Team GB’s athletes, all aged between 15 and 18, will compete in 11 of the 15 sports on the programme: alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, short track speed skating and snowboarding.
YOGs play an important role in the development of young British athletes, providing crucial multi-sport event experience, building on Olympic values and guiding them towards realising their own Olympic ambitions.
Gangwon 2024 will be the fourth winter edition of the YOG, following Innsbruck 2012, Lillehammer 2016 and Lausanne 2020. This year’s competition is the first winter YOG to be held in Asia, with over 1,900 athletes from 40 nations expected to participate.
There will be a 50/50 gender split between female and male athletes competing across the province of Gangwon in the Republic of Korea, which already hosted the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
Four-time Olympian, Eve Muirhead, who led Team GB’s women’s curling team to gold as skip at Beijing 2022, will head up a British delegation for the first time after announcing her retirement from competition last summer.
This year’s selection of young athletes are following in the footsteps of many British Olympians who previously competed at this level, such as Muirhead’s Beijing 2022 teammates Mili Smith and Ross Whyte, who both competed at Lillehammer 2016; and Kirsty Muir, who won big air silver at Lausanne 2020 before becoming the youngest member of Team GB at Beijing 2022.
Many of this year’s British delegation of young athletes are aspiring to their own success, and with the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in the not-too-distant future, the winter YOG provides an invaluable opportunity to build their confidence when competing on the international stage.
Montell Douglas, who made Team GB history by becoming the first British woman selected to compete in different sports at the Olympic Summer and Winter Games, will take on the role of the Ops & Athlete Services Coordinator for the winter YOG, using her unique experience to offer advice and support as the athletes come together as one Team GB.
Eve Muirhead, Team GB Chef de Mission for Gangwon 2024, said: “I am incredibly proud to be leading this year’s delegation for Gangwon 2024, and it is a huge honour to prepare the team for what is a formative event in their careers.
“I’ve been to four Olympics with Team GB and have led a team throughout the majority of my curling career so I understand the emotions of performing on the world’s biggest stage. I’m thrilled I can share my knowledge and advice with these athletes dealing with the pressure at this level.”
Montell Douglas, Team GB’s Ops & Athlete Services Coordinator for Gangwon 2024, said: “I’m really excited to be heading out to South Korea for this year’s Winter Youth Olympic Games in this role.
It’s a real honour for me as I’ve had quite the journey competing in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games for Team GB, and will be a nice full-circle moment supporting this new delegation of athletes having their first experience of the Olympic movement.”
Tia Laurie, who has been selected for the Gangwon 2024 curling team, said: “I am extremely excited and so honoured to have been chosen to compete for Great Britain at the Youth Olympics. I cannot wait for the event to begin.
“Being chosen to represent Great Britain is a huge opportunity to gain valuable experience for my future curling development. I hope to take my experience from the Youth Olympics forward to help me in future curling, hopefully the Olympics one day.
“Ever since watching Team GB women win gold and meeting them with their medals at my home ice rink, it has inspired me to work really hard towards my goals in curling. I would love to follow in their footsteps at the Youth Olympics next year.”
Siddhartha Ullah, who has been selected for the Gangwon 2024 snowboarding team, said: “I’m so excited and honoured to represent Great Britain in the Youth Olympics and get British halfpipe snowboarding back on the map.
I’ve heard from a few athletes that it’s more fun than the actual Olympics, so I’m looking forward to a great experience… and some good food in South Korea.”
Team GB selection at Gangwon 2024:
Alpine Skiing
Molly Butler – aged 17 from Guildford
Zak Carrick-Smith – aged 16, based in Albertville
Biathlon
Full biathlon team to be announced in January 2024.
Bobsleigh
Lennon Smith – aged 17 from Middlesborough
Cross-Country
Elspeth Cruikshank – aged 16 from Aberdeen
Thomas Duncan – aged 15, based in Stavanger
Sophie Forth – aged 16 from Harlow
Curling
Ethan Brewster – aged 16 from Aberdeen
Holly Burke – aged 16 from Wishaw
Logan Carson – aged 16 from Dumfries
Archie Hyslop – aged 16 from Dumfries
Tia Laurie – aged 16 from Dumfries
Caroline Soutar – aged 15 from Montrose
Figure Skating
Tao MacRae – aged 17 from Westminster
Atl Ongay-Perez – aged 16 from Tooting
Ashlie Slatter – aged 14 from Croydon
Freestyle Skiing
Charlie Cooper – aged 17 from Westminster
Jake Dade – aged 17 from Great Yarmouth
Axel Rose Green – aged 17 from Cambridge
Ice Hockey
Leilo Bellamy – aged 15 from Welwyn Garden City
Jonas Bennett – aged 14 from Sheffield
Sam Ellis – aged 15 from Swindon
Robbie Henderson – aged 15 from Wishaw
Ethan Lock – aged 15 from Merthyr Tydfil
Kingston McKenzie – aged 14 from Nottingham
Joel Meyers – aged 15 from Nottingham
Sam Miller – aged 15 from Oxford
Ricards Misins – aged 15 from Newham
Joshua Seeback – aged 14 from Guildford
Daragh Spawforth – aged 15 from Pontefract
Harry Vant – aged 15 from Chelmsford
Tiago Worsfold – aged 14, based in Salvador
Luge
Kaia Hatton – aged 14, based in Vancouver
Short Track Speed Skating
Willem Murray – aged 16 from Nottingham
Freddie Polak – aged 17 from Nottingham
Snowboarding
Charlie Lane – aged 16 from Brighton
Siddhartha Ullah – aged 17, based in Los Angeles