Chris Adcock: '˜Rio 2016 with wife Gabby a dream come true'

The Adcocks have played badminton alongside each other since they were teenagers and have been married since 2013, although Chris partnered Imogen Bankier in the build-up to and during London 2012, where they exited the competition at the group stage.

Chris and Gabby Adcock reunited in 2013 just before their wedding and are now ranked seventh in the world after their BWF World Superseries Finals victory in Dubai in December.

And despite their place being all-but guaranteed for several months, Monday morning’s announcement at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes was still a special moment for the couple.

Chris, who attended Colonel Frank Seely School, said: “This is the first time that we have had Rio on our tops and it is really exciting. It is a good feeling right now.

“I am as excited now as I was before London 2012 and it is such a special thing to go to any Olympic Games.

“It is even more exciting that I get to go with Gabby. It will be a dream come true walking out with Team GB on my back alongside Gabby. I am really excited by the prospect.

“We have both been to multiple Commonwealth Games and been successful and we will be playing the same people that we usually play (in regular competitions) on the same size court, in the same sport, so it is still a badminton competition.

“We will be going out there a week before to the Olympic Village and that will be a great experience but we will be fully focussed on performing well and if we perform well then we will experience the whole event even more.”

It is the first time since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games that Great Britain has representation across all five disciplines in badminton.

Team GB have won two medals in badminton since its inclusion as a full-medal sport in 1992 – with Simon Archer and Joanne Goode taking bronze at Sydney 2000 and Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson winning silver four years later in Athens.

The Adcocks showed they can challenge the best in the world with their BWF World Superseries Finals, as well as handle multi-sport competitions after claiming gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

And Chris is confident they can make the podium if they perform when it matters most later this summer.

The 27-year-old added: “Any medal would be fantastic but gold is the one that everyone wants and we know that we have a good chance.

“We have been performing well over the last 12 months and we know that if we perform to our top level then we have a great chance.

“We just want to focus on performing as best as we can on that day and take it one day and one game at a time and hopefully we will still be there when we get to the business end.”

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