The first half of 2021 has given the United Kingdom its fair share of ups and downs. With our collective pandemic recovery waxing and waning, depending on the day's news it can feel as though we're being taken for a ride on a societal roller coaster. Just this past month, English football fans' hopes rose and caused a surge in patriotic pride as the national team nearly took the European Championship, only to lose in the final match.
But don't let that hometown enthusiasm fade, because we've plenty to cheer about in the next few weeks as Great Britain competes in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan [1], running from 23 July to 8 August. The Games are still being branded as Tokyo 2020, to reflect the fact that the COVID-19 outbreak postponed the events that were supposed to take place last summer.
It appears that Team Great Britain didn't lose much momentum over 2020's break, though, because all sources are suggesting that our athletes are still bringing the fire for 2021. Some of the most exciting athletes to represent Team GB this year are our women and Paralympian competitors. After reading about some of the awesome achievements these athletes have clocked, don't be surprised if you find yourself waving your Union Jack at the telly with the lot of us.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamGB.com [2]. Watch the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer on BBC One and BBC Two.
Dina Asher-Smith
As the world's reigning 200-meter sprint champion and one of the front runners for Great Britain's gold medal aspirations in Tokyo, 25-year-old Dina Asher-Smith is swiftly becoming a household name. Born in London and training in Bromley, she's the youngest woman sprinter to win a world title, as well as the first British woman athlete [3] to win a major sprint title. She finished fifth in the 200-meter race in Rio in 2016, but with her subsequent victories in the years following we're likely to see some astounding things from Asher-Smith this summer as she competes in the 100, the 200, and the 4x100 relay.
Besides being the fastest British woman sprinter of all time, Asher-Smith is also a vocal advocate for increased mainstream coverage of sportswomen, and even has a Barbie doll [4] made in her image!
Sport: Track and Field
Follow Dina Asher-Smith on Instagram: @dinaashersmith [5]
Ellie Simmonds
Walsall-born Ellie Simmonds is a superstar in the world of para-swimming whose simple motto [6], "Work hard and believe in yourself," has helped her secure six gold medals across three Paralympic Games, including two golds at her very first Games in Beijing in 2008. Now aged 26, she'll be back this summer chasing more awards at her fourth showing in Tokyo. Simmonds, who was born with achondroplasia, began swimming at the age of 5. Along with her medals, she's broken several Paralympic records, including in the 200-meter individual medley, which she completed in under three minutes for the first time in history.
Outside of the pool, due to her extensive charity work focusing on youth and water sports, Simmonds was appointed an MBE at 14 years old by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the youngest person ever to receive this honour. This status was elevated to OBE in 2013 for her services to Paralympic sport.
Sport: Para-Swimming
Follow Ellie Simmonds on Instagram: @elliesimmonds [7]
Morgan Lake
She's all of 24 years old, but Morgan Lake has already been setting major records in high jump and heptathlon for over a decade. Hailing from Milton Keynes, Lake won her first national title at age 11 (now holding 38 of them [8]) and has broken four high-jump records. It's a family affair [9] for Lake — her father, a title-holding track and field athlete himself, first introduced her to the sport at age 5 and coached her himself until she left for the Rio Olympics at age 18. We'll be cheering on the telly as Lake goes for gold in high jump this go-around in Tokyo.
Sport: Track and Field
Follow Morgan Lake on Instagram: @morganalexandralake [10]
Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova
Gymnastics is a perennial favourite for fans viewing the Olympic Games from home. Historically, the sport has been dominated by countries such as Russia, China, and the United States. But recently, Great Britain has been making waves. This year's line-up includes a double threat rising the ranks of British gymnasts — 16-year-old identical twins Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova, who both qualified for Team GB in 2021. Raised in Coventry to parents from Azerbaijan, both sisters started practising gymnastics at the tender age of 6 years old. Jessica recently secured a gold medal win [11] for floor exercise at this year's European championships, while Jennifer took home silver [12] at the 2019 junior world championships for vault.
Sport: Artistic Gymnastics
Follow Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova on Instagram: @gadirova_twins [13]
Amy Truesdale
A pioneer in Para Taekwondo, 20-year-old Amy Truesdale [14] and the sport will make their debuts at the Paralympic Games. She's participated in every world championship since its first edition in 2009 and medalled at each one of them, including taking the world titles in 2014 and 2017.
