The Olympic Games are upon us and Team England athletes will be everywhere you look at Paris 2024, underlining the value and importance of the Commonwealth Games. 

Statistics reveal that more than one in three athletes representing Team GB in the French capital have represented Team England. In total, 114 (34.97%) of the 326 athletes that will represent Team GB have worn Team England colours, demonstrating the unique potential of the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Youth Games as springboards for success at the highest level. 

One of the 114 is boxer Delicious Orie, who will represent Team GB in the men’s super heavyweight division. Born in Moscow and raised in Wolverhampton, Delicious won an emotional gold at Birmingham 2022 in front of his friends and family. "For me, the next thing is to win the gold at the Olympics," he said.

"I want to be in the same sentence as the likes of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua who are the best in the game.

"The Commonwealth Games has put me in the position where I have the experience now to get there. "I have a lot more experience because of the Games as I was able to face guys who are good at world and international level that I hadn't before. 

"The Games allowed me to learn from that pressure, handle it and achieve something great for my country. Representing Team England has set me up in a strong position to carry on chasing my dreams."

Boxing is one of 14 sports in which Team England athletes will represent Team GB, alongside athletics, badminton, cycling, diving, gymnastics, hockey, judo, rugby sevens, shooting, swimming, table tennis, triathlon and weightlifting.

Ninety-one Team England Commonwealth medallists and 47 gold medallists will take to the field of play. Among the Commonwealth champions are Tom Dean, who became Team England’s most decorated athlete at a single Games with seven medals at Birmingham 2022.

Tom forms part of an elite group of Team GB Olympians who have done the Team England double - competing at the Commonwealth Youth Games and the senior Commonwealth Games.

Sprint star Dina Asher-Smith won two gold medals at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man and went on to claim gold and bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. 

The fastest British woman of all time will compete at her third Olympics in Paris. Triathlete Alex Yee featured in the 3,000m on the track at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa. 

He has since transitioned to swim, bike and run to strike double gold at Birmingham 2022 and will hope to add to the mixed relay gold and individual silver he won at Tokyo 2020. 

17-year-old middle-distance sensation Phoebe Gill’s first and only experience of a multi-sport Games came at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago. 

Last summer, Phoebe broke Jessica Ennis-Hill’s Youth Games record to take 800-metre gold in a time of 2:02.30, since shedding five seconds from her lifetime best to complete an incredible rise to the Olympics. 

Long-distance runner George Mills, open-water swimmer Leah Crisp and 400m runners Toby Harries and Amber Anning are the other Commonwealth Youth Games alumni who will represent Team GB.

Heptathlon legend Ennis-Hill extols the virtues of the Youth Games, saying: "I think the Commonwealth Youth Games was really important for me in terms of developing as an athlete.  It was not only an opportunity to travel to Australia, but it was also the chance to experience not just competing alongside athletics and being in a multi-sport environment. 

“In 2006 I was lucky enough to qualify for the Commonwealth Games out there and lucky enough to compete and win a bronze medal. The Youth Games set me up really nicely for that because I had a taste of what to expect for senior Games”. 

Francesca Carter-Kelly, Team England’s Director of Sport and Performance, said: “The Commonwealth Games provide a platform for English athletes to gain vital experience of a multi-sport environment. 

“A major Games is unlike any other sporting competition, coming with a unique set of challenges and opportunities.  

"The Commonwealth Games give our athletes positive, early exposure to those environments and plays a crucial role in the wider talent pathway. 

“It is fantastic to see so many Team England athletes going on to represent Team GB at the Olympic Games, and we will witness exactly the same at the Paralympic Games in a few weeks’ time. We wish them all the best as they take to the field of play in Paris this summer.”