The wait is almost over as the 34th Olympic Games get under way in Paris this week.
Long billed as the greatest show on earth, 10,500 athletes from 206 nations are set to compete in 549 events.
The action starts on Wednesday – although the opening ceremony isn’t until Friday – and concludes on August 11.
Great Britain will be represented by 327 athletes as they look to build on the 64 medals won at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games which were held without spectators amid the Covid pandemic.
The GB squad includes a healthy number from Kent, including two reigning champions.
Here’s a rundown of the county’s 2024 Olympians.
Kate French (modern pentathlon)
French, from Meopham, is defending her modern pentathlon title after Tokyo glory last time out.
She finished fifth on her Olympic debut in Rio eight years ago, followed by World Cup gold a year later.
The 33-year-old went on to dominate the sport, culminating in Olympic gold and she’s ready to do it all again after returning from an 18-month break.
Joe Choong (modern pentathlon)
Choong, from Orpington, is another defending champion at the Paris Games.
He made history in Tokyo by becoming the first British man to win individual gold in the modern pentathlon.
Since then, 29-year-old has added back-to-back world titles and a European gold medal to his collection.
Dina Asher-Smith (100m, 200m)
Orpington star Asher-Smith is looking for her third Olympic medal in Paris.
The 29-year-old won bronze in the women’s 4x100m relay at Rio 2016 and repeated the feat in Tokyo despite carrying an injury that saw her withdraw from the 200m.
‘Dasher’ claimed a sprint treble at the 2018 European Championships, winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, and became the first British female sprinter to win a World Championship gold after 200m glory in 2019.
Freya Black (sailing)
The Goudhurst sailor, 23, is set to make her Olympic debut partnering Saskia Tidey in the women’s skiff 49er FX class.
She reads philosophy and politics at the University of Exeter but put her studies on hold to focus on the Games.
The decision paid off as Black and Tidey clinched qualification after finishing fifth at the World Sailing Championships.
James Peters (sailing)
Tunbridge Wells-born Peters finally makes his Olympic bow in the men’s skiff 49er class.
Peters, 32, looked certain to compete at Tokyo after winning back-to-back World Cup golds in partnership with Fynn Sterritt in 2018 and 2019, only to miss out in British selection races.
He took a break from the sport before winning European bronze in 2022 and booked his spot in Paris thanks to a sixth-placed finish at the World Championships.
Emily Craig (rowing)
Pembury’s Craig, 31, and partner Imogen Grant are major contenders in the lightweight women’s double sculls.
After missing out on a medal at Tokyo 2020 by one-hundredth of a second, the pair have been unstoppable.
They’ve been crowned double world champions and double European champions and last year were named world rowing crew of the year.
Eva Okaro (swimming)
Sevenoaks teenager Okaro makes history in Paris as the first black woman to represent Great Britain in the pool.
The 17-year-old, a former member of Black Lion Swimming Club in Medway, competes in the women’s 4x100m relay.
A British record holder by the age of 14, she booked her spot at the Games by finishing second at the British Championships.
Georgia-Mae Fenton (gymnastics)
Gravesend gymnast Fenton achieves her ambition of competing at the Olympics.
The 23-year-old was inspired as a child by watching Beth Tweddle at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Fenton has gone on to win three Commonwealth Games gold medals – two on uneven bars and one team – as well as a European team gold in Turkey last year.
Isla Norman-Bell (rugby sevens)
Gillingham-born Norman-Bell is part of the Great Britain women’s rugby sevens team.
The 24-year-old excelled living in New Zealand where she was named the University of Auckland’s sportswoman of the year in 2019.
Norman-Bell and her GB team-mates secured Olympic qualification after winning gold at last year’s European Games.
Ollie Payne (hockey)
Holcombe goalkeeper Payne, 25, is gearing up for his second Olympics having represented Team GB in Tokyo.
That came less than a year after his international debut and he’s gone from strength to strength since succeeding hockey legend George Pinner between the sticks.
He helped England to the final of the 2023 EuroHockey Championships, sealing Paris qualification.
Erin McNeice (sport climbing)
McNeice, from Sittingbourne, makes her Olympic debut in the new combined boulder and lead event.
Now 20, she started climbing aged five and honed her skills in Kuala Lumpur after moving to Malaysia with her family.
She booked her spot in France after finishing third in the Olympic Qualifier Series – vindicating her decision to defer her place at the University of Sheffield to focus on climbing.
Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown (judo)
Yeats-Brown, 29, has shown remarkable resilience to reach the Olympic Games for the first time, courtesy of her fifth-placed finish at the World Championships.
The Pembury woman, who switched to judo from gymnastics, won Commonwealth gold at Glasgow before tearing her ACL three times after stepping up to the -70kg weight class.
She won another Commonwealth medal – bronze at Birmingham 2022 – but that was followed by personal tragedy after losing sister Jenny to brain cancer.
