In an exhilarating day of competition, Team GB secured their first two gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Marvellous Monday. The victories came in equestrian eventing and men’s cross-country mountain biking, highlighting a day of remarkable performances for British athletes.

Equestrian: Eventing Team GB’s first gold of Paris 2024 was clinched at the historic Château de Versailles. The equestrian team, consisting of Laura Collett, Tom McEwen, and Ros Canter, topped the leaderboard in the team eventing competition. The trio completed the three-day event with 91.30 penalties, finishing 12.3 points ahead of the host nation, France, and 24.5 points clear of Japan.

Laura Collett also celebrated an individual success, securing a bronze medal in the individual eventing with 23.10 penalties. This placed her behind gold medallist Michael Jung and silver medallist Christopher Burton.

So many years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears,” Collett said. “An emotional rollercoaster doesn’t even do it justice. But for moments like this, every single bad day is so worth it. You just have to never give up and never lose hope; you can never dream too big.”

Tom McEwen, who previously won an individual silver in Tokyo, narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth.

Mountain Biking: Men’s Cross-Country Shortly after the equestrian triumph, Tom Pidcock added to Team GB’s gold tally by successfully defending his men’s cross-country mountain biking title. Pidcock, who turns 25 tomorrow, overcame a dramatic race that saw him suffer a puncture, dropping him to ninth place. He managed an extraordinary comeback, overtaking French rider Victor Koretzky in the final lap to secure the victory.

“The Olympics is so special and you need to never give up. You need to give everything,” Pidcock said after his triumphant finish.

Diving: Men’s 10m Synchro Tom Daley and Noah Williams earned a silver medal in the men’s synchronised 10m platform final, scoring 463.44 points. This marked Daley’s fifth Olympic medal and his first in Paris, adding to his collection of one gold and three bronzes. It was a debut medal for Williams in his second Olympic appearance. The gold went to China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao, who scored 490.35 points.

Reflecting on his journey, Daley shared, “This time last year, deciding to come back, not knowing whether I would make the synchro team, let alone qualify for a spot at the Olympics, and now to be here in Paris, diving in front of my son, who asked me to come back – it’s just so special.”

Swimming Matt Richards added another silver to Team GB’s medal haul in the men’s 200m freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:44.74, just 0.02 seconds off the gold. Richards, who won gold at last year’s World Championships, expressed both satisfaction and determination: “I can’t be too disappointed with that it’s my first ever individual at an Olympic Games so to walk away from that with a silver medal is fantastic. Obviously, two one hundredths off gold is excruciatingly frustrating but if anything it’s added more fire to my belly.

Duncan Scott, another Team GB swimmer, finished fourth, narrowly missing a medal by 0.08 seconds. In other swimming events, Freya Colbert finished fourth in the women’s 400m individual medley, with Katie Shanahan in seventh. Angharad Evans finished sixth in the women’s 100m breaststroke, and Ollie Morgan placed eighth in the men’s 100m backstroke.

Canoe Slalom: Men’s C1 Adam Burgess secured a silver medal in the men’s C1 canoe slalom, finishing with a time of 96.84 seconds. Burgess, who had narrowly missed a medal in Tokyo by 0.16 seconds, was overjoyed with his podium finish.

I’ve been dreaming of winning an Olympic medal since I was 10 years old. It was what I was thinking about in the start pool, I just wanted to do that kid proud that dreamt of this moment. I just went out there and gave it my all and here we are,” Burgess said.

Marvellous Monday proved to be a landmark day for Team GB at Paris 2024, with athletes delivering stellar performances and bringing home the first gold medals of the Games. The nation looks forward to more inspiring achievements in the days ahead.