Sport

A quarter of Britons reckon they could qualify for the next Olympics

A quarter of Britons reckon they could qualify for the next Olympics
Will Los Angeles be ready to host 2028 Olympics?
Fox - LA / VideoElephant

We all marvelled at the sporting talent displayed at the Paris Olympics which will have inspired a new generation of talent for future games.

And it seems that a lot of us Brits reckon we've got what it takes to represent Team GB at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a new YouGov poll has revealed.

In the next four years, one in four Britons believe they've got what it takes to become an Olympic-level athlete in at least one of the 25 sports in that time.

Men are particularly more confident in their abilities in making the Olympic team in 2028 (30 per cent) compared to women (25 per cent).

Unsurprisingly, young people are the demographic who think this the most with 39 per cent of 18-24 year olds saying so, as well as 34 per cent of 25-49 year olds.

Kim Yeji of Team Republic of Korea shoots during the Women's 10m Air Pistol Final on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 28, 2024 in Chateauroux, France. Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Although older Brits aren't as confident in their athletic capabilities, 15 per cent of over 65s rate themselves to be able to represent their country on the sports world stage.

This recent Olympics has proven there are sports stars of all ages, with the youngest being 11-year-old Chinese skateboarder Zheng Haohao and the oldest being the 65-year-old Spanish equestrian competitor Juan Antonio Jimenez Cobo.

But it's not track and field or swimming that comes to mind when Brits think about what sport they could qualify for, as the two most popular sports people say require less physical exertion.

The first is the 10m air rifle team which 15 per cent of the public believe they could qualify for if they started training for it now, then in second is archery at 13 per cent.

Next is badminton in third (10 per cent), followed by table tennis (9 per cent) and then rowing (7 per cent).

So... who has started their training now?

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