Paris 2024 Olympics - 10 Yorkshire athletes to watch out for: Part 2
The Yorkshire's Post's Nick Westby highlights another five White Rose competitors who could well return from Paris with a medal around their necks - including diving's Jack Laugher, cycling's Katy Marchant and emerging sprint sensation, Louis Hinchliffe ...
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00:00We've got another five Yorkshire athletes that you're expecting big things from in Paris.
00:11We'll start off with Katie Marchant. She's in the women's team sprint and she already
00:18has a medal, having won a bronze in Rio. What are her chances this time?
00:23Stronger this time. That Rio bronze medal was a surprise to her. Then she went to Tokyo
00:29and had a nightmare really. Came off in the Kirin, she was knocked off. The women's team
00:33sprint didn't qualify. It was an awful experience for her. Then she got married, got pregnant
00:42and had a child. She's come back and she's stronger than ever. She's at the Velodrome
00:47in Manchester every day. She looks in great shape. She goes in the women's team sprint.
00:52She also goes in the women's individual sprint. There could be another medal in it for her.
00:58I really fancy Katie Marchant. She's 31 now. She's very much come back with this single
01:03minor goal that Paris is my last games. I'm going to give it everything since the birth
01:09of a son. She's in tip-top shape and I wouldn't be surprised if she's got a medal come the
01:14end of the two weeks.
01:16Okay, good stuff. Another well-known name for people who follow or read the Yorkshire
01:24Post is often in our pages. Jack Lower from Harrogate is in the three-metre springboard
01:29and three-metre synchro. Obviously, he's well-versed in the Olympics. He's got a gold and silver
01:35from Rio and a bronze in Tokyo. You fancy him to put on a fourth medal this time around?
01:41Yeah, I'd never put anything past this young man. Well, he's not really young anymore.
01:46His father figure was 70 when he debuted in London. This is his fourth Games. Another
01:53athlete not on this list is Lizzie Dagnard. She's going to her fourth Games as well. Tom
02:01Daly is the superstar of British diving. Jack Lower was the first British diver, along
02:11with Chris Mears, to win a gold medal. He's the most decorated because he's got a silver
02:16and a bronze as well. Tom's got gold and three bronze, I think it is. Jack has really flown
02:22under the radar his entire career, but we love him here in Yorkshire. An absolute superstar,
02:27really humble young man, very likeable, very approachable. He goes in the three-metre springboard
02:34with his new City of Leeds Diving Club team-mate, Anthony Harding. Then he goes in the individual
02:42which is in the second week of the Games. That is where you would fancy him. He's already
02:47got a silver and a bronze from that. You'd fancy him again to get through. Very difficult
02:53though that because you've got to get through two rounds before the final, but you would
02:56fancy him to have a crack at the medals again.
02:59Excellent. Now, one that's emerged, literally, really, I suppose, within the last few months,
03:06Louis Hinchliffe, 21, from Sheffield. He's spent a lot of time out in North America where
03:12he's been coached by Carl Lewis, obviously an Olympic legend himself.
03:16You've been reading my pieces, thank you.
03:18I have been reading your pieces. I'm very informative, they are.
03:21Someone needs a silver.
03:23Obviously, he's going in the 100 metres and the 4x100 metres, but he has literally exploded
03:27onto the scene, hasn't he? He is many people's favourite, in a way, to be a good outside
03:35bet, as it were, to sneak into the medals in Paris.
03:40Yes, I think it's safe to say two months ago, no one had ever heard of this kid. He was
03:45a golfer in his teenage years at Hallamshire Golf Club. He did a bit with Sheffield and
03:49Dern, but he was such a raw talent. He got on scholarships in America, firstly at the
03:54University of Washington and then at the University of Houston, and that's where it all kick-started
03:58really in this last year. He won the NCAA title under the tutelage of Carl Lewis. That's
04:04when he ran 9.95. A week earlier, he'd run 9.84. That's when he started making headlines.
04:11That was wind assist, so it didn't count, but the 9.95 is still astonishing.
04:16Then he went and won the British Championships to seal his spot at the Olympics. Last week
04:21at the Diamond League in London, he ran 9.97. Now, you might think he's slowing down, but
04:26that's in elite company. That was against Noah Lyles, who could be winning three gold
04:31medals in Paris. He's going to be one of the star sensations. So, Louis Ainslieff, I think
04:36if he were to make the final of the 100 metres, which is on Sunday, August 4th, I think, then
04:43I think that is an amazing achievement.
04:45Right, next up, ninth on our list, or your list, Nick, it's Lottie Frye from Scarborough.
04:50She's in the dressage. In Tokyo, they ended up with the bronze. Obviously, a lot of headlines
04:57in recent days about dressage for obvious reasons, but in terms of Lottie Frye, we're
05:02here to concentrate and talk on her. Why do you think she's going to be, why is she one
05:08of your favourites to be among the medals, or why is she one of yours to watch?
05:13Well, she's already a bronze medalist from Turkey, but since then, she's gone from strength
05:20to strength. At the most recent World Championships, she won gold medals in two dressage disciplines
05:27and also won a silver medal. So, she's effectively world number one, going in a strong favourite.
05:35Now, the team dressage final, which is on the second middle weekend of the Games, depends
05:40how that's been affected with the Charlotte Dujardin, Farraga. You know, you're taking
05:46out one of your strongest riders, as it is, and you're replacing her with Becky Moody
05:51from Gunthwaite in South Yorkshire. And, you know, she might be brilliant as well, but
05:56she's no Dujardin. So, whether the team dynamic is going to be affected at this short notice,
06:04you just don't know. Individual-wise, Lottie Frye, very good chance. Like I said, she's
06:09already got that European title. An individual medal winner, gold medal winner at the World
06:12Championships could be another medal winner for us in Paris.
06:16Bradley Sinden, second best three years ago, but he'll be very much hoping to come out
06:24on top this time in Paris in the men's 68kg.
06:28That's right. He is a very driven individual, very intense. I like talking to this guy.
06:36He was world champion in Manchester in 2019. Then he went to the Tokyo Olympics and it's
06:42very intense, his taekwondo. It's all on one day. So, it's a long day of competing and
06:47he got all the way through to the final. It was on the verge of winning. Then his opponent,
06:52as is his right, kicked him in the head and stole the gold medal. And the silver medal
06:57didn't go down too well with Bradley Sinden. And he's used that as motivation ever since.
07:02He's won a European title, he's won another world gold medal and he goes to Paris with
07:09a score to settle, a chip on his shoulder, all of the above. He competes on 30 August
07:18the 8th and I would very much expect him putting a few rungs right in Paris.