Great Britain has a storied history when it comes to the Olympics.

From the inaugural modern Games in Athens in 1896 to the most recent games in Tokyo, Team GB has rarely been far from the top of the medal table.

The Games have also created plenty of moments that are etched into the sporting folklore of the nation.

The Paris 2024 Games could be set to create some more, but here are 16 from throughout the years.

Super Saturday – London 2012

The most enduring British Olympic memory of recent times, Super Saturday saw three gold medals in just 44 minutes all in the same stadium at London 2012.

Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford, and Sir Mo Farah all etched their names into British sporting folklore by combining to produce one of the most memorable hours the country has seen on Saturday 4 August 2012.

Team GB had already sealed three golds earlier in the day, but it was the magical hour at the Olympic Stadium that truly captured the nation’s hearts.

Ennis-Hill was the first to finish and get the party started, as she stormed through her 800m to complete a magisterial performance in the heptathlon.

She was the heavy favourite heading into London and knew that she was all-but assured of gold ahead of the final event, but put in a true champion’s performance by crossing the line first with arms aloft.

Rutherford followed just over 20 minutes later. The long jumper’s victory was perhaps more of a surprise, making it all the more electric as his jump of 8.31m was enough for gold.

The finale then came from Farah, as he powered to 10,000m gold in emphatic fashion to seal the first of a total four Olympic golds over his career.

The home favourite led from the front from just over 1km out and held off his strong-finishing training partner Galen Rupp to take the finish line.

It capped an unbelievable evening of British success that sits as one of Great Britan’s all-time Olympic moments.

Steve Redgrave’s fifth gold, Sydney 2000

Winning one Olympic gold is beyond the wildest dreams of even the most talented of athletes, but Steve Redgrave won five for Great Britain.

The rower became a staple at the Games across the 80s and 90s but appeared to call it a day on the water after winning his fourth at Atlanta 1996, memorably saying: “Anyone who sees me go anywhere near a boat again, ever, you’ve got my permission to shoot me.”

But fast forward four years and Redgrave was back in the boat alongside Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Tim Foster in the coxless fours at Sydney 2000.

Aged 38, Redgrave produced one final flourish to once more win gold and seal his fifth gold at his fifth consecutive Games, stretching all the way back to Los Angeles 1984.

It was an achievement that had never been done before but the British team stepped up to pip their Italian rivals to the top of the podium by 0.38 seconds and spark emotional scenes on the water.

The four men celebrated wildly despite their exhaustion, with Pinsent embracing Redgrave before falling overboard.

His fifth gold sealed Redgrave’s status as one of Great Britain’s finest-ever Olympians. His five golds were the most of any Briton until he was eventually surpassed by Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Bradley Wiggins, and Sir Jason Kenny over a decade later.

Those lakeside in Sydney greeted Redgrave with chants of ‘Arise, Sir Steve’ and he was duly knighted for his services to rowing in 2001.

His achievement at Sydney 2000 also saw him voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2000.

Men’s 4x100m relay, Athens 2004

It went down as one of the closest photo finishes in athletics history but Team GB roared to men’s 4x100m relay gold at Athens 2004.

Pipping the USA to the mark by just 0.01 seconds, the quartet of Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis were victorious in a time of 38.07 seconds for Team GB’s first Olympic relay gold medal since 1912.

It was all in the handovers as the USA team suffered a botched exchange between Justin Gatlin and Coby Miller after the second leg and were unable to make up sufficient ground on the home stretch to beat the Brits.

The Nigerian team rounded off the podium with bronze, 0.15 seconds behind silver.

Before the race, all of the talk was on how the men’s team might finish the meeting without a single medal for the first-time in Olympic history.

The men’s sprinters had badly under-performed with no representation in either the 100m or 200m Olympic finals for the first time since 1976. All eyes were on the 4x100m relay to resurrect their chances.

Team GB had qualified second behind the USA in their heat, clocking a new season best time of 38.53 seconds despite the dip in form and oncoming injuries.

In the final, it ultimately came down to the thickness of the vest as Lewis-Francis put in the performance of his life to hold off the charging three-time world champion Maurice Greene and win gold.

