As the Olympics grandly opens in Rio, Oxford’s long-earned pedigree at the games will be once more put to the test. With a formidable history, spanning 158 Olympic medals won by Oxonians in the 120 years since the first modern Olympiad was held, Oxford’s representatives will be looking to continue that proud trend.
In 2012, Oxford students, including alumni, claimed five medals for their respective countries. Kellogg’s Charles Cole took bronze for the USA in the Coxless Four and St. Antony’s Davis Tarwater was part of the American gold-winning 4x200m relay team. Meanwhile Great Britain reaped reward in the form of Constantine Louloudis’ bronze, and the gold medals of Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge.
Even those five medals were eclipsed four years prior by an impressive collection of nine medals (two bronze, four silver, three gold) for three countries (Great Britain, New Zealand and Canada).
With the possibility of Oxford success in mind, there are a few key dates to keep in mind for some potential medal-winners over the next two and a half weeks.
Dan Fox, once of Teddy Hall, kickstarts his Olympics with the GB hockey team in their opener at 16:30 BST Saturday, August 6th against Belgium. Should he and his teammates progress to the gold or bronze medal matches, and improve on their fourth place finish four years ago, then their Olympics would continue until August 18th.
St. Catherine’s Andrew Triggs-Hodge MBE will be looking to add to his gold medals in the Coxless Four from both Beijing and London, this time competing in Britain’s men’s eight boat. His Olympics will not start until Monday, in the morning heats, but the former Boat Race winner will be looking to earn a place in next Saturday’s final. Moving the other way, from the eight to the coxless four, Constantine Louloudis will also be hoping to return home with a medal again.
Joining Triggs-Hodge in the men’s eight will be Kellogg’s Paul Bennett, himself a Boat Race winner in 2013, and looking to earn his first Olympic medal to add to his World Championship golds in Amsterdam in 2014 and Aiguebelette in 2015.
As Rugby 7s makes its debut to the Olympic stage, Tom Mitchell will be captaining the GB team into the sport’s new era. His side faces off against Kenya, at 16:00 on Tuesday, before hopefully escaping a competitive group C that includes New Zealand and making their way to Thursday’s 23:00 gold medal match.
Finally, rowing in the women’s eight, Zoe De Toledo, having previously coxed Oxford to victory in the 2012 Boat Race, and having done the same for Britain at the 2016 European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, will look to claim her first Olympic medal. Her Olympics will follow a similar schedule to that of Triggs-Hodge and Bennett, as her team will look to compete from the start on Monday through to next Saturday’s finale.
With a raft of medal hopes over the next sixteen or so days, Oxford’s students and alumnus will surely be celebrating a host of triumphs when the greatest sporting show on earth draws its curtains closed.
