Targets
In June 2008, UK Sport, which distributes National Lottery funding to elite sport, published its expectations for the Games. It identified 41 potential medals to target and expected to win 35 of them, including 10 to 12 gold medals and to finish 8th in the overall medal table. Team GB exceeded the gold medal expectations on 19 August when Paul Goodison earned Britain's 13th gold medal in the men's Laser class. The minimum medal target, of 35 medals, was passed on 20 August when they claimed their 36th medal — a bronze in the women's RS:X, won by Bryony Shaw. The total medal target was equalled when canoeist Tim Brabants took gold in the men's 1000 m K-1 claiming Britain's 41st physical medal (three further medals were guaranteed in boxing at the time). They later exceeded the total number of targeted medals when Heather Fell secured the silver in women's modern pentathlon.
It should be noted that the medals claimed were not all ones that had been targeted, with Team GB falling short of targets in some disciplines whilst exceeding them in others. Nine out of seventeen disciplines met their targets. The British cyclists, for example doubled their medal target on 19 August when Victoria Pendleton won Britain's 12th cycling medal, a gold in the women's sprint. A further two medals were already guaranteed at this stage in the men's individual sprint, where gold and silver were soon won by Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny respectively. In all Team GB won seven of the ten gold medals up for grabs at the velodrome. The swimmers also managed to double the targeted number of medals in their sport when David Davies won the team's sixth swimming medal — a silver medal in the men's 10 km open water marathon on 21 August. Despite the men's and women's archery teams having come second and third respectively at the 2007 world championships, British archers were unable to win either of their targeted medals. This led to criticism of the tactics used by head coach Peter Suk from members of the team.
| Sport | Target | Won | Target met |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 2 | 0 | N |
| Athletics | 5 | 4 | N |
| Badminton | 1 | 0 | N |
| Boxing | 2 | 3 | Y |
| Canoeing | 2 | 3 | Y |
| Cycling | 6 | 14 | Y |
| Diving | 1 | 0 | N |
| Equestrian | 3 | 2 | N |
| Gymnastics (artistic) | 1 | 1 | Y |
| Judo | 2 | 0 | N |
| Modern pentathlon | 1 | 1 | Y |
| Rowing | 4 | 6 | Y |
| Sailing | 4 | 6 | Y |
| Shooting | 2 | 0 | N |
| Swimming | 3 | 6 | Y |
| Taekwondo | 1 | 1 | Y |
| Triathlon | 1 | 0 | N |
| Total | 41 | 47 | Y |
| Total expected | 35 | 47 | Y |
| Total gold | 12 | 19 | Y |
Read more about this topic: Great Britain At The 2008 Summer Olympics