Category: Olympics

Four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles has been awarded the Laureus World Comeback of the Year prize following a two-year hiatus from the sport.

The American gymnast had a 2023 to remember as she returned to the sport after taking a break for mental health reasons following the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 27-year-old is a three-time winner of Sportswoman of the Year award (2017, 2019, 2020) and adds another statuette to her collection with the Comeback of the Year Award.

She is expected to try to add to her Olympic medal collection at this summer’s Paris Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Arisa Trew became the first female skateboarder to win Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year.

Trew, the 13-year-old Australian skateboarding star, made history in 2023 when she became the first female skater to land a 720 (two full rotations) in vert skateboarding.

Trew successfully pulled off the trick at the Tony Hawk Vert Alert in Utah.

One of the event’s hosts, Tony Hawk, who is a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, was the first skateboarder to land the trick in 1985.

Meanwhile, Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati has been named the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham has won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award.

The 69 sporting legends whose votes decide the award winners presented the prizes in Madrid.

Usain Bolt, the greatest sprinter of all time, presented the Sportswoman of the Year Award to Bonmati.

Last year’s winner of the Breakthrough of the Year Award, Carlos Alcaraz – a Real Madrid fan – handed the Laureus for that category to Bellingham.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) today gives a first glimpse of its Paris studios from which it will deliver the most immersive Olympic Games ever seen this coming summer.

To celebrate the 100 Days to Go landmark until Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery today also:

• …unveils a host of compelling content as the Road to Paris 2024 gets closer and closer
• …details how the broadcaster will use the breadth of its portfolio to reach new and younger audiences
• …teases some of its production plans with Games-time on the horizon

Viewers watching on Eurosport, Max or discovery+* across Europe will have a front row seat to the sights and sounds of Paris, with the main studios located at the prestigious Hotel Raphael – aka Warner Bros. Discovery House – overlooking the iconic Eiffel Tower and stand-up positions with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. WBD House will be home to the best-in-class programming and analysis and is set to welcome some of the highest profile competing athletes and dignitaries to its studios throughout the Games.

In total, WBD House will have four studios, used by production teams from the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Poland, Italy and Germany as well as three stand-up positions, one of which will be utilised by WBD’s premium global news network CNN, and live broadcasts for Spain, Finland and Denmark. The technology used will connect its hubs across Europe and the United States with content being managed and curated across the global WBD network.

Eurosport will mark the 100 Days to Go milestone on Wednesday, 17 April with a series of live links on-the-ground from Paris. As part of its mission to unlock the power of sport, an evening of Olympic-themed programming will be available to watch on [Max, discovery+, Eurosport App) and Eurosport.

• The Power of the Olympics will go to air weekly from 17 April until Games-time and will include interviews with some of the biggest names going for gold in Paris this summer, the latest action from across the globe, while also featuring some of the deeper human stories relating to the Games.

• Hosted by nine-time BMX World Champion Matthias Dandois, The Olympians is an original 60-minute documentary, giving fans an access-all-areas pass into the lives of ten elite Olympians. Discover the preparation of ten elite Olympians hailing from diverse nations and sporting backgrounds as they dedicate four years of their lives to train for the Games. Athletes featured include Kevin Mayer (French decathlete), Saul Craviotto (Spanish kayaker), Pauline Ado (French surfer) and Adam Peaty (British swimmer), Timo Boll (German table tennis player) and Gianmarco Tamberi (Italian high jumper).

• Chasing Glory – co-produced with Red Bull Media House – is an intimate, dramatic and revealing seven-part documentary series that follows six athletes as they prepare to compete in the biggest sporting event on the planet. Available Max or discovery+* and on Eurosport 1 across Europe Europe. Karsten Warholm (Norwegian 400m record holder), Janja Garnbret (Slovenian climber), Menno van Gorp (Dutch breaker), Dina Asher-Smith (British sprinter), Peter Sagan (Slovakian cyclist) and Vahine Fierro (French surfer) all feature in the series.

• Eurosport will also air Paris: La Vie Sportive, an original documentary which recalls Paris’ historic and unique relationship with sport in the 100 years since it last hosted the Olympic Games in 1924, narrated by legendary 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 winner Thierry Henry.

The Road to Paris will see WBD harness the breadth of its network and much-loved brands, taking the Games to brand new and younger audiences. Last month, it was announced that WBD was collaborating with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a consumer products program to be released internationally featuring the Looney Tunes characters. Starting in April and in the lead-up to Games-time, Eurosport will broadcast a series of episodes of Sports Made Simple, presented by Bugs Bunny, who will help explain some of the finer details the 4 x 100m relay, tennis, breaking, volleyball and gymnastics in Bugs’ own inimitable style.