Andy Murray wins gold, London 2012

Andy Murray had already rocketed to tennis fame by the time the London 2012 Olympic Games came around.

The Dunblane star returned to Wimbledon within weeks of his heartbreak at the same venue, when he broke down in tears in his courtside TV interview following defeat against Roger Federer.

Following a harrowing first-round loss back in Beijing 2008, Murray was looking for redemption as the poster boy of the event on home soil – and redemption he achieved.

He started strongly by pocketing silver alongside Laura Robson in the mixed doubles.

The pair reached the gold medal match with a semi-final victory over Germany’s Sabine Lisicki and Christopher Kas before falling to Belarusian top seeds Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi in the final.

But it was a golden singles performance that saw Murray in the headlines.

Coming in as third seed, the Scot lost just one set on his journey to the final, falling in his opening set against Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis in the third round but bouncing back for a 4-6 6-1 6-4 win.

In his semi-final, Murray beat second seed Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-5 to reach the pinnacle and Federer again lay in wait.

This time, the British public were treated to a golden victory as the Scot stormed to gold in straight sets to become the first British man to win the Olympic singles gold medal in tennis since Josiah Ritchie in 1908.

Tessa Sanderson v Fatima Whitbread, LA 1984

Tessa Sanderson beat Fatima Whitbread to Olympic gold at LA 1984 in one of the greatest domestic rivalries of British sport.

The two javelin athletes had often opened up about their feud on the field but 1984 saw Sanderson come out on top on the biggest stage.

Whitbread had beaten Sanderson for the first time in her career at the 1983 British Championships and won silver at the inaugural World Championships the same year.

But stomach surgery just a few days before landing in LA for her maiden Olympics was not the ideal preparation for the Brit.

Meanwhile Sanderson had suffered an Achilles injury at the 1983 Worlds but was back on top form ready for the Olympic stage.

Whitbread topped her group in the qualification rounds with a final throw of 65.30m, having received fouls in her opening two throws, whilst Sanderson had got the job done with her opening throw of 61.58m.

It all came down to the final, with the two Brits pitted against each other in a rivalry both have called ‘bitter’ upon reflection.

And Sanderson stormed to victory with a new Olympic record of 69.56m in her opening throw leaving Whitbread forced to settle for bronze behind Finland’s Tiina Lillak.

It was a moment to go down in the feud’s history, with Sanderson the only one to have clinched the Olympic crown in a rivalry that pushed the two British athletes to the best of their abilities.

Kelly Holmes, Athens 2004

Dame Kelly Holmes etched herself into the pantheon of British Olympic greats with a stunning pair of golds at Athens 2004.

Holmes had only planned on competing in the 1500m but made a late decision to double up and do the 800m, in turn becoming the first Briton since Albert Hill in 1920 to win two athletics gold medals at the same Games.

The then 34-year-old already had an Olympic bronze to her name from the 800m at Sydney 2000 but was set for even bigger things after finally finding herself injury-free.

Her 800m crown came first, as the former British Army sergeant timed her race to perfection. Holmes sat seventh at the bell but began to claw her way to the front through the second and final lap before snatching gold on the line.

The 1500m title followed just days later, with Holmes again deploying a similar strategy of sitting at the back of the pack before timing her tilt for the line to perfection, in the process setting a new British record that would stand until 2021.

Her margin of victory was more comfortable this time around, and Holmes crossed the line with arms aloft, smiling in celebration to create one of the most enduring images in British sporting history.

Holmes would retire just a year later but in those two moments had become a British sporting superstar, continuing the proud British middle distance tradition that had inspired her to first take to the track two decades prior.

Derek Redmond, Barcelona 1992

The most iconic moment without a medal in British Olympic history, Derek Redmond’s defiant struggle to the finish line at Barcelona 1992 was a true embodiment of Olympic spirit.

Redmond won the hearts of the world when he completed the rest of his 400m race with his father, Jim, by his side after pulling his hamstring.

