From Team Bath: After enjoying the most successful Olympic and Paralympic Games yet at Tokyo 2020, athletes who train and study at the University of Bath are working hard towards achieving their ambitions at Paris 2024.
The Olympic Games will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024, followed by the Paralympic Games from 28 August to 8 September 2024.
More than 20 athletes who either train, study or studied at the University have so far been selected to compete at Paris 2024 across a host of sports including artistic swimming, athletics, para-badminton, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, rugby 7s, swimming and wheelchair fencing.
Among those selected are defending champions Freya Anderson, Tom Dean and Anna Hopkin (swimming); Joe Choong and Kate French (modern pentathlon); and Piers Gilliver (wheelchair fencing).
Meet the Olympic and Paralympic athletes competing at Paris 2024 who train, study or studied at the University of Bath or represent a University club.
Artistic swimming
Kate Shortman (Team GB)
Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Kate, who studies International Management and Modern Languages (French) at the University, is competing at a second Olympic Games with Duet partner Izzy Thorpe. The duo are history-making World Championships medallists and won gold at the Paris Test Event in May 2024.
Officially selected on 14th May 2024 – click here for further details
Athletics
Alastair Chalmers (Team GB)
Alastair, who studied Sports Performance at the University from 2018 to 2021, will emulate his brother – fellow University of Bath alumnus Cameron, who competed at Tokyo 2020 – after securing Team GB selection by winning 400m hurdles gold at the UK Athletics Championships in July.
Officially selected on 5th July 2024 – click here for further details
Chari Hawkins (USA)
Heptathlete Chari, who studied International Education & Globalisation at the University from 2017-18 and won multiple medals for Bath in BUCS competition, will be making her Olympic debut aged 33 after winning silver at the Team USA Track and Field Trials.
Qualified on 26th June 2024 – click here for further details
Para-badminton
Dan Bethell (ParalympicsGB)
Former Team Bath Futures athlete Dan, who began his para-badminton career at the University and still does his regional training here, is determined to go one better than the historic men’s singles SL3 silver he won at Tokyo 2020.
Officially selected on 10th June 2024 – click here for further details
Hockey
Tim Nurse (Team GB)
Sports Performance graduate Tim, a former Team Bath Buccaneers player and sporting scholar, has been named as a travelling reserve for the Team GB men’s hockey squad.
Officially selected on 18th June 2024 – click here for further details
Judo
Prisca Awiti-Alcaraz (Mexico)
Sports Performance graduate Prisca is heading to her second Olympic Games after successfully qualifying for Paris by ranking in the world’s top-20 judoka for the women’s -63kg category. The former sporting scholar trained with Team Bath Judo from 2015 before moving to Mexico full-time in 2022.
Officially selected on 1st July 2024 – click here for further details
Modern Pentathlon
Kerenza Bryson (Team GB)
Qualified doctor and British Army reservist Kerenza will make her Olympic debut in Paris after setting the qualification standard by winning bronze when the University of Bath hosted the 2023 UIPM Pentathlon World Championships.
Officially selected on 26th June 2024 – click here for further details
Joe Choong (Team GB)
Defending men’s champion Joe, who has won two World titles since his historic gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, has trained with Pentathlon GB at the University since 2013 and is a Mathematics graduate. He was supported by a sports scholarship when he made his Olympic debut as a student-athlete at Rio 2016.
Officially selected on 26th June 2024 – click here for further details
Kate French (Team GB)
Kate is returning to Paris as defending Olympic champion after a record-breaking success at the Tokyo Games in 2021. The Sports Performance graduate has been based at the University – home to Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre – for the past decade and finished fifth on her Olympic debut at Rio 2016.
Officially selected on 26th June 2024 – click here for further details
Myles Pillage (Team GB)
Biochemistry graduate Myles, who was supported by a sports scholarship during his time as a student-athlete, will be making his Olympic debut in Paris.
Officially selected on 26th June 2024 – click here for further details
Rowing
Becky Wilde (Team GB)
Bath University Boat Club‘s Becky, who switched from swimming to rowing while studying Sport and Social Sciences at the University, will make her Olympic debut after successfully qualifying the women’s double scull at May’s Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. Supported by a Santander Sporting Scholarship as a student-athlete, Becky is the latest Olympian produced by the British Rowing Performance Development Academy (PDA) based at the University.
Officially selected on 5th June 2024 – click here for further details
Rugby 7s
Grace Crompton (Team GB)
Team Bath Futures coach Grace, who will be making her Olympic debut in Paris, receives Full-Time Athlete support at the University having graduated in Sports Management and Coaching in 2023. The Bristol Bears winger represented Team England at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Officially selected on 19th June 2024 – click here for further details
Amy Wilson Hardy (Team GB)
Amy, who studied Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the University, will be competing at her second Olympic Games having been part of the Team GB squad when the sport made its debut at Rio 2016.
