After a thrilling 2022 event that included the Beijing Winter Olympics and the World Championships in sports including swimming, athletics and rhythmic gymnastics, here are six top Brits looking to make 2023 their own.
Keely Hodgkinson, track and field
800m dynamo Keely Hodgkinson barely turned 20 and already has Olympic and world silver medals to her name.
In 2022, she went head-to-head with American phenom Athing Mu in the 800m final at the World Athletics Championships, chasing the American star to the finish line only to lose gold by a shoe length.
This would be a perfect result for most, but Hodgkinson’s ironclad approach to the sport means that any defeat is considered a defeat, with Lord Sebastian Coe revealing that he “doesn’t like to lose”.
2022 Hodgkinson included her first senior gold medal as she won the European title in Munich. However, in 2023, much can be expected from her, as she faces the prospect of a second World Championships in Athletics in as many years as the event will be held from August 19-27 in Budapest.
Tom Dean, swimming
Swimmer Tom Dean’s two gold medals at Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) made him the first Briton in 113 years to win a gold double. A year later, he made history again by winning seven medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – the most of any English athlete in history.
After making it clear that he would like to focus on a wider range of events heading to Paris 2024, the 200m freestyle Olympic champion has a chance to put his plan into action at the Fukuoka World Championships in Japan in July.
At only 22 years old, Dean has all the basics needed for a great 2023 as he aims to add to his medal collection ahead of the next Olympics.
Beth Mead, soccer
Footballer Beth Mead enjoyed a spectacular 2022 which included winning the European Women’s Championship after finishing the tournament as top scorer.
The 27-year-old Arsenal player was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and also walked away from the Euros with the tournament’s best player award.
This year, she has a chance to add even more cutlery to her trophy cabinet by taking part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
There is also a small issue on the horizon for the Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris in 2024.
Mead’s year ended in much the same way as the rest, with acclaim on the world stage as she was voted runner-up to the Ballon d’Or.
Alex Yee, triathlete
Briton Alex Yee continued his breakthrough performances in Tokyo 2020, where he won silver in the individual event and gold in the mixed relay, finishing second in the World Triathlon Championship Series triathlon.
Although the failure to reach the top of the podium in the World Series – after Frenchman Leo Bergere won the last race – represented a difficult end to the season for Yee, his performances since Tokyo put him in a prime position to match or better his results from the last Olympics .
At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Yee won the gold medal, solidifying his position as the championship’s exceptional competitor.
And at the age of 24, he is entering the pinnacle of his career, already playing a key role in Britain’s qualification for the next Olympic Games as part of the mixed relay team that won silver at last year’s World Triathlon Championship Series in Montreal, which guaranteed him a spot in Paris 2024 .
Jessica Gadirova, artistic gymnastics
In 2022, Jessica Gadirova became the first British all-around medalist (bronze) at the World Championships in Budapest before winning a spectacular gold in the floor exercise on the last day of the competition.
At just 19, Gadirova has risen to the pinnacle of world rhythmic gymnastics and her performances in Hungary have already secured Britain a place in the Paris 2024 team competition.
Along with her twin sister Jennifer, much is expected of Gadirova in 2023, where she will once again participate in the World Championships in Antwerp from September 29 to October 8, where an individual qualification for the next Games can be obtained.
