The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have finally come to a close this past weekend.
It may have been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but after over two weeks of thrilling, inspiring, and in some cases record-breaking sporting action, the iconic event proved to be pretty successful Games for Great Britain, with Team GB finishing in fourth place on the international medals table.
A whopping 65 medals in total were claimed by Team GB athletes, with 22 of those being gold medals.
If a top five place in the medal rankings wasn’t an impressive enough achievement as it is, what sets Team GB apart from every other nation is the number of sport-discipline combinations the country medals in, as medals were won by Team GB athletes in 25 different sports, which breaks the record of 23 set at Rio 2016.
The North West also came out on top as having the most medals and medallists, with 21 medallists hailing from the region.
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But how many of those medallists are from right here in Greater Manchester?
Let’s take a look.
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Gold
Jason Kenny
Cycling | Bolton
Track cyclist Jason Kenny becomes most successful Team GB Olympian of all time / Credit: Twitter (@TeamGB)
The undeniable stand-out star of Tokyo 2020 is none other than track cyclist Jason Kenny from Farnworth in Bolton, who has become both the most successful and the most decorated Team GB Olympian of all time after winning a stunning seventh gold medal of his career in the men’s keirin final on Sunday 8 August.
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Kenny, 33, has now secured podium finishes at four separate Olympic Games events since 2008 – winning seven golds and two silvers in team sprints, sprints and keirin events.
He also bagged himself a silver medal in the men’s team sprint at the Games.
James Guy
Swimming | Bury
Bury-born swimmer James Guy was another Team GB multi-medallist at Tokyo 2020, claiming gold in the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay victory alongside Tom Dean, Duncan Scott and Matthew Richards, and another gold in the mixed 4 × 100m medley relay alongside Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, and Anna Hopkin – which also set the world record time of 3 minutes 37.58 seconds.
He added the two golds to a personal trophy cabinet that already contained two silver medals from Rio 2016.
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Georgia Taylor-Brown
Triathlon | Tameside
Yet another multi-medallist is Manchester-born triathlete Georgia Taylor-Brown, who first claimed a silver in the women’s triathlon under difficult conditions and despite suffering a flat tyre on the last cycle lap.
She then went on to become an Olympic champion, bagging a gold medal in triathlon mixed relay alongside Jessica Learmonth, Jonny Brownlee and Alex Yee.
James Guy and Charlotte Worthington / Credit: Twitter (@TeamGB)
Charlotte Worthington
BMX Freestyle | Chorlton
One of the most talked-about and jaw-dropping achievements from Tokyo 2020 was when Chorlton’s Charlotte Worthington not only claimed gold in the women’s BMX Freestyle, but also becoming the first woman in history to land a 360-degree backflip in competition.
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The 25-year-old’s inspiring story saw her go from being a former cook working 40 hours a week in a Mexican restaurant, to Olympic glory.
Stuart Bithell
Sailing | Rochdale
34-year-old Rochdale sailer Stuart Bithell already had a silver medal to his name from London 2012, but alongside partner Dylan Fletcher, he claimed a dramatic men’s 49er gold medal at Tokyo 2020 by narrowly edging out Germany and New Zealand.
The pair won Team GB’s first ever Olympic gold in this discipline.
Matt Walls
Cycling | Oldham
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More cycling success for Team GB came as 23-year-old Oldham-born track cyclist Matt Walls claimed two medals at Tokyo 2020, first bagging a gold medal during a dominant performance in the men’s omnium with a total of 153 points, before securing a silver medal in the Madison alongside Ethan Hayter.
Not bad for his first Olympics, right?
Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Taylor-Brown / Credit: Twitter (@TeamGB)23-year-old Oldham-born track cyclist Matt Walls claimed two medals at Tokyo 2020 / Credit: Twitter (@TeamGB)
Silver & Bronze
Keely Hodgkinson
Athletics | Atherton
At just 19 years old, Atherton’s own Keely Hodgkinson took home a silver medal in Tokyo 2020 after she took almost two seconds off her PB and almost six seconds off her 2020’s PB with a time of 1m 55.88s.
Hodgkinson broke the 1995 Kelly Holmes’ British senior record and a European U20 record, becoming the fourth fastest under-20 woman of all time.
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Josh Bugajski
Rowing | Cheadle Heath
Seasoned rower Cheadle Heath’s Josh Bugajski was one eighth of Team GB’s men’s rowing team, who put up a good fight during a thrilling race to take took home a well-deserved bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.
