Best of October: Bumper month sees GB haul at World Championships

October came and went with a flourish, but it saw no less than six British athletes clinch a world championship title.

There was further success on the European circuit, and the official start of the winter season saw Grand Prix delight on the ice.

Catch up on everything that happened for British Olympic sport in October.

Pedalling up the medal count

British Cycling clinched a staggering 14 medals at the World Track Cycling Championships in Chile, their biggest ever medal haul in the event's history.

Katie Archibald and Maddie Leech led the way with gold in the women's madison, marking Archibald's seventh title and Leech's first.

Crowns also followed in the non-Olympic events of the men's points race for Josh Tarling, as Anna Morris and Josh Charlton soared to respective individual pursuit victories.

In his first major championships in a GB jersey, Matt Richardson clinched men's sprint silver, narrowly missing out to Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands.

Richardson was also joined on the podium by Joe Truman, Hamish Turnbull and Harry Ledingham-Horn in the men's team sprint as Tarling and Mark Stewart won men's madison silver.

In the women's team sprint, Emma Finucane, Iona Moir and Rhianna Parris-Smith clinch a stunning silver behind the Netherlands.

It marked a podium place on debut for both Moir and Parris-Smith after Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell had both not travelled to the championships due to personal reasons.

Finucane backed up team sprint silver with individual keirin silver as the quintet of Leech, Morris, Megan Barker, Josie Knight and Jessica Roberts rode to team pursuit bronze.

Sweeping the floor

There are six floor exercise medals up for grabs at an artistic gymnastics world championships and Britain took home four.

Jake Jarman might not have had the chance to defend his vault world title, but the Olympic bronze medallist switched one apparatus for another as he soared to floor gold with a score of 14.866.

The success did not stop there, as Jarman got to share the podium with fellow Brit Luke Whitehouse who clinched silver with 14.666.

And days later, the women decided that twice is just as nice, making it another double British podium as Ruby Evans and Abi Martin took women's floor silver and bronze.

It marked the first world medal for both athletes, both still just 18 (Evans) and 17 (Martin) years of age.

Away from the floor, Joe Fraser took home bronze in the men's horizontal bar with a score of 14.700.

Paddling to gold

Joe Clarke continued his reign as the king of kayak cross with Canoe Slalom World Championships gold in Sydney.

The two-time Olympic medallist stormed to victory to claim his fourth title in the event which made its debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics last summer.

The Australian waters also produced several other medals for the GB team, as Kimberley Woods roared to women's K1 silver and Adam Burgess picked up a C1 silver.

In the team events, GB took home men's C1 silver, men's K1 bronze and women's C1 bronze.

Tri and Taekwondo bronze

There was maiden world championship success on the mat for both Caden Cunningham and Lauren Williams.

The duo both took home their first medals at the World Taekwondo Championships, Cunningham in the men's +87kg and Williams in the women's +73kg.

Elsewhere, Beth Potter added another world medal to her collection with world triathlon bronze in Australia.

Potter now has now completed the world podium, having won gold, silver and bronze in the event over the last three years.

Dylan Hessey flips to victory

On the continental circuit, Dylan Hessey soared to European BMX Freestyle gold in the Netherlands.

The 22-year-old topped the standings with a monster score of 95.20 on his second run to take his first ever European title in the men's event.

In the women's event Sasha Pardoe soared to a bronze medal, adding to her medal count after winning the title last year.

Grand Prix delight

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson know how to start a season off right and that is what they did with ISU Grand Prix silver in France.

The duo performed an iconic Spice Girls medley for their rhythm dance, while their free dance brought to life a rich Scottish theme, set to three well-known pieces of music and rooted in traditional choreography.

With the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games less than 100 days away, it is the start of an exciting season for the pair.

Sportsbeat 2025