Team GB chef de mission Mark England described the nation’s 1,000th Olympic medal as “incredibly special” after Ethan Hayter, Daniel Bigham, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon took silver in the men’s cycling team pursuit in Paris.
The cycling silver brought the tally up to the 1,000 medals landmark, for summer and winter Games medals, according to the statistician Bill Mallon, who is a leading historian on the history of the Olympics and a consultant statistician to the International Olympic Committee.
England said: “Watching the men’s team pursuit win silver to secure Team GB’s 1,000th medal this evening was incredibly special. I have been lucky enough to witness a number of Team GB medal moments and I hope there are many more to come in Paris over the coming days.”
It is increasingly unlikely that Team GB will match the 22 gold medals won in Tokyo in the delayed 2020 Games, although a number of strong candidates, including the four-strong taekwondo squad and defending modern pentathlon champion Joe Choong, are still to compete.
Great Britain have competed at every Games since Athens in 1896, where they took eight athletes and won seven medals, in tennis, athletics, weightlifting and cycling. They are the only nation to have won a gold medal at every Games since.
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Britain’s landmark medal was tinged with disappointment as the four-strong cycling team were edged out in Wednesday’s final by Australia. Starting as second favourites, Team GB’s hopes were effectively over when Hayter slipped from his saddle on the final lap.
Bigham said afterwards: “It’s nice to win a medal, it’s nice to win a silver medal, it’s nice for it to be the thousandth GB medal. It’s nice to ride in an Olympic gold medal final with these guys.”
Great Britain were closing in on the bottom end of their UK Sport medals range of 50 to 70 as day 12 came towards a close.
But the Paris Games are shaping up to be the worst for Team GB – in terms of gold medals won – since the nine accrued in Athens in 2004, with just four days of action remaining.
