Olympics: Who are Team GB’s stars of the future eyeing medal success at LA 2028?
Attentions are already turning towards the next Olympics in Los Angeles after a thrilling finale to a memorable Games in Paris.
However, a comparative shortage of golds meant that Great Britain could only place seventh in the final medal table – their lowest finish since 2004 in Athens.
GB will be targeting a return of those unforgettable gold rushes in 2028, with plenty of budding stars aiming to take LA by storm.
Here, Standard Sport reporters Matt Majendie and Malik Ouzia pick out Team GB’s Olympic talents of the future…
Still only 15, there is genuine excitement in the tennis world about what heights Klugman can reach in the women’s game.
Aged just 14, she won the Orange Bowl in the United States, a prestigious tournament for under-18s.
She was also the youngest person – aged 14 at the time and beating Coco Gauff in the process – to qualify for an ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour event. She went on to reach the quarter-finals of the event in Shrewsbury. MM
But the teenager had set out on the novel quest to double up at both the skateboarding and surfing for Team GB in Paris, which would have been some feat.
And she’s no slouch in the water, coming mightily close to qualifying for the British team. In four years’ time, in more familiar waters in Los Angeles, she could shine. MM
Within British Rowing, there are a group of up-and-coming rowers known as Project LA, for whom Paris came too soon but getting on the top step in Los Angeles is perfectly attainable.
A good runner, Dafydd had never heard of the sport growing up in north Wales before he was introduced to it through the talent-spotting programme, Sporting Giants.
Since then, he has gone on to become a real talent and one of the rowers the GB hierarchy are most excited about. MM
A track cycling star, he broke the junior world record for the individual pursuit, and his exploits have not gone unnoticed, snapped up by the star-studded Jumbo-Visma team’s development outfit.
If he can keep doubling up with his road and track ambitions – and those are the ambitions of him, British Cycling and, for now, his team – then the 19-year-old ought to be formidable in both come the Los Angeles Games. MM
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Medal hopes: Phoebe Gill, Oliver Morgan and Mahika Gaur could all be big stars for Team GB at LA 2028
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The backstroker is a late bloomer in swimming, having only started competing nationally at the age of 16.
Despite that, he forced his way into the 100m backstroke final in Paris just five years on from that point and recently broke Liam Tancock’s British record, which had stood for 15 years.
In Paris, he made it to the final of the 100m backstroke and was also part of the GB medley relay team who were edged out of a medal in fourth. MM
These Olympics came around ahead of schedule for Gill, who turned down a European Championships team place to focus on her school exams.
The 17-year-old could hardly refuse a trip to Paris after winning the senior British trials, and acquitted herself well in running 1min 58secs in both the heats and semi-finals of the women’s 800m.
She is already the fastest U18 in European history and will still be just 21 by the time LA comes around, though potentially with the experience of two World Championships. MO
Louie Hinchliffe (athletics)
Along with Gill, Hinchliffe has been the breakthrough star of the season for British athletics and became the first European man to win the 100m NCAA title in the US.
Coached by Games great Carl Lewis, the 22-year-old reached the semi-finals of the same event in Paris, beating eventual winner Noah Lyles in his heat, before just missing out on a fastest-loser spot for the final, despite running 9.97secs. The Yorkshireman is poised to become Britain’s leading sprint hope. MO
Cricket will return to the Olympic programme for the first time in 128 years in Los Angeles, a move the IOC hope will help boost the Games’ audience in Asia.
What Britain’s men’s team might look like is anyone’s guess, given England are about to start a regeneration under a new white-ball coach, but Gaur seems a sure bet to be part of the women’s set-up.
The 18-year-old seamer made her England debut last year and is considered a unique talent. MO
