Team GB have selected a squad of 178 athletes to compete in the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games, which are set to take place in and around the Polish city between 21 June to 2 July 2023.
Full Team GB press release available here.
“Team GB will compete across 18 Olympic disciplines, with Krakow serving as the 2023 European Championships for eight of these.
Qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be on the line for most of the disciplines with direct quota spots available in Archery, Artistic Swimming, Boxing, Breaking, Canoe Slalom, Diving, Modern Pentathlon, Rugby Sevens, Shooting and Table Tennis.
Meanwhile, athletes across Badminton, BMX Freestyle, Fencing, Mountain Bike, Taekwondo and Triathlon will be competing for all-important ranking points for Paris 2024 qualification.
The event will mark the first time in history that Team GB have competed in Breaking at a senior Games, with B-Boy Karam and B-Boy Sunni both set to take to the floor.
Meanwhile, Ranujo Tomblin will become the first male athlete to represent Team GB in Artistic Swimming.
In total, the third edition of the European Games will see around 7,000 athletes from 48 European nations compete across a 12-day sporting programme. The Opening Ceremony will take place on Wednesday 21 June at the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium, with the Closing Ceremony to return at the same venue on Sunday 2 July.
Nicola Adams, Duncan Scott and Jade Jones were among Team GB’s medallists at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015, while Sir Jason Kenny, Chelsie Giles and Lauren Price were successful at Minsk 2019.
Nineteen athletes return for their second European Games with Team GB this year, while shooters Amber Rutter and Seonaid Mcintosh, alongside table tennis players Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall, will each be competing at their third.
The 178-strong squad for Krakow 2023 features several Olympic gold medallists, including Charlotte Worthington, Joe Choong, Jade Jones, Bianca Cook and Joe Clarke, with a total of 32 Tokyo 2020 Olympians among those named.
The delegation will be led by Dr Paul Ford, who reprises his role as Chef de Mission after previously leading the charge at Minsk 2019.
Ford said: “It’s a huge privilege once again to take such a talented group of athletes to compete against Europe’s finest at these Games. Crucially, the 2023 European Games offers several qualification opportunities for Paris, providing a great benchmarking exercise looking ahead to next year. We will focus our support on creating the best performance environment for our athletes as well as fine-tuning our preparations for 2024.”
Pentathlete Joe Choong said: “I’m really excited to be competing at my first ever European Games. It will be really exciting to get into a multi-sport environment and see athletes from other sports. It’s going to be similar to an Olympic experience which has brought me some of my best memories – so I’m really looking forward to it. Becoming Olympic Champion in Tokyo was a dream come true and then last year I got the World Championship title, so the European title would be the icing on the cake!”
Fencing
Ben Andrews, Kristjan Archer, Kate Beardmore, Yasmin Campbell, Jaimie Cook, James-Andrew Davis, Will Deary, Caitlin Maxwell, Marcus Mepstead, Susan Sica, Carolina Stutchbury, Amelie Tsang, JJ Webb
Full Team GB press release available here.
Full British Fencing selection/nomination announcement here.
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