A new survey has revealed that a quarter of Brits reckon they could qualify for the 2028 Olympics if they start training from now.
The flame may have now gone out on the 2024 Olympics over in Paris, but all eyes are now looking ahead to 2028 when the world’s biggest sporting competition descends on the US city of Los Angeles once again.
And apparently, more than one in four Brits (27%) believe they could be a part of it.
Perhaps the most memorable image to come out of the 2024 Olympics is Turkish shooter, Yusuf Dikeç, who, in contrast to other athletes at the 10m air pistol mixed team event competing in specialised gear, became a viral meme for shooting casually with one hand in his pocket, looking like he’d just wandered in off the street.
A new character in Olympics shooting has been unlocked…
First we had South Korea’s Kim Yeji, now meet Turkish Olympic shooter Yusuf Dikec.
Despite him having been competing since 2001, Mr Dikec’s somewhat surprising Olympic silver medal win is likely to answer for the results in this latest YouGov poll, as the 51-year-old appears to be serving as inspiration for a quarter of Brits.
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In a bid to find out how many people reckon they could become an ‘everyman Olympian’, YouGov asked the British public whether they thought they could qualify for the 2028 Olympics, in one of 25 listed sports, if they started training from today and committed to giving it all they’ve got.
The results show that more than one in four (27%) think they’re up to the task.
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When it comes to the ages of respondents, the results showed that the youngest Brits are by far the most likely to think they’ve got what it takes to compete on the world stage, with 39% of 18-24 year olds saying so, alongside 34% of 25-49 year olds, while understandably, the oldest Brits are far less certain.
Although saying that, even still, 15% of the over-65s think they could compete in the games if they put their mind to it.
The results also show that men are slightly more likely than women (30% vs 25%) to think they could make the Olympic team in 2028.
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YouGov says that, while the public may appear overconfident in the survey, this is perhaps more understandable when you realise the two sports they think they could compete in require the least physical activity, as 15% of Brits say they could qualify for the 10m Air Rifle team if they started training today, and a similar 13% believe they could earn a spot on the Team GB Archery team.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Emily Sergeant -
14th August 2024 
