Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics April, with open water event swimmers selected after performance in the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships, in Seville, Spain. In winning six medals (two gold, two silver and two bronze) the team bettered the target of three medals set by UK Sport. The most successful swimmer was Rebecca Adlington who won two gold medals. Her 400 m freestyle success was Britain's first Olympic swimming title since 1988, and the first swimming gold by a British woman since 1960. Her second gold, in the 800 m freestyle, meant she also equalled the best performance by a British woman, from any
Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Hoy became Scotland's most successful Olympic competitor ever, and the first Briton to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games since Henry Taylor in 1908. His success resulted in the velodrome for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow being named in his honour. Rebecca Romero became the first British woman to win a medal in two different Olympic sports by following her silver medal in the quadruple sculls rowing in 2004 with gold in the women's individual pursuit. In the debut appearance of BMX events at the Olympics, world champion Shanaze Reade finished out of the medals after