Outstanding success for Team GB at the AYOF
25 Jan 2007
The curtain has been drawn on Team GB’s immensely successful inaugural appearance at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney, with 91 of the 106 athletes representing Team GB going home with at least one medal around their necks.
Final day victories in rowing, table tennis and women’s hockey added to Team GB’s tremendous overall total of 14 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze medals.
British Olympic Association (BOA) Chef de Mission Mark England reflected on the success:
“Team GB’s final medal tally of 48 podium finishes at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival is an outstanding achievement and bodes well for the future of British Olympic sport.
The fact that British athletes achieved a position on the medal podium in all ten summer Olympic sports in which we competed, shows the depth of quality and talent that exists across the board at this age group.”
BOA Chief Executive Simon Clegg added:
"The AYOF provided an excellent opportunity for our young athletes to experience high-level competition against some of the world's leading nations. It was a tremendously positive experience for our young competitors and they performed exceptionally well.
One of the most encouraging aspects was that we did well in sports such as taekwondo and gymnastics, where we need to raise the bar and exceed our historical performance levels if we are to meet the BOA’s aspirational target of fourth position in the London 2012 medal table."
The BOA would like to thank Visa and Adidas for their generous support of Team GB, enabling so many of our young athletes to take part in the AYOF and providing them with an invaluable experience on their journey towards future Olympic Games. We look forward to continuing our close relationship with the Australian Olympic Committee and more success at the next AYOF in 2009.