Team GB is organised by the British Olympic Association (BOA) as the National Olympic Committee for the UK. While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and BOA both refer to the team as 'Great Britain' and the team uses the brand name Team GB, the BOA explains that it is a contraction of the full title, the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team.[1] Great Britain was one of 14 teams to compete in the first Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, and is one of only three nations (France and Switzerland being the others) to have competed at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games. In 1908, the country finished in the Olympic table in first place for the first and only time in its history; its most successful performance both post-War and away from a home Games was in 2016, finishing second.
The most successful British Olympian by gold medals won is Sir Jason Kenny, who has won seven gold medals in track cycling. He is followed by Sir Chris Hoy who won six. Kenny also has the most total medals with 9, followed by fellow cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins who has eight. Dame Laura Kenny, with five gold medals, has the most golds of any British female athlete and became the first British woman to win gold at three consecutive Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020. She shares the designation of most total medals by a British female competitor with horse-rider Charlotte Dujardin. Sir Steve Redgrave is the only British Olympian to win a gold medal in five consecutive Olympic Games, winning his first in 1984 Los Angeles and last in 2000 Sydney.
At the Winter Olympics as a non-alpine team Great Britain has historically been unable to replicate the amount of success they have achieved in the Summer Olympics although the team enjoyed gold medal success at figure skating through the seventies and eighties, while in recent years, the expansion of the Winter Olympics to include sports such as Curling, Snowboarding, Skeleton and Freestyle skiing has brought some renewed success. Currently, Great Britain is the most successful team in women's skeleton, having won a medal six times, and every gold medal from 2010 to 2018. The most successful Winter Olympian from the Great Britain team is Lizzy Yarnold, with two gold medals, both in the women's skeleton.
Eligibility
A heroes' welcome for Welsh Olympians and Paralympians at the Senedd building, 2012
Representatives of the devolved Northern Ireland government and others in the region, however, have objected to the name "Team GB" as discriminatory, and have called for it to be renamed as "Team UK" to make it clearer that Northern Ireland is included on the team.[2][3]
Under the IOC charter, the Olympic Federation of Ireland is responsible for the entire island of Ireland.[8] However, athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent either the UK (in Team GB) or Ireland at the Olympics, as people of Northern Ireland. A number of Northern Irish-born athletes, particularly in boxing, have won medals for Ireland at the Games. All athletes from the whole of Ireland were included in the Great Britain team up until the 1920 Olympics as the entire island was part of the United Kingdom at that time.[9]
Hosted Games
The United Kingdom has hosted the Summer Games on three occasions – 1908, 1948 and 2012, all in London – second only to the United States. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Great Britain became the first team to win more medals at a Summer Olympics immediately after hosting a Summer Olympics; they won 67 medals overall, coming in second place in the medal table ahead of China, two more than in London in 2012. This success came 20 years after finishing 36th in the medal table, after winning just one gold and fourteen other medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, which led to significant changes in the management and funding of British sports and facilities.[10]
London also won the right to host the 1944 Summer Olympics. However, the 1944 games were cancelled due to the Second World War.
In February 2019, the Mayor of London announced plans to bid for the 2032 or 2036 Olympics, which was backed by UK Sport.[11] However, it has been speculated that either Manchester or Birmingham may be in the frame to host future games, rather than London. In July 2021, the 2032 Games were awarded to Brisbane.
This table includes seven medals – one gold, two silver, and four bronze – awarded in the 1908 and 1920 figure skating events.
List of Winter Olympic medallists
This list also contains the medals won in winter sports at the 1908 and 1920 Summer Olympics, which are not counted in the overall winter Olympic total.
The following athletes have won more than one medal for Great Britain at the Winter Olympics, or in winter disciplines. Bold denotes athletes that have not yet retired.
Great Britain's only stripped medal in Winter Olympic history was an Alpine Skiing bronze at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Alain Baxter tested positive for a banned substance, resulting from Baxter using an inhaler product which, unknowingly to him, contained different chemicals in the United States.
Jason Kenny (top) has won the most gold medals of any British Olympian, with seven; his wife Laura Kenny (centre) has the most gold medals of any female British Olympian, with five. Lizzy Yarnold (bottom) is the most successful British Winter Olympian, with two gold medals.
According to official data of the International Olympic Committee. This is a list of people who have won at least three Olympic gold medals or four Olympic medals for Great Britain. Medals won in the 1906 Intercalated Games are not included. It includes top-three placings in 1896 and 1900, before medals were awarded for top-three placings.
Lizzy Yarnold is the most successful British athlete at the Winter Olympics, with two gold medals. Duncan Scott is the most prolific athlete at a single Games, winning four medals (1 gold, 3 silver) at the 2020 Olympics. Steve Redgrave is the most consistent British Olympic athlete, winning gold medals at five consecutive Games (1984-2000).
Most successful British Olympian progression
This table shows how the designation of most successful British Olympian has progressed over time. This table ranks athletes by golds, then silvers, then bronzes; the progression would be different if ranked purely by medals.
Twelve members of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers team (Cricket)
Steve Redgrave and Reginald Doherty are the most successful male athletes in their respective sports, Rowing and Tennis. Five-time gold medalist Laura Kenny is the most successful female cyclist and Hannah Mills with two gold medals and a silver is the successful woman in sailing. Nicola Adams, with two golds, shares the title of most successful woman in Boxing.
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