The runner’s hopes of an Olympic medal were dashed less than 20 seconds into his semi-final, as Redmond immediately pulled up holding his hamstring and was left head in hands on the track.

But Redmond would not be defeated and got back on his feet to try and hop the rest of the race even with all his competitors long crossed the line.

Redmond began to receive rapturous applause from the crowd as he hobbled round despite the pain visible on his face.

As he turned into the home straight, Redmond was then joined by his father, who put his arm around his weeping son and the pair crossed the line together, creating one of the most emotional Olympic moments.

While Redmond may not have left Barcelona with the medal he had come for, he still departed as one of the most famous names thanks to his incredible display of determination.

‘It wasn’t meant as a grand gesture or to prove the point that it is the taking part that counts,” Redmond told the BBC in 2012.

“I never believed that and I don’t think any athletes do. If I didn’t think I had a chance of winning then I wouldn’t have put myself through it.”

Daley Thompson, LA 1984

Winning one Olympic gold medal is an incredible achievement, but defending it is another thing altogether.

That is exactly what Daley Thompson famously did at Los Angeles 1984, as he clung onto the decathlon title he won four years earlier at Moscow 1980.

Thompson sealed his first Olympic gold in dominant fashion and would go on to remain unbeaten between Games, breaking his own world record in 1982 and claiming the inaugural world title in 1983.

But it was his second gold that truly cemented his legendary status, as he became only the second decathlete to win back-to-back golds after American Bob Mathias in 1948 and 1952.

By the time he arrived in Los Angeles, Thompson had seen his world record bettered by German Jürgen Hingsen and the 1984 Games were billed as a battle between the two for gold.

That is how it unfolded, with the two athletes finishing comfortably ahead of the rest of the pack as Hingsen took silver behind Thompson but the Briton’s gold was seldom in doubt.

The defending champion led from the front, taking the lead in the opening event, the 100m, and never relinquished his grip on top spot from thereon in.

Thompson entered the final event, the 1500m, well within range of Hingsen’s world record, but with victory assured he cruised round to initially miss out on breaking it by 0.1 seconds.

He was later ruled to be the co-holder of the record two years later but his status as the greatest decathlete of all time was already secured by then.

Pinsent and Redgrave, Atlanta 96

In careers laden with gold medals, Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent’s coxless pair victory at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta was the duo’s magnum opus.

Four years on from their maiden Games together in Barcelona, the duo had topped the podium in every World Rowing Championships in the meantime and ruled the water for Great Britain.

From the fourth lane, Redgrave and Pinsent beat off stern opposition from their Australian and French counterparts to win the race by almost a second.

After crossing the finish line, Redgrave announced to the world that he intended to leave the sport behind after over a decade’s greatness but his retirement lasted two days, the five-time gold medallist instead taking a four month break from the early mornings, gruelling routine and strict regime.

Redgrave and Pinsent opted to evolve after winning everything on offer to them as a pair, and added Tim Foster and James Cracknell to the equation.

As a coxless four the quartet continued to dominate on the world circuit and won three more World Rowing Championship titles on the route to Sydney.

Redgrave capped his career off with an historic fifth Olympic gold on the water, while Pinsent’s own legacy was secured with a final first-place four years later in Athens.

Tom Daley and Matty Lee, Tokyo 2020

It was an agonising wait for Tom Daley and Matty Lee before they were confirmed as Olympic champions at Tokyo 2020.

Leading in the final round, the synchronised diving duo waited poolside as China’s Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen hoped to challenge the Team GB’s final score of 471.81.

Watching their opponents step onto the 10m board, after the final splash had settled, it was confirmed the British team had secured gold with a winning margin of 1.23 points.

Daley and Lee had been paired together in 2019 for that year’s World Aquatics Championships, when the pair won bronze on their first outing together.

For Daley it was the first time he had won gold at the Games at the fourth time of asking, while for Leeds-born Lee it was his first Olympic experience.

Daley shot to fame as a 14-year-old when he became Great Britain’s youngest-ever competitor at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, before winning bronze medals at London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

In the years that followed, the nation watched on as the Devon-born diver mourned the loss of his father in 2011, became a voice for the LGBTQ+ community and became a father in 2018 with his husband, Dustin Lance Black.

