Road to Paris 2024 round-up: Tom Daley's return, swimming history and judo medals

Paris 2024 05 Feb 24

From World Championship crowns to Olympic quota spots, here's everything British athletes got up to this week on the road to Paris 2024.

TOM DALEY'S GOLDEN RETURN

Tom Daley is back but not as we know him. 

Returning to pursue a fifth Olympics, the 29-year-old is now permanently based in Los Angeles, splitting his time between California and London to continue working with long-time coach Jane Figueiredo. 

Daley's adaptability was evident again on his return to international competition at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

Like his last at the Tokyo Olympics - it produced gold - but in a very different way.

The Olympic 10m platform champion took to the 3-metre springboard and formed an iconic pairing with Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, performing a mixed synchro inward of three and a half somersaults to top the board with a final winning score of 421.65.

With Tokyo synchro partner Matty Lee fighting injury, Daley will have to roll with the punches once again as he pursues Olympic qualification.

Read more: Tom Daley announces his return to diving

What they said:

"I was so nervous doing my first dive in international competition for two-and-a-half years - and it was on springboard, doing a hurdle step, I was so terrified," said Daley.

"But it feels good to be back out there and competing again, and to do it alongside this team has just been amazing."

What's next?

Lee and Noah Williams finished fourth in the 10m synchro at last year's Worlds, narrowly missing out on Paris qualification at the first attempt. 

That means Thursday's 10m synchro final is Daley's final opportunity to secure Team GB a quota place for this summer's Games; he will be competing alongside Williams, with Lee still getting back to his best after a bulging disc.

FIRE IN THE OPEN WATER

Hector Pardoe's Olympic debut in Tokyo was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Pardoe was forced to abandon the men's 10km open water swim with just a couple of kilometres left after being elbowed in the face, losing his goggles and suffering nasty injuries to his eye. 

Fast forward two years and the 22-year-old was carving through Qatari waters and qualifying Team GB for the Olympics.

Nearly two hours of gruelling racing came down to a touch and a margin of 0.30 seconds as Pardoe snatched bronze, Britain's first men's medal over the Olympic marathon swim distance since David Davies in 2008. 

Pardoe, who swims an incredible 85km in the pool per week, is now primed for redemption in the River Seine. He won't be alone in the men's race on 9 August, with GB qualfiying two places in the men's event for the first time thanks to Toby Robinson's 15th-placed finish in Doha.

What they said:

“My first Olympic experience in Tokyo, I had to learn a lot about my confidence,” said Pardoe.

"In Funchal in December, I just missed out on that podium by 0.2 seconds. I wasn't going to let that happen this time, and I managed to get my hand on the wall first. That's a medal for GB that puts us on the map in marathon swimming.

"I went into Tokyo as a 20-year-old without much experience. The experience I've gained in the last three years will really set me up nicely to compete with the big boys in Paris. "

What's next?

The Open Water World Cup returns on the 23-24 March in Soma Bay, Egypt before taking to Italy and Portugal ahead of Paris 2024.

PARIS IS A PARTY FOR JUDOKA

British women's judo is a juggernaut that shows no signs of slowing.

Building on the 1990s legacies of Sharon Rendle, Nicola Fairbrother and Kate Howey, now coaching the team, Team GB have won medals in women's judo at the last three Games.

Chelsie Giles and Lucy Renshall are carving out a path to keep that run going in Paris. 

The Paris Grand Slam is the biggest event in judo - attracting a passionate 13,000 crowd to the Bercy Arena, that will be used for gymnastics and basketball during the Games. Judo will take place at the Grand Palais Ephemere, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

Giles came out of the Bercy cauldron with silver in the -52kg category and has now finished fifth at worst in the last 11 international competitions, stretching back to her win at the Europeans last April. 

She got a sense of the challenge she will face in the summer when it comes to upgrading her Tokyo gong, edged out in a tense gold medal bout against reigning Olympic champion Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo. 

Lucy Renshall went out in the first round of her Olympic debut in 2021 but has since build a body of work that makes her a bona fide medal contender at -63kg. 

The former world number one broke her nose in September, the latest in a spate of injuries, but showed top form to add Paris bronze to a medal of the same colour at last month's Grand Slam in Portugal.

What's next?

The Judo Grand Slam next takes to Baku, Azerbaijan on 16-18 February.

But British judokas can be seen taking to the mat even earlier at the Gyor European Open from the 10-11 February.

MCINTOSH ON TARGET IN CAIRO

Shooter Seonaid McIntosh used to say that even if results didn't go her way, she would be happy as long as she shot well.

But after missing out on the Cairo World Cup final by a centimetre, McIntosh took to Instagram to share a change of heart with her fans. 

"Well it’s finally happened and I can now say for sure that I am not happy," she said. "At least it’s difficult to come 9th anyway. It’s awesome to see how the sport is progressing and amazing to see how high the scores can be. And I messed up my last string so it’s not like I shot perfectly. But yea, coming 9th with 632 is insane and very much not expected. Just have to reevaluate expectations I suppose…"

Two days later, in her secondary 50m event, she won gold and narrowly missed the world record in the process; adding to a mixed team title with Dean Bale, Britain's first-ever medal in that discipline.

What they said:

“I’ve been working very hard on doing my process despite any pressure, so I think today obviously worked," said McIntosh

“Last year I was focusing really hard on the 10m air rifle at the start of the season, so I didn’t do 50m here.

"But I like to think they are both my babies now."

What's next?

McIntosh will return at the 10m rifle and pistol European Championships from 24 February to 3 March in Hungary.

BECKETT AND WILSON DELIVER AGAIN

In the fickle world of Olympic sailing, Team GB's Micky Beckett and Emma Wilson are paragons of consistency. 

It's a sport where a gust of wind in the wrong direction can ruin lifelong dreams and no two days are the same. 

These two have managed to get a handle on what it takes to be consistent and both banked World Championship medals to make statements ahead of this summer's Games. 

A switch seemed to flick for Beckett after he finished 22nd at the 2022 Worlds in the ILCA 7 boat class. He's been on a tear ever since, winning either gold or silver in every single major international competition.

Read more: How Emma Wilson started from scratch for Paris 2024

It was bronze this time at a gruelling global gathering in Adelaide as the Welshman continues to build towards his Olympic debut. 

Wilson dominated the iQFOiL Worlds in Lanzarote, winning 15 of 20 qualifying races. 

The unique nature of the Final Series in iQFOiL, the new Olympic windsurfing equipment, sees qualifying scores wiped as the top ten athletes are pitched into winner-takes-all knockout racing. Wilson's feats earned her direct passage to the grand final, where she finished second.

What they said:

“It was the toughest week of sailing of my life," said Beckett.

“That being said, I know there is work to be done ahead of Paris. I know exactly what I need to do and that gives me some reassurance.

"I’m quite looking forward to getting on with it to be honest, I don’t feel like I want a break now.”

What's next?

Beckett now looks ahead to the ILCA 7 European Championships at the end of February before British sailors line up for the 470 World Championships from 24 February to 4 March in Spain.

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