Beijing 2008: 10 British men to watch

Great Britain is sending more than 600 competitors to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Here are 10 male members of Team GB with good chances of returning home with a gold medal.

BEN AINSLIE, 31, SAILOR
Aged 19, Ainslie was deprived of gold at Atlanta when the dirty tricks of Brazilian Robert Scheidt saw both of them disqualified in the final race of the Laser competition. Four years later he got his revenge with gold in Sydney. In Athens, Ainslie beefed up, changed to the Finn class and won again. Any more of this, and the sailor will join Redgrave and Pinsent as one of Britain's greatest Olympians.

TIM BRABANTS , 31, CANOEIST
A bronze medalist at 1000m flatwater canoeing at the Sydney games, Brabants qualified for the final in Athens four years later with the world's fastest time, but then came in a terrible fifth when it mattered. He took a year off in 2005, went back to his career in medicine, but is now back on form.

MARK CAVENDISH , 24, TRACK CYCLIST
As he proved in four stages of this year's Tour de France, 23-year-old Manxman Mark Cavendish has no equal in the final 200 metres of a road race. Cocksure and enjoying his success as an old-school sprinter, the 'little cowboy' will team up with Bradley Wiggins at the velodrome in Beijing. The pair are competing in the Madison, a peculiar, American-invented relay, in the hope that they can repeat their recent World Championship triumph.

TOM DALEY, 14, DIVER
The biggest feel-good story in the build-up to Beijing has been the minimal splash made by schoolboy diver Tom Daley. Still 14, a mere 5ft 2in, and seen more as a hope for the London Games in 2012, Daley is nonetheless a reigning European Champion and will become Britain's second youngest ever Olympian, after Ken Lester, a 13-year-old cox at the Rome Olympics.

CRAIG FALLON, 25, JUDO FIGHTER
Four years ago, the judoka was thrown to defeat with four seconds remaining in his second round contest in the under 60kg division. The Ipswich-born Fallon has since become World Champion, and at 25, is approaching his peak.

RICHARD FAULDS, 31, SHOOTER
The Glorious Twelfth, traditional start of the shooting season, is the day the Southampton sharpshooter will aim to add to the gold he won eight years ago in Sydney. Fresh from a recent record-equalling clay pigeon tally of 147 out of 150, Faulds competes in the double trap in Beijing.

FRANKIE GAVIN, 22, BOXER
The young southpaw is a former sparring partner of Amir Khan who travels to China as English boxing's first ever World Amateur Champion. The lightweight fighter from Birmingham defeated brilliant Russian Aleksei Tichtchenko in Chicago on his way to the title, and also triumphed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

CHRIS HOY, 32, TRACK CYCLIST
Cycling looks likely to provide plenty of British joy, and the flying Scotsman Hoy should add to his Athens gold in at least one of either the sprint, the team sprint or the keirin, a mass sprint where a motorbike serves as a pacemaker.

PHILLIPS IDOWU, 29, TRIPLE JUMPER
The Hackney-born triple jumper's 17.58 metres was the longest effort in the world this year. Idowu goes in for flamboyant dyed hair and is never afraid to talk up his chances. "I feel like Superman. I don't think anyone can stop me. I'm bullet-proof", he boasted recently.

ALAN WILLS, 26, ARCHER
The Cumbrian archer has a peculiar excuse for the shoulder injuries he's struggled with recently – repetitive strain picked up from his other career as a carpenter. In a sport traditionally dominated by the Koreans, Wills has come into form at the right time. He takes aim alongside Larry Godfrey and Simon Terry in the team event.

FIRST POSTED JULY 24, 2008