In a busy summer of sport, July was a month for the ages for Team GB athletes, who set world records, brought home global crowns and even got a taste for the LA 2028 Olympic venues.
With impressive performances home and abroad, this is what they have been up to.
Kerr takes down a legend
Back in March, fresh from winning the world indoor title, Josh Kerr announced an ambitious project to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s iconic mile world record.
Project 222 – the number of seconds required to beat the 27-year-old mark – was set for the Wanda Diamond League in London.
And proving that he can walk the walk, as well as talk the talk, Kerr showed up at the London Stadium in peak condition ready for the record attempt.
Having dedicated months to the run, with ice baths, an altitude room in his Albuquerque home and the most advanced spikes and speed suit available, Kerr ran 3:42.66, taking 0.47 seconds off the previous best.
Now Kerr is up in Glasgow looking to add a Commonwealth title to the Olympic silver and bronze medals he has won at the last two Games, two years out from LA.
Shriever’s historic world title
Bethany Shriever cemented her place as one of the greatest BMX racers in history when she claimed a record fourth World Championship gold medal in Brisbane.
It might not have been achieved exactly in the fashion she would have liked, with Shriever awarded victory for recording the fastest lap on the opening day of competition before the event was cut short due to adverse weather.
But with three world titles already to her name, as well as that Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, there is no question of her credentials, and this extended her dominance of the sport.
Shriever was not the only British success story Down Under, as Ross Cullen took silver in the men’s event while Freia Challis was crowned women’s junior world champion.
Paddling in Oklahoma!
With two years to go until LA, Britain’s paddlers flew out to Oklahoma for the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships at the same venue where the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games will take place.
And in the perfect tune-up for LA28, a host of Olympic medallists impressed for GB.
Adam Burgess won silver in the C1, just as he did in Paris two years ago, before joining forces with Ryan Westley and Peter Linksted to take gold in the non-Olympic C1 team event.
Joe Clarke’s kayak cross individual time trial gold came in another non-Olympic event, but Sam Leaver’s kayak cross bronze bodes well for two years’ time.
And double Paris bronze medallist Kimberley Woods, adding a global bronze in the K1 to her collection.
Hitting the target
Both shooters and archers were on fire in July, across a variety of World Cup events.
Seonaid McIntosh returned to international competition at the end of 2025, and she claimed a first World Cup victory since her return, triumphing in the 50m rifle 3 positions in Hangzhou.
Meanwhile, Paris silver medallist Amber Rutter won bronze at the Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, in her first international event since the birth of her second son in October.
Switching targets, Ella Gibson enjoyed a dream trip to Madrid for the latest stop on the Archery World Cup circuit. She won both individual and mixed team compound gold in the Spanish capital, with the latter event making its debut at LA28.
Taking over Glasgow
This summer is huge with a home champs in Glasgow as the Commonwealth Games returns to Scotland’s biggest city.
And while competition will continue into August, there have been plenty of standout performances already from home nations athletes.
One of the stars of the Games for the host nation has been Angharad Evans, who won gold over both 100m and 200m breaststroke, while also adding a silver and a bronze in two relays for Scotland.
There was also an historic gold for 18-year-old Filip Nowacki, representing Jersey and winning their first Commonwealth Games title in 36 years when he claimed the 200m breaststroke.
Away from Tollcross, there was success in the gymnastics despite a relatively inexperienced team, the highlight being the women’s floor, where Ruby Evans won gold for Wales as part of a British 1-2-3, with English pair Abigail Martin and Shantae-Eve Amankwaah taking silver and bronze respectively.
And on the men’s side, Luke Whitehouse lived up to his credentials on the floor, taking victory to add to his hat-trick of European titles, while Scotland’s Reuben Ward won a very popular all-around gold.
Sportsbeat 2026