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
Erling Haaland has named his four favourite films… and fans have a lot to say on it
Emily Sergeant
Erling Haaland has answered the all-important question.
The question heard around the world, the question on everyone’s lips, a question that has absolutely nothing to do with football whatsoever… that’s right, he’s answered Letterboxd’s famous question of ‘what are your four favourite films?’.
If you’re unaware of what Letterboxd is, it describes itself as being an ‘online diary platform and app for film lovers’ and it gives users the chance to display their four favourite films at the top of their profile for all to see (and judge).
An extension of this has then been Letterboxd asking celebrities in press junket interviews and on red carpets what their ‘four faves’ are – and it’s gone on to become something of a phenomenon in the film world.
Everyone from massive A-list movie stars, to indie darlings and up-and-coming names have answered this question before, and now (it appears) to be Erling Haaland’s turn.
He’s not the first footballer to be tasked with question though, as the entire Spurs team was ambushed with it by former player – and famously massive cinephile – Alfie Whiteman last year, but it’s fair to say that after the summer he’s had with Norway at the World Cup, achieving international fame in the process, that Haaland is one of the most high-profile to answer it in a long while.
So, what’s on Erling’s list then?
Well, to self-confessed ‘film bros’ out there, you’re not going to find any deep cuts in this selection unfortunately, and you’re probably not going to get any recommendations for movies you haven’t seen before either, but come on, he is only a footballer after all.
Erling Haaland has named his four favourite films… and fans have a lot to say on it / Credit: Letterboxd
First up for the Manchester City striker is a pretty common pick by straight white men, it’s The Wolf of Wall Street, and he doesn’t give much of a reason for it, other than just suggesting: “I think you understand why”.
He then follows that up with Ridley Scott’s classic Gladiator, calling it ‘amazing’, before naming 2004’s epic Troy, and then rounding it out with a Christmas favourite for many, Home Alone, adding that he ‘watched it a lot as a kid, and then again now’.
As for fan reaction to Haaland’s four favourites, let’s just say it’s been mixed.
Among the 1,000+ comments on the Instagram video, you’ll find just as many people called him ‘king’ and saying he has ‘goated’ taste, as you will comments like this: “He has the most male gazed top four in history of Letterboxd.”
Manchester City reveal world-first third kit… designed by AI
Daisy Jackson
Manchester City have just revealed the club’s third kit for the season, and it’s a world-first AI-designed kit.
The new Man City and Puma kit was revealed in full this morning after days of teasing on billboards across Manchester.
For the first time in professional football history, the kit is designed by a fan, using AI.
180,000 fans submitted designs through the Puma AI Creator, with the winning design now projected on some of the city’s biggest digital billboards – on Market Street, and at Printworks.
Created by lifelong Cityzen and stills photographer Elliott, the final design is inspired by Manchester City’s iconic 13/14 season away shirt.
Elliott’s creative interpretation was crowned in January 2025 after a global fan vote.
The digital billboards show each different stage of the AI design process, from prompt to finished design, with the tagline ‘designed by one of us, chosen by all of us’.
The AI Man City kit reveal
Eagle-eyed Man City fans may have noticed a cryptic ‘loading’ screen in town on Tuesday, with just a hint of the shirt visible.
Then on Wednesday, the screens displayed: “AI prompt accepted. Fan vote confirmed. Final Manchester City 26/27 Third Kit design processing.”
Then the full reveal has taken place today, Thursday 27 August, finally unveiling the full shirt with the words: “Designed by one of us. Chosen by all of us”.
Reacting to live images of the billboards, Elliott said: “Seeing my complete design revealed on billboards in the city centre this morning was unbelievable.
“City has been part of our family’s life for as long as I can remember, so this is as good as it gets for me.
“Creativity is naturally part of my everyday life as a photographer, but it was good to turn my hand to something else and see what could be created with the use of AI.
“The 13/14 away shirt was always my favourite, so it felt like the natural starting point for my prompt. From there, it was amazing to see the technology take that spark of an idea and turn it into something I could actually shape and refine.
“To know that a shirt I designed on my lunch break will now be worn by the players is something I still can’t quite get my head around!”
The 26/27 Manchester City Third Kit will be available at mancity.com/shop and Manchester City Official Stores, with 10% off for Members and Seasoncard holders (automatically applied when logged in with a Member account online).
The Manc -
9th August 2021 