Featured Image – Twitter (@TeamGB)
Sport
Pep Guardiola delivers gutting news as Man City are hit with Erling Haaland injury blow
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola has passed on some gutting fitness news for Manchester City fans as star striker Erling Haaland is confirmed to be injured for several weeks and could even miss the rest of the Premier League season.
The title might be out of reach this year, and the Champions League knockout against Real Madrid was definitely hard for Blues to take, but with Man City into the semi-finals of the FA Cup, there’s still a very strong chance they could end 2024/25 with a piece of silverware.
However, they’ll have to make it through another two massive rounds at Wembley and seemingly the remainder of the season without Haaland and his goals, as the Catalan coach revealed that the club expects him to be out injured for “six to seven weeks.”
Not exactly how City fans would have wanted to see the rest of an already frustrating season play out.
🗣️ "We don't have another player with his skills."
Relaying diagnosis from the medical team, Pep said the hope is that the big Norwegian number nine could be back for the very tail end of the campaign, but at the very least, he “will be ready for the [FIFA Club] World Cup.”
He went on to add that “these kinds of things happen” and that he feels “sorry” for all of the other injuries that have befell his squad up till now, adding that they can only hope for a speedy recovery and for him to return as soon as possible.
The 24-year-old hasn’t had too many big injury problems in his career thus far, although his longest spell on the sidelines did come at the end of 2023 when a stress fracture kept him out until the new year.
This time around, Haaland suffered an injury to his ankle during the City’s FA Cup win over Bournemouth on Sunday following a challenge from defensive midfielder Lewis Cook.
He was forced in the second half and was seen leaving the Vitality Stadium on crutches after the game.
Erling Haaland seen leaving Bournemouth in a protective boot and crutches. 🤕
Having led the golden boot race for a good chunk of the season – as he’s become accustomed too since he arrived in England – City‘s sub-optimal season has seen him slink into second behind high-flying Mo Salah on 27, but he still has a couple dozen goals and a trio of assists to show for it.
Speaking of Salah, the soon-to-leave ‘Egyptian King’ has been the talisman for Liverpool this season, and his contributions could see them lift the trophy in Arne Slot’s first season as early as 13 April, depending on how fellow title rivals Arsenal fare in their next two matches.
As for how City round out their domestic campaign, reclaiming the FA Cup after last year’s derby disappointment looks like the main goal.
You can watch Pep Guardiola’s press conference ahead of the game against Leicester City at 19:45pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 2 April) in full HERE.
Masters Football isn’t just back – it’s coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
The much-loved Masters Football format made its glorious comeback in 2022, and since then, it’s been steadily rebuilding an audience of passionate fans, plenty of whom you’ll find here in the sporting city of Manchester – so it’s a good job the national tournament is heading our way.
That’s right, the official English Masters Football competition is coming to 0161 later this year and will be bringing a host of legendary North West talent from years gone by to take part.
Although the full squads and their team captains have yet to be announced, former professionals from Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, Everton, and more will be lacing back up their boots.
Manchester Masters Football 2025 lands at the equally iconic AO Arena this September.
Credit: Publicity Pictures (supplied)
For anyone unfamiliar with Masters Football, which developed a die-hard following when it first ran between 2000 and 2011, is shorter, indoor-only six-a-side footy tournament similar to futsal.
Each team will feature eight retired players, and the games unfold in a round-robin format, with each match consisting of two eight-minute halves, meaning that both sides have a little over a quarter of an hour to score enough to make it past the other.
In addition to the quicker matches, they will battle it out on a 60m x 30m pitch – the same size of an international ice hockey rink – and whoever makes it through with the highest points will battle it out in a grand final to claim the Manchester Masters title.
As you can see, players set to star this year include ex-United and City defenders Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott, as well as Liverpool and Everton strikers Djibril Cisse and Yakubu Ayegbeni.
You can see some of the best moments from the year it officially returned to the UK down below:
The Manchester edition of the 2025 English Masters Football Tournament Series arrives at the AO Arena on Friday, 5 September.
Doors will open to the venue from 6pm, with the first match kicking off at 7pm, so you better have drinks and snacks in time for bums to hit seats.
As for tickets, there’ll be two chances at early access, first for Three+ mobile members at 10am on Wednesday, 2 April and then via the venue’s presale window at the same time the following day. General admission tickets will be made available, also from 10am, the following Saturday, 5 April.
The Manc -
9th August 2021 
