When Snoop Dogg sang Hope you ready for the next episode during the Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday, Team GB bosses would be forgiven for feeling a little smug.
Because their planning for the next episode of the Games had begun long before the rapper marked the start of the run-up to Los Angeles 2028 by performing his famous hit with Dr. Dre.
It was back in 2022 — just a year after the delayed Tokyo Olympics — that Team GB first visited the west coast of the United States to scout out facilities ahead of LA28. And by being the first out of the blocks, they have managed to secure the sought-after Stanford University in California as their exclusive preparation camp for the Games.
Stanford is one of the largest university campuses in the States with specific facilities for 16 different sports. Team GB believe no nation will have a better Olympic training base as they look to improve on their ‘frustrating’ seventh-place finish in the medal table at Paris 2024.
‘It’s a competitive world and we wanted to be the first out there,’ said Andy Anson, the British Olympic Association chief executive. ‘We have got the best university facility on the west coast of America, maybe in the whole of America. It could host an Olympic Games on its own. Going to a very calm place in Palo Alto, it will be a perfect setting.
Keely Hodgkinson was amongst Team GB’s gold medallists in Paris as she won the 800m
British Olympic Association chief, Andy Anson, secured Team GB’s next Olympic training camp in LA
The aquatic’s centre at Stanford University where Team GB’s swimmers will train in four years time
‘We’ve also got similar facilities for the sports that are based in Long Beach. We’ll be going out in September and October to find a performance lodge and the other elements of the performance footprint. That has to give us an advantage. With an eight-hour time difference, the preparation area is really important.’
Team GB won 65 medals in Paris across a record 19 different sports. And they believe they are in a strong position to capitalise on the new sports that will be introduced in LA — cricket, baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash.
Only five nations will qualify for the six-team T20 cricket competitions, with one spot guaranteed for hosts USA. But England’s women are second in the world rankings in the shortest format, and their men are third.
England’s women are also world No 3 in lacrosse, and in flag football — a non-contact, five-a-side form of American football — Britain’s women are fourth. In squash, one British woman and two men are in the top 10 of their respective singles rankings.
Team GB chiefs have also been buoyed by how they have fared in sports recently added to the Games, such as skateboarding, in which teenager Sky Brown has claimed back-to-back bronze medals, and sport climbing, with Toby Roberts, 19, winning a surprise gold in Paris last week.
‘We’ve got an incredible track record of sports coming online and delivering success very quickly — probably better than any other country,’ said Anson.
‘Lacrosse, flag football and squash could be very positive. In cricket, we’ve got to be in the top five to qualify in T20 men’s and women’s, and we’re currently in that position. We are already working very closely with the ECB.’
Britain did not win a single medal in traditional team sports in Paris, but that is one area they are looking to improve in for the LA Games. As well as the new sports, Team GB hope to boost their medal chances by fielding a men’s football side for the first time since London 2012 and for only the second time since 1960.
19-year-old Toby Roberts won a surprise gold medal in bouldering at the Olympic Games
Team GB medallist Sky Brown has claimed back-to-back bronze medals in skateboarding
It was a strong Olympic display from Team GB’s equestrian team at the Games
The idea of a British men’s team has been a non-starter since London, with the FAs of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland refusing to come together. But Anson said: ‘It’s something I would dearly love to happen. I would like to work with the FA and with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs to see if we can make it happen.’
Team GB also think gains can be made in boxing in LA. The sport is not currently on the schedule for 2028 but it will be reinstated providing a new international federation is found to run the event, after the scandal-hit International Boxing Association (IBA) were stripped of recognition.
Britain claimed only one medal in boxing in Paris, a bronze for Lewis Richardson. But Anson cites the turnaround of rowing from Tokyo to Paris, when they went from winning two medals to eight, as reason to believe the same can happen in the ring.
‘In Tokyo we won six boxing medals and they all turned professional,’ said Anson. ‘Three years was not enough to build a brand new team and come out here and win medals. It was just too soon.
The state-of-the-art running facility at Stanford University
‘The guys at boxing are very good at what they do, and I believe they will be able to do something similar to rowing and move on and be more successful next time.’
Like rowing, athletics has also turned things around since Tokyo, where Team GB failed to win a gold medal for the first time since Atlanta 1996.
Jack Buckner was appointed chief executive of UK Athletics in 2022, moving from British Swimming after guiding Team GB to a record medal haul in the pool in Tokyo. He was criticised in some quarters for selecting a small squad, prioritising athletes who could win medals and make finals and leaving out some who had qualified at home.
But his policy proved a success as Team GB’s track and field stars won 10 medals, their best haul in 40 years. Keely Hodgkinson’s victory in the 800 metres provided one of the moments of the Games and she will be expected to lead the charge again in LA, when she will still only be 26.
With many other up-and-coming stars, Britain will hope to win more medals at the next Games when athletics is scheduled for the first week and swimming coming in the second.
‘Athletics had well-documented issues along the way, so I am delighted,’ said Anson. ‘Jack was determined to bring people in who would create a unified environment. Head coach Paula Dunn has brought a positive energy to the whole team. They feel stable and unified.’
Equestrianism managed to recover from the Charlotte Dujardin horse-whipping scandal to win five medals, their best haul since 2000. Team GB also claimed five medals in diving, a new record. But Britannia did not rule the waves in Marseille, with just one sailing gold.
The introduction of T20 cricket at the Olympics in LA in four-years time represents another medal chance
Team GB chiefs want to reintroduce an Olympic football team at the next Olympics
Britain claimed only one medal in boxing in Paris, a bronze for Lewis Richardson (left)
Just as disappointing was cycling, which received the most funding in the run-up to Paris with £29.3million. Despite high expectations, the only gold in the velodrome came in the women’s team sprint. The medal table was topped by the Netherlands, led by their English sprint coach Mehdi Kordi, a former employee of British Cycling, who ought to try to re-hire him.
Team GB’s overall gold medal haul of 14 was their lowest since Athens 2004, but chiefs cite some near misses and bad luck. Adam Peaty failed to win a third straight gold in the 100m breaststroke by just 0.02sec after catching Covid.
Kate French was unable to defend her modern pentathlon title after illness ruled her out of Sunday’s final. Double Olympic champion Katie Archibald missed the Games altogether after breaking her leg in a freak garden accident, severely damaging the chances of the women’s endurance cycling team.
However, Team GB and UK Sport — who fund Olympic sports — will not be complacent and are set to carry out a post-Games review in a bid to improve their performance in LA. ‘We normally see a 30 per cent conversion of the medals into gold and we haven’t seen that here,’ said UK Sport chair Katherine Grainger.
‘We will have a period of review of what has worked well, what hasn’t, where did we miss the conversions. All sports go through different waves and we have to understand what is needed and look to go better again.
UK Sport chair Katherine Grainger (left) admitted there will be a review into Team GB’s medal performance in Paris
‘As fantastic as Paris has been, if we think that is us done, that is not what sport is about. It is about constantly moving on and moving up.’
Anson has also vowed Britain will ‘get back at the Aussies’ in LA, their Ashes rivals having finished fourth in the medal table in Paris. Key, though, to a better showing in the States will be money from the Government, which supplements funding from the National Lottery.
‘We need Government support to continue,’ added Grainger. ‘We will be working very hard to try and get some sort of agreement so that we can make investment decisions moving forward.
‘We know it’s a tough time financially in the UK but we have to show we are really good value for money. What you get from sport is quite extraordinary and different from anything else.’ Bring on LA.
