A young girl from Surrey, Dora McHardy, has been chosen as one of Team GB’s mini mascots for the Paris Olympics. The nine-year-old, who hails from Guildford, is among six children aged five to 11 selected to support the squad in events leading up to the games in July.
Dora, a talented footballer who plays for Milford Pumas and Surrey Nomads, and a member of Wey Valley Swimming Club, expressed her excitement at being chosen, stating, ‘We had to make a video about how we love the Olympics and our love for sport. I put in all the different sports that I like and how I wanted to support Team GB.’
Her mother, Briar McHardy, revealed the effort they put into the video to showcase Dora’s involvement in various sports. ‘She decided to get out all her outfits, her judo outfit and her football kit and we just took lots of clips of all the sports she loves and put it all together,’ said Ms McHardy.
Describing the moment they found out Dora had been selected, she said, ‘We were in the car and we all screamed. My other daughter read out the email and we were very excited.’
Dora, a student in Godalming, is set to attend the team’s official kitting out in Birmingham and participate in local team announcements. She has also had the opportunity to meet Olympic medallist Mallory Franklin, who won silver in canoeing at the Tokyo games in 2021.
Expressing her aspirations, Dora hopes to one day have the chance to compete in a future Olympics.
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