with joy on the podium.

Continue Reading