The Chester-born athlete, who was born missing her left hand and forearm, first approached the sport aged 6 [15] due to her parents' desire for her and her sister to learn a form of self-defence. Of her sport, Truesdale told GB Taekwondo, "Sport in general shows that ordinary people are able to achieve anything they put their mind to, Taekwondo, in particular, is really versatile and it's fun to watch. From a Paralympic perspective, it's good to show that it's people's ability not disability that matters."
Sport: Para Taekwondo
Follow Amy Truesdale on Instagram: @truesdaleamy [16]
Freya Anderson
Representing the waterfront town of Birkenhead, 20-year-old Freya Anderson [17] is fittingly a world champion in the sport of swimming. She's especially proficient as a freestyle sprinter, having taken home seven gold medals at the European championships [18] throughout her short career. Anderson has overcome the odds to get as far as she has; as a young girl, she struggled with anxiety and shyness, crying when her mother used to take her to swim lessons in Wirral.
Things are only looking brighter and brighter these days for Anderson, however. She moved to British Swimming's National Centre in Bath when the pandemic postponed the Tokyo Games in 2020 and has spent the year training with coach Dave McNulty, who has guided some of the most successful British swimmers to Olympic medals in years past.
Sport: Swimming
Follow Freya Anderson on Instagram: @freyaanderson_ [19]
Zoë Smith
Weightlifting is becoming an increasingly popular sport thanks to its proven benefits as part of an efficient fitness routine [20]. Three badass women are representing Team GB in Tokyo this year, including 27-year-old Zoë Smith, from Greenwich.
Smith interestingly got her start in gymnastics but pivoted at age 12 when she was asked to make up the numbers [21] for the Greenwich weightlifting team at the 2012 London Youth Games. At her first Olympics in London, she broke the British clean and jerk record. She, unfortunately, missed the Rio Games in 2016 due to a shoulder dislocation, but as she's currently ranked sixth in the world for her weight class, she's in a good position to help bring gold home to England in Tokyo this summer.
Sport: Weightlifting
Follow Zoë Smith on Instagram: @zoepablosmith [22]
Kadeena Cox
Kadeena Cox is a rare multisport athlete. Before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2014, she competed as a nondisabled athlete as a sprinter and in the winter sport of skeleton.
Her diagnosis dashed her goal of making the British skeleton team, but she quickly and resiliently pivoted to continue with her sprinting just one year later. At the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, she ended up taking home three medals for sprinting [23], including gold in the 400-meter. That wasn't enough for Cox, however. She also claimed gold for GB in cycling with a victory in the C4-5 time trial, becoming the first British Paralympian in 32 years to win medals in two different sports.
Before seeing her establish herself as a true Paralympic legend in Tokyo this summer, you can catch Cox on Channel 4's hit show Celebrity Gogglebox, on which she appeared alongside fellow Olympic sprinter Adam Gemili.
Sport: Paralympic Track and Field, Cycling
Follow Kadeena Cox on Instagram: @kad21 [24]
Sky Brown
This skateboarder turned 13 a mere three weeks ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. With her debut, Sky Brown will become the youngest athlete [25] to represent Team GB at a Summer Olympics (swimmer Margery Hinton has held the record for 93 years). The sport itself is a young upstart — it's one of four sports making its Olympic debut at the Games this year.
Brown was born in Japan to a Japanese mum and a British father, and is ranked third in the world in her particular division of skateboarding, called park, in which "competitors are judged on the difficulty and originality of tricks performed [26] in a bowl carved to resemble the empty pools of skateboarding's DIY [27] past".
Brown bounced back after a gruelling fall last year from a half-pipe ramp with her strongest performance yet, taking silver at the Dew Tour.
She said of her hopes for the popularity of her sport among young people, "If they watch the Olympics, especially the girls, they're going to really want to [skateboard], which I'm really happy about."
Sport: Skateboarding
Follow Sky Brown on Instagram: @skybrown [28]
Shauna Coxsey
Shauna Coxsey and the rock-climbing event known as sport climbing will both make their Olympic debuts in Tokyo. Starting to climb at age 4, the 28-year-old from Runcorn quickly became the most successful competitive climber in the UK, winning every British Bouldering Championship she's entered [29] and taking home consecutive golds in the 2016 and 2017 IFSC World Cups.
Coxsey said she was inspired to climb as a child after watching a documentary featuring pioneering French mountaineer Catherine Destivelle. Coxsey herself is sure to inspire the next generation of British climbers after what we predict will be an impressive showing this summer.
Sport: Sport Climbing
Follow Shauna Coxsey on Instagram: @shaunacoxsey [30]