Paris 2024: Doncaster Olympic gold hope Bradly Sinden set to become next biggest sporting star

The new study from Buzz Bingo reveals which UK athletes are set to fill the boots of previous sporting legends, with Stainforth taekwondo star Bradly Sinden listed in the top ten.

By taking into account their chances of gold for the upcoming games, as well as search trends and social media data, Buzz Bingo has predicted which athletes will be the next big stars, providing each athlete with a ‘future fame score’ out of 10.

And Doncaster’s Bradly is set for all-round career success, according to the study, which ranked him eighth.

The first British male World Taekwondo Champion back in 2019 - his career has been building since, hoping to go one better than the silver he took at Tokyo 2020.

Buzz Bingo predicts that he will have no problem filling the boots of previous sports stars, with a future fame score of 3.53.

Forecasted to defend her gold in Women’s BMX, Beth Shriever has come out on top as the sporting superstar of the new generation.

In second place, Dina Asher-Smith has been competing internationally since 2011, with her best events being 100m and 200m sprints.

Recently moving to Austin, Texas, to work with a new coach, she is coming back this year stronger than ever.

With the highest number of Instagram followers out of the athletes in the study, Dina has supporters from across the globe looking for her to take home the gold.

Lauren Hill, Digital Marketing Executive at Buzz Bingo, commented: “From Sir Chris Hoy to Greg Rutherford, we’ve seen a host of British Olympic athletes turn into legends overnight after success on the track.

“Team GB’s 2012 Golden Hour in London, where Rutherford, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah all claimed gold on the same evening, was one of Britain’s greatest ever sporting events. All three of them were propelled into stardom in the space of just 60 minutes.

“Whether it’s TV adverts, sponsored posts on Instagram or appearances on shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, winning gold means more than just success on the track for some of these athletes."

Bradly became the second male taekwondo competitior in Team GB history to win an Olympic medal after securing silver on his Games debut at Tokyo 2020.

But this time round, the 25-year-old from Stainforth is hoping to go one better and be crowned the globe’s very best.

Sinden fell to a 34-29 defeat against Uzbekistan's Ulugbek Rashitov in the men’s -68kg final as he settled for silver, following in the footsteps of two-time medallist Lutalo Muhammad.

He took up taekwondo as soon as he was old enough, having been introduced to the sport by his sister - and he’s not looked back since.

In 2019, after securing the -68kg world title, Sinden became the first British male to ever become taekwondo world champion.

At the 2023 European Games in Poland, Sinden picked up a second silver medal for Team GB in the men's -68kg, and will go for more glory in Paris this summer.

The taekwondo competition takes place between August 7 and 10.

He has already been named as one of seven British and Irish athletes to watch out for at this year’s Games by the Press Association.

The news agency said: “The Doncaster taekwondo star was disappointed with a silver medal in the men’s -68kg category in Tokyo and vowed to learn from his mistakes.

"He will return to Olympic competition with a second world title in the bag and as a strong favourite to finally make good on his lifelong ambition and turn that agonising silver into gold in the French capital.”

Three years ago in Tokyo, the then-21-year-old was eight seconds away from Olympic gold when his final opponent Rashitov caught him unawares with a kick to the head and the body to snatch the title and leave Sinden with a disappointing silver.

He will be following in the footsteps of Doncaster Olympian Sarah Stevenson, who became Team GB’s first Olympic medallist on the sport, winning bronze at Beijing in 2008.

She was chosen to read the athletes’ oath at the opening of the 2012 games in London, retiring in 2013.

A martial art that combines combat and self-defence with sport and exercise, the modern form of the sport was not agreed upon until 1955 - yet its history has roots in various Korean martial art forms dating back more than 2,000 years.

The sport has been part the Olympic programme since Sydney 2000, although was a display event during the two previous Games.

In 2012, Jade Jones became the country's first Olympic champion, and did so aged just 19, and she repeated that golden success at Rio 2016 in defending her title.

Lutalo Muhammad won bronze at London 2012 and then silver at Rio 2016 while Bianca Walkden took bronze in Brazil as three of Team GB's four athletes won medals at the Games.