The first Sports Made Simple episode, featuring the Looney Tunes, launches with the 4 x 100m relay on 17 April across Eurosport’s social and digital platforms with a segment to be included in the opening episode of The Power of the Olympics.

Guaranteeing an ‘always-on’ approach for sports fans wanting to watch the latest highlights from Paris regardless of the time of day, WBD Sports Europe will leverage the breadth and knowledge base of the company’s network to utilise the resources of its WBD counterparts in Atlanta, Georgia – producing hundreds of hours of content throughout the Games that will be enjoyed by viewers and users of Eurosport’s social media platforms across Europe.

Also launching on 17 April, a new microsite dedicated to Paris 2024 will go live on Eurosport.com, offering users the complete and localised Olympic experience across Europe in 12 languages. From features to the latest qualifying events and interviews with national heroes to video highlights, the site will be the go-to digital destination for fans of the Olympic Games.

Warner Bros. Discovery is the Home of the Olympics in Europe and its streaming platforms – Max and discovery+ – will be the only place to watch every moment of the Olympics – all 3,800 hours of live action – this summer. In addition, Eurosport’s channels will provide wall-to-wall live coverage for sports fans across the 19 days of competition.

The 100 Days to Go milestone kicks off a momentous Summer of Sport on WBD’s linear and streaming platforms across all of Europe that includes Roland-Garros, US Open, every Grand Tour – Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta a España, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, Speedway GP in addition to the Tour de France Femmes and 24 Hours of Le Mans***. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, TNT Sports will broadcast every UEFA club competition final as well as key fixtures from the climax of the Premier League football and Premiership Rugby season and every Moto GP race throughout the summer. Including Paris 2024, WBD and its streaming platforms Max and discovery+, will broadcast in excess of 5,000 hours of live sport this summer.

Scott Young, Group SVP Content, Production and Business Operations at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “Today marks the momentous milestone of 100 Days to Go until the Olympics return to Europe and the final countdown to Paris 2024 begins, as well as the launch of our Summer of Sport. This year, we will have even more live hours of action from the greatest variety of events, more original content and non-live programming to keep fans engaged, and the greatest storytelling engine anywhere to continue serving sports fans with round-the-clock action, news and entertainment as sporting history is set to be made this summer.

“We will be at the world’s greatest sporting stages including live from Wembley for the Champions League final as host broadcaster, courtside at Roland-Garros and the US Open where we will cover every point from every court, on the road for every stage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, and at all 38 competition venues across Paris and France covering every moment of the Summer Olympic Games. Our coverage will be truly immersive and our storytelling will be captivating.”

Since delivering its first Olympic Games in 2018, WBD has continued to engage record audiences across Europe across all platforms – a glowing endorsement of its innovative year-long approach to storytelling in the lead-up to each Summer and Winter Olympics.

Most recently, WBD reported an unprecedented one billion minutes streamed across discovery+ and the Eurosport App during Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 with new digital subscribers exceeding that of its previous Winter Games by 50%. For Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, more than 372m people in Europe watched through WBD’s channel and platforms together with its 45 sublicense partners as part of its strategy to scale coverage of the Olympics to the widest possible audience.

*discovery+ will be the streaming platform across Europe until 21 May. On May 21, Max will become available across the Nordics, Iberia, and Central and Eastern Europe – and will be the only place to watch Paris 2024 in the markets where Max is available. **TNT Sports is only available in the UK & Ireland. ***Rights vary across Europe

Team GB are expected to hoover up medals in athletics, track cycling and rowing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, according to a new forecast, but may find the top step of the podium consistently eludes them.

However, with only 13 gold medals predicted for Team GB – propped up by four from the rowers – it could be an Olympics of near-misses.

BMX star Beth Shriever and modern pentathlete Joe Choong are the only athletes backed to defend their individual titles from Tokyo, with swimmer Adam Peaty and gymnast Max Whitlock expected to fall off the podium entirely despite striking gold three years ago.

Still, Britain are backed for a medal rush in the velodrome, including titles in the women’s Madison and team pursuit, while they are forecast to win nine more medals in athletics – albeit no gold.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s hunt for an Olympic medal in the heptathlon is projected to end at the fourth attempt, with a silver to back up her impressive win at the World Championships in Budapest last summer, while Dina Asher-Smith and Keely Hodgkinson are predicted to take bronze in the 200m and 800m respectively – two of the most hotly-anticipated events of the Games.

Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods are forecast to win gold in the kayak cross – a new high-octane canoe slalom race – while Clarke is also backed to win bronze in the K1 event.

Elsewhere on the gold trail, Bradly Sinden is tipped to upgrade his silver from Tokyo in the taekwondo featherweight division, Bryony Page is backed to triumph in trampolining, and Oliver Townend is set to add an individual Olympic eventing title to his collection on Ballaghmor Class.

Meanwhile, Tom Pidcock is expected to relinquish his men’s mountain bike title from Tokyo, dropping to second, while Tom Daley is backed for silver alongside Noah Williams in the men’s 10m platform synchronised diving.

Sky Brown, Team GB’s youngest ever medallist in Tokyo aged 13, is also forecast to win silver in the skateboard park event.

The VMT places Britain third for total medals in Paris, behind the United States (123) and China (89), although they slip to fifth when the table is weighted towards gold medals.

• Beth Shriever – BMX Racing
• Joe Clarke – Canoe Slalom, Kayak Cross
• Kimberley Woods – Canoe Slalom, Kayak Cross
• Team GB – Track Cycling, Madison (women)
• Team GB – Track Cycling, Team Pursuit (women)
• Oliver Townend (Ballaghmor Class) – Equestrian, Eventing Individual
• Bryony Page – Trampolining
• Joe Choong – Modern Pentathlon
• Ollie Wynne-Griffith & Tom George – Rowing, Pair
• Emily Craig & Imogen Grant – Rowing, Lightweight Double Sculls
• Team GB – Rowing, Four (men)
• Team GB – Rowing, Eight (men)
• Bradly Sinden – Taekwondo, Featherweight -68kg

• Josh Kerr – Athletics, 1500m
• Katarina Johnson-Thompson – Athletics, Heptathlon
• Keiran Reilly – BMX Freestyle
• Mallory Franklin – Canoe Slalom, C1
• Team GB – Track Cycling, Madison (men)
• Katie Archibald – Track Cycling, Omnium
• Emma Finucane – Track Cycling, Sprint
• Team GB – Track Cycling, Team Sprint (women)
• Tom Daley & Noah Williams – Diving, 10m Platform Synchro
• Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding – Diving, 3m Springboard Synchro
• Charlotte Fry (Everdale) – Equestrian, Dressage Individual
• Tom Pidcock – Mountain Bike XCO
• Team GB – Rowing, Four (women)
• Team GB – Rowing, Quadruple Sculls (women)
• Michael Beckett – Sailing, ILCA 7
• Emma Wilson – Sailing, iQFOiL
• John Gimson & Anna Burnet – Sailing, Nacra 17
• Team GB – Shooting, Team Skeet
• Sky Brown – Skateboarding, Park
• Team GB – Swimming, 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (men)
• Ben Proud – Swimming, 50m Freestyle
• Georgia Taylor-Brown – Triathlon

• Jessica Gadirova – Artistic Gymnastics, Floor
• Dina Asher-Smith – Athletics, 200m
• Matthew Hudson-Smith – Athletics, 400m
• Keely Hodgkinson – Athletics, 800m
• Laura Muir – Athletics, 1500m
• Team GB – Athletics, 4x100m Relay (women)
• Team GB – Athletics, 4x100m Relay (men)
• Team GB – Athletics, 4x400m Relay (women)
• Joe Clarke – Canoe Slalom, K1
• Ethan Hayter – Track Cycling, Omnium
• Team GB – Track Cycling, Team Pursuit (men)
• Team GB – Track Cycling, Team Sprint (men)
• Andrea Spendolini Sirieix – Diving, 10m Platform
• Lois Toulson & Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix – Diving, 10m Platform Synchro
• Team GB – Equestrian, Dressage Team
• Laura Collett (London 52) – Equestrian, Eventing Individual
• Team GB – Equestrian, Eventing Team
• Charley Hull – Golf
• Chelsie Giles – Judo, -52kg
• Lucy Renshall – Judo, -63g
• Vita Heathcote & Chris Grube – Sailing, 470
• Eleanor Aldridge – Sailing, Formula Kite
• Freya Colbert – Swimming, 400m Individual Medley
• Jade Jones – Taekwondo, Featherweight -57kg
• Rebecca McGowan – Taekwondo, Heavyweight +67kg
• Caden Cunningham – Taekwondo, Heavyweight +80kg
• Alex Yee – Triathlon
• Beth Potter – Triathlon
• Team GB – Triathlon Team Relay
• Emily Campbell – Weightlifting, +81kg