NORTH DERBYSHIRE AT THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
The 2024 Paris Olympics officially begins on Friday 26th July with what is expected to be the most unique and ambitious opening ceremony to ever take place.
Hundreds of athletes across a huge variety of sports will proudly represent Team GB over the next couple of weeks but have you wondered how many of the athletes have strong links to our local region?
Wonder no more as we shine a spotlight on the seven athletes flying the flag for our region and preview their prospects of Olympic glory.
JOE LITCHFIELD (Swimming – Men’s 4x100m medley relay; mixed 4x100m medley relay)
Joe was born in Chesterfield and is 26 years old. While he’s not competing in any individual events, Joe has a big opportunity to grab a medal in two relay disciplines. This will be his second appearance at an Olympic Games.
Litchfield won a gold medal in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay event at last year’s World Aquatics Championships. He narrowly missed out on a medal in this year’s World Aquatics Championships in the same event. Litchfield also has two Commonwealth Games silver medals to his name from Birmingham 2022.
His older brother Max is also in Team GB’s swimming squad for Paris 2024 but he hails from Pontefract in West Yorkshire. His father Peter was a professional footballer for the likes of Preston North End and Bradford City.
HOLLIE PEARNE-WEBB (Hockey – Women’s tournament)
Hollie is from Belper and the 33 year-old defender has enjoyed a superb career. She scored the winning penalty in a nail-biting shoot-out to secure an incredible gold medal for Team GB’s women’s hockey team at Rio 2016 in front a huge television audience back home. Following her gold medal success, Hollie was awarded the title of Freewoman of the Borough of Amber Valley. She was also awarded the MBE in the 2017 New Years Honours.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she captained Team GB to a bronze medal and will be the captain once again for Paris 2024.
Pearne-Webb was also part of the England team that became European champions at London 2015 and captained England to Commonwealth gold medal glory at Birmingham 2022.
While Team GB’s women’s hockey team are not considered to be one of the favourites for a gold medal at Paris 2024, don’t count them out whatsoever from springing a couple of surprises and securing a medal for the fourth Olympic Games in a row.
LIAM PITCHFORD (Table Tennis – Men’s singles)
31 year-old Liam Pitchford hails from Chesterfield and Paris 2024 will be the fourth Olympic Games in a row that he has competed in.
Liam has won a remarkable 11 Commonwealth Games medals across his career; two of these were gold medals in the men’s doubles events at Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022.
Pitchford reached the Round of 32 stage in the men’s singles event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is seeded 25th for the same event at Paris 2024.
Table tennis is one of the few Olympic sports in the past 20 years that hasn’t seen any British medal success and it would be a monumental achievement for Pitchford if he were to win a medal. Everyone in the sport knows though that on Pitchford’s best day, he is capable of beating anyone. Pitchford has also recently stated that he feels in great shape physically and mentally ahead of Paris 2024.
ANNA TOMAN – (Hockey – Women’s tournament)
Anna is a very experienced and talented international player who was part of the Team GB team that won a bronze medal in the previous Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020. She also played an instrumental role in the England team that won a gold medal at the most recent Commonwealth Games in 2022 at Birmingham.
Anna is actually from Derby in the south of Derbyshire but we were delighted to have her feature as a special guest on North Derbyshire Radio’s Friday Night Sports Show earlier this year.
Team GB’s women’s hockey team are in Group B at Paris 2024 alongside Australia, Argentina, Spain, South Africa and The United States. The top four nations will qualify for the quarter-finals.
JACOB WHITTLE – (Swimming – Men’s 100m freestyle; men’s 4x100m freestyle relay)
Remarkably, at the age of only 19, this will be Jacob Whittle’s second appearance at an Olympic Games. At the age of just 16, Whittle was comfortably Team GB’s youngest competitor in their swimming squad at Tokyo 2020.
Hailing from Alfreton, Whittle has a very bright future ahead of him. The teenager won a bronze meal at last year’s World Aquatics Championships in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay event. In this year’s World Aquatics Championships, Whittle narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay event.
Jacob also has four 2022 Commonwealth Games medals to his name with one of those being a gold medal in the men’s 4x100m medley relay event.
OLI WILKES – (Rowing – Men’s four)
Matlock’s Oli Wilkes is arguably our local region’s strongest contender to depart Paris with an Olympic gold medal.
In 2023, Wilkes won a gold medal in the men’s four event the World Rowing Championships in Serbia. In the same year, the Matlock star won a gold medal in the same event at the European Rowing Championships in Slovenia. Oli then defended his European crown earlier this year in Hungary.
Wilkes has maintained his excellent run of form this year with a gold medal and a bronze medal at two separate World Cup events.
This is Oli’s first ever appearance at an Olympic Games and there are huge hopes that he can bring back an Olympic gold medal to the north of Derbyshire.
ABBIE WOOD – Swimming (Women’s 200m individual medley; women’s 4x200m freestyle relay)
There are high hopes that Buxton’s Abbie Wood can bring back at least one medal to the north of Derbyshire from Paris 2024. This will be the 25 year-old’s second appearance at an Olympic Games.
Wood fell agonisingly short of winning a bronze medal in the women’s 200m individual medley event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a fourth place finish.
Abbie has been in excellent form this year and won a silver medal at this year’s World Aquatics Championships in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay event. Wood also won five medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Birmingham.
North Derbyshire Radio’s Senior Sports Editor speaks to Olympics reporter Michael Weadock on the athletes from North Derbyshire who are heading to Paris…..