As Daley stood atop the podium with a gold medal around his neck, there was a sigh of relief around Great Britain too as the diver the country had watched grow up finally got his reward.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, London 2012

The floodgates were well and truly opened when Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won Team GB’s first gold of London 2012.

Ending their nation’s three-day wait for a medal in stunning fashion, Glover and Stanning stormed to victory in the women’s pairs, having led the 2km race for its entirety.

As Eton Dorney erupted into raptures, the duo produced one of the first timeless moments of the Games, with Glover punching the air and falling back into the arms of Stanning, who hugged her team-mate and covered her eyes in disbelief.

Brits had gone an anxious three days without gold at their home Olympics, knowing that they just needed the one to get the ball rolling.

As such, there was a feeling of tension around the women’s pair final, hopeful that now would be the time that their nation’s fortunes changed.

There was little need to panic. Glover and Stanning burst out of the gate, and before long had flown past Germany and Olympic champions Romania.

What followed was a sensational run, with the pair experiencing little to no threat as leaders of the pack.

As they entered the final 500m, they were roared on by a wall of noise which powered them to get across the line and write themselves into British history.

Tipping over the first domino, it would act as the first of 29 golds Team GB would claim at London 2012, finishing the Games with an overwhelming total medal haul of 65 – the third most of any country.

Linford Christie, Barcelona 92

Linford Christie made history as the oldest man to ever win an Olympic gold in the 100m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Only the third Brit to ever claim the title, Christie ran a sensational 9.96s in the final to top the podium, doing so at the tender age of 32 years 121 days.

Becoming the oldest Olympic 100m champion by more than four years, it was an achievement made even more remarkable for Christie, reaching the mountain top four years on from being pipped to gold in Seoul.

After moving to Britain from Jamaica at the age of seven, Christie was quickly noticed as a gifted runner, excelling in physical education while studying in Fulham. However, it wouldn’t be until he was 18 that he decided to take up athletics seriously.

Struggling as a slow starter, his early career didn’t show many signs of promise, and it wasn’t until he teamed up with Ron Roddan that he started to realise his true potential.

It was then that the medals started to roll in, and by Seoul 1988, he was Britain’s top sprinting prospect.

After securing silver in South Korea, Christie went one better in Barcelona four years later to claim gold, proving once and for all that age is just a number.

Then, just a year later, he would cement his legacy at the Stuttgart World Championships by setting a new British record of 9.87s in the 100m – a record that would stand for 30 years, with it taking until 2023 for star of the day Zharnel Hughes to best his time by 0.04s.

Nick Skelton wins gold aged 58, Rio 2016

When Nick Skelton broke his neck in 2000, he was told by doctors he would never ride again.

Fast forward to 2016 – and five years after a hip replacement – Skelton won Team GB’s first individual showjumping gold in Olympic history.

The then 58-year-old also became Britain’s oldest Olympic gold medallist in any sport, eclipsing shooter Jerry Millner, who won gold in 1908.

Skelton, who had earlier won team gold in London 2012, triumphed again riding Big Star in a six-man jump-off at a record seventh Olympic Games.

In London, Big Star had been the most consistent showjumper but was denied the individual medal Skelton felt his mount deserved when they hit just one fence on the final day, leading to a fifth-placed finish.

But the horse with a big heart came back stronger in Rio, jumping two clear rounds in the final to progress to a nerve-jangling jump-off.

Skelton, faced with the awkward task of going first, had to choose between going fast to pile pressure on the others and aiming for a clear round in the hope his rivals faltered.

Instead, he did both. Using every inch of experience, he produced a clear round in a time of 42.82 seconds, which couldn’t be bettered.

It was a dream high-point of a sometimes troubled career and a lesson in not giving in.

“When Big Star stops, I will stop. For definite,” said Skelton in the glorious haze of victory. And so he did, the golden pair retiring together shortly after the 2016 Games.

