September in review: Golds galore as British athletes throw down Paris 2024 marker

Monthly review and preview 30 Sep 23

Beth Potter triumphed in Pontevedra to become a world triathlon champion while Kate Waugh claimed silver in an incredible finale to the 2023 season.

Potter, 31, represented Team GB in the 10,000 metres at Rio 2016 and, seven years later, has mastered the art of swim, bike, run. 

Read more: How Beth Potter started again and became World Champion

Fresh from her World Athletics Championship silver, Keely Hodgkinson smashed her own British record with another epic run in the Diamond League final, clocking 1:55:19 – the tenth fastest time ever in the women’s 800m. 

Laura Muir took 1500m victory in Brussels and then claimed third place in the finale in Eugene with a season’s best time of 3:55:16, while Charlotte Purdue became the second-fastest British woman of all time when she ran the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:22:17. 

Lee Valley White Water Centre played host to a conquering Canoe Slalom World Championships for Great Britain, who managed a best-ever performance with five golds, two silvers and a bronze. 

Mallory Franklin reclaimed her 2017 C1 world title in a one-two with teammate Kimberley Woods, and the pair then teamed up with Ellis Miller for gold in the women’s team event, managing a clean run to win the final. 

Woods then had her own individual moment in the spotlight when she claimed her first individual title in the sport’s newest Olympic discipline, kayak cross. 

2016 Olympic champion Joe Clarke made it double gold in kayak cross and also stormed to win the men’s K1 with a dominant run at Lee Valley. 

British Rowing enjoyed a stellar campaign at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, picking up four world titles and six medals in Olympic classes. 

Nine boats laid down a marker with qualification for Paris 2024, including women’s quad sculls quartet Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw who won Britain’s first World Championship gold in the class since 2010. 

The men’s four and the men’s eight retained their world championships crowns in successive days with a standout performance from Matt Aldridge, Dave Ambler, Freddie Davidson and Oli Wilkes. 

A dominant display from Jacob Dawson, Rory Gibbs, Sholto Carnegie, Morgan Bolding, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin, Tom Ford and coxswain Harry Brightmore provided further golden fruit in Belgrade. 

Lightweight double scullers Emily Craig and Imogen Grant led from start to finish in their world title win – the pair remain unbeaten since 2021 when they came fourth in Tokyo.

Read more: How Britain's rowers laid down a Paris marker

In eventing, Oliver Townend romped to victory on Ballaghmor Class at the Burghley Horse Trials once again, taking the gold at the world-renowned 5* event for the first time since 2017. 

At the Dressage European Championships, a team of Lottie Fry, Carl Hester, Gareth Hughes and Charlotte Dujardin won Great Britain’s first team dressage gold since London 2012. 

Dujardin subsequently picked up a two further bronze medals on Imhotep while Fry claimed silver on Glamourdale in the freestyle event. 

And it was a record-breaking month in open waters for British Olympic hopes – Hector Pardoe smashed the 26-year-old record of swimming Lake Windermere end-to-end, clocking 10.5 miles in 3hrs 40 minutes. 

In the Irish Sea, John Gimson and Anna Burnet blitzed their way from Ballyholme Belfast to Port Patrick in a world-record time of 1hr 30 minutes as they championed sustainability with their Nacra 17 boat. 

Amber Rutter claimed a hat-trick of medals in Croatia which included a mixed team skeet gold to make her a European Champion alongside Ben Llewellin and two bronzes in the women’s team and skeet. 

Following silver medals at the Sailing World Championships and the Paris 2024 test even, Ellie Aldridge became a European Kitefoil champion following success on home waters at the Formula Kite Euros.

And, as the qualifying nation for Team GB, England's Lionesses kickstarted their UEFA Nations League campaign with one win and one loss in their first two fixtures of the group stage against Scotland and the Netherlands. 

World Gymnastics Championships; Antwerp, Belgium; 30 September-8 October 

Max Whitlock will return to major championship for the first time since the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Antwerp. 

Three-time world medallist Jessica Gadirova takes to the floor in the women's team, joined by a strong side of Ondine Achampong, Ruby Evans, Alice Kinsella and Georgia-Mae Fenton. 

Whitlock will be joined by the world bronze medal-winning team of Jake Jarman, Courtney Tulloch and James Hall while Harry Hepworth makes his Worlds debut. 

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