Officially selected on 19th June 2024 – click here for further details
Swimming
Freya Anderson (Team GB)
Tokyo 2020 gold-medallist Freya, coached by David McNulty at the Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre, is heading to her second Olympic Games. She has built on a stellar junior career, which saw her win World and European titles, to become one of the world’s leading freestyle swimmers and she will be looking to add to her impressive haul of 29 senior medals this summer.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Kieran Bird (Team GB)
Paris will be a second Olympic Games for freestyler Kieran, who made his debut in Tokyo and has been part of the elite Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre squad at the University for the past six years. He is coached by Jamie Main.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Leah Crisp (Team GB)
Santander Sporting Scholar Leah, who graduates in Economics and Mathematics this summer, is making her Olympic debut in the marathon swimming event just over 12 months since making the switch to open-water swimming. She does her pool-based endurance training with the Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre squad in the University’s London 2012 Legacy Pool.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Tom Dean (Team GB)
Tom became the first male British swimmer in 113 years to win two gold medals at the same Olympic Games when he won the 200m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay titles in magnificent style at Tokyo 2020. Coached by David McNulty and a former Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar, Tom – who is on extended hiatus from a Mechanical Engineering degree – has added multiple World, European and Commonwealth medals to his collection since then and is targeting more silverware in Paris this summer.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Suzanna Hext (ParalympicsGB)
World Champion Suzanna was the first University-based athlete to be officially selected by ParalympicsGB for Paris 2024. She does some of her pool-based training alongside the Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre squad and also does her strength and conditioning training in the University’s high-performance gym with the UK Sports Institute (UKSI).
Officially selected on 20th May 2024 – click here for further details
Anna Hopkin (Team GB)
Sport and Exercise Science alumna Anna, who was a member of the University’s student swimming club from 2015 to 2018, won gold on her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and has established herself as the country’s leading freestyle sprinter.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Henrique Mascarenhas (Angola)
Chemical Engineering student Henrique, who trains and studies at the University, will represent Angola in the 100m freestyle. Coached by Andrei Vorontsov on the University’s student-swimming programme, Henrique has previously competed at the World Championships.
Officially qualified on 30th June 2024 – click here for further details
Ridhwan Mohamed (Kenya)
Ridhwan is another member of the University of Bath Swimming Club who has qualified for his Olympic debut and will represent Kenya at Paris 2024. He combines his training with an Automotive Engineering with Business Management postgraduate degree.
Officially qualified on 30th June 2024 – click here for further details
Ben Proud (Team GB)
Three-time Olympian Ben represents the University of Bath Swimming Club, having trained with Mark Skimming for the Tokyo Games and 2022 World Short-Course Championships where he won gold. He will be looking to secure the only international 50m freestyle title to have eluded him so far when he competes in Paris.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Tobi Sijuade (Nigeria)
Sprint freestyler Tobi, who will make his Olympic debut for Nigeria in Paris, graduated from the University in Health and Exercise Science in 2023 but continues to train with Mark Skimming’s student swimming squad and is supported by the Full-Time Athlete programme.
Officially qualified on 30th June 2024 – click here for further details
Jacob Whittle (Team GB)
Freestyle swimmer Jacob is heading to his second Olympic Games aged 19, having made his debut in Tokyo. He joined David McNulty’s Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre training group in September 2023.
Officially selected on 16th April 2024 – click here for further details
Wheelchair Fencing
Gemma Collis (ParalympicsGB)
Four-time Paralympian Gemma does most of her training in Milton Keynes but visits the Wheelchair Fencing National Training Centre at the University for regular training camps and receives sport science support from the UK Sports Institute (UKSI) team also based at the Sports Training Village.
Officially selected on 3rd July 2024 – click here for further details
Dimitri Coutya (ParalympicsGB)
Multiple World and European champion Dimitri will be looking to capture an elusive Paralympic gold medal when he competes at his third Games in Paris. The Category B world number one, who moved to the University shortly after his Paralympics debut at Rio 2016, won one silver medal and three bronze in Tokyo.
Officially selected on 3rd July 2024 – click here for further details
Piers Gilliver (ParalympicsGB)
Piers has become a dominant force in global wheelchair fencing during his decade training full-time at the University, winning multiple World and European titles plus, most famously of all, the Category A epee title in Tokyo. That was one better than the breakthrough silver he secured at Rio 2016 and he will be looking to add to his tally of current tally of five Paralympic medals in Paris.
Officially selected on 3rd July 2024 – click here for further details
Oliver Lam-Watson (ParalympicsGB)
Having won team foil silver and team epee bronze with Dimitri Coutya and Piers Gilliver in Tokyo, Oliver will be bidding for more team success on his second Paralympics appearance in Paris and will also contest the individual Category A epee and foil competitions.
Officially selected on 3rd July 2024 – click here for further details