‘Where were the Germans – who cares?’ – Seoul 88

The last time Great Britain’s men reached an Olympic final, they came away with a gold medal – and an immortal commentary line was born.

“Where were the Germans? But frankly, who cares?” said the great Barry Davies, witnessing winger, Imran Sherwani, scoring an emphatic third gold to put GB 3-0 up in the showpiece event at Seoul 1988.

The team won silver at the World Cup two years prior and went to the Games as the number two seeds but from the start of the tournament, things were not straightforward.

They drew 2-2 with South Korea having been 2-0 up, resulting in a little bristling on the field, and a 2-1 defeat to West Germany in their third match left them facing a group-stage exit.

But wins over the Soviet Union and India booked a semi-final place, where a Sean Kerly hat-trick sealed a dramatic 3-2 win over Australia.

That set up a rematch with West Germany and there was to be no disappointment second time round, with Sherwani’s double sealing a second ever men’s gold in a 3-1 win.

For once, Davies’ impeccable impartiality slipped but as he admitted years later to the BBC, he was merely searching for the right words.

“As I’m saying that, I’m thinking, ‘Who gives a stuff where the Germans were? We’re going to win this,’” he recalled.

“I have to admit the ‘we’ was there. I was guilty of supporting Great Britain. So then I added, ‘Frankly, who cares?’ Because I didn’t, and I doubt if anybody watching in Britain did.”

Jason and Laura Kenny’s kiss, London 2012

There are not many times when David Beckham and Prince Harry are upstaged but the world-famous footballer and member of the Royal Family took a backseat to Jason and Laura Kenny at London 2012.

Then known as Laura Trott, the cyclist had claimed women’s omnium and team pursuit gold while Jason had become men’s team sprint and individual sprint champion to add to his tally.

The two were spotted unwinding by taking in the women’s volleyball final and were snapped sharing a smooch while Beckham and the Duke of Sussex could be seen in shot.

Given it was 2012, Laura confirmed the relationship with a short Tweet saying “So yes its out there me and Jason Kenny are dating. Been a little while now just didn’t want the distraction before the games x”

The two have become quite the power couple with Jason going on to be Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete while Kenny holds the distinction for a female British athlete at the Games.

Jason won seven Olympic gold medals and two silvers across four Games before calling time on his career after Tokyo 2020.

The two married shortly after Rio 2016 where Laura had been Team GB’s closing ceremony flagbearer before adding gold and silver to her collection in Tokyo to take her to five golds and one silver at the Olympics.

Between Rio and Tokyo, Laura had the pair’s first son Albie before giving birth to their second son Monty in 2023.

Laura had aimed to return for a fourth Games in Paris but retired this March to bring an end to the couple’s legendary stint in track cycling.

Mary Peters gold, 1972

Fifty-two years ago, Mary Peters became Northern Ireland’s second-ever Olympic champion and she remains their last.

The now 85-year-old won women’s pentathlon gold at the 1972 Games in Munich beating out Heide Rosendahl of West Germany.

Peters finished second in the 100m hurdles before winning the shot put and high jump events.

A tied-17th place finish in the long jump, which home favourite Rosendahl won, set up a grandstand finish in the Olympic Stadium.

Rosendahl dominated the final event the 200m, winning in a time of 22.96, Peters finished in 24.08 to pip Rosendahl to gold.

Peters scored 4801 points, a world record, beating Rosendahl by just 10 points, the equivalent of a tenth of a second.

Despite coming so close to winning gold, Rosendahl held no grudges with the pair remaining friends, and the German athlete even attended the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Peters’ win in Belfast two years ago.

There was not universal pride for Peters in Northern Ireland, with the athlete facing death threats as the Troubles affected every part of life.

The Portadown native was still welcomed back to Belfast where she and her gold medal were paraded through the streets.

Despite being born in Liverpool, Peters had built a hugely strong connection with Northern Ireland and has remained there throughout her life, establishing the Mary Peters Trust to help up-and-coming Northern Irish athletes.

Peters was also the first Northern Irish winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year and is just one of three sportswomen in the UK to have their own statue.

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