Following the news that Tokyo 2020 was to become the first Olympic Games to be postponed in its 125 year history, photographer Sam Mellish undertook a project to show the resilience of British athletes
Although the challenges of Covid made planning difficult, the aim of the project was to show the different journey each athlete made in preparation to represent Great Britain at the Tokyo Games. The work offers a snapshot of what’s been going on behind closed doors, showing the extraordinary lengths each athlete is going through to keep at elite level and maintain the highest level of sporting ability. For some, their selection places were confirmed, pre-pandemic, while others the qualification process went right up to the wire.
I’m the first British male windsurfer whose name isn’t Nick Dempsey to represent Team GB at an Olympic Games since 1996!
“Being selected to represent Team GB at the Olympics for a third time is such an honour and I feel incredibly lucky to compete once again.