The Peregrine Falcon would make it onto Team GB AND win us a gold with an airspeeds of 200mph! Unfortunately they only reach these speeds when hunting...and would potentially eat any small or medium birds racing against it, probably being disqualified from the competition.
Andrew Parkinson/2020VISION
Reaching speeds of up to 42mph, hares have to be quick to escape predators, as unlike rabbits, they don't have burrows to bolt into.
Although fast, we probably wouldn't make it onto the medal table, with brown hares being 8th fastest land mammal behind species such as the cheetah, representing Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and more with an impressive top speed of 75mph.
They'd be competing in multiple events of course - boxing being their other sporting skill.
You can see brown hares fairly often at Brockholes Nature Reserve - often in the car park!
The cute fluffy little squirrels spent their lives running around on branches, so would be experts at the balance beam!
It wouldn't hurt that they would win the hearts of the judges with their fluffy ears and tails either...those tails are used to counter balance themselves when jumping around the treetops, giving them a huge advantage in this, and all of the other gymnastic events!
Tens across the board 🔟🔟🔟🔟
Red squirrels are difficult to find due to habitat destruction and squirrel pox, but we're lucky to have a stronghold on the North Merseyside coast.
Bluefun tuna by Aziz Saltik
A late addition to Team GB, as bluefin tuna have only returned to UK waters very recently after unsustainable fishing practices hunted them to extinction around our shores.
They are big (up to 15 feet) and fast, with speeds of up to 43mph - that's nearly 10 times faster than Michael Phelps! They can even outswim an Orca.
Osprey in action - Craig Smith
Ospreys are excellent at diving, they're fast (reaching up to 78mph) and are super evolved to hit the water at high speeds, with a clear eyelid to protect the eye while being able to still see the fish they are hunting.
They're large and stunning birds of prey who are making a wonderful comeback to the UK with breeding pairs all over thanks to excellent conservation efforts.
We're not sure about the fish that would have to be released into the pool to entice them to dive though...
We're lucky to have occasional osprey visitors to Brockholes during the summer - 3 were spotted today (Fri 26th), must be getting that last bit of diving practice in...
We're looking forward to watching all of the (human) athletes at the Olympics and Paralympics over the coming weeks in Paris, even if they are a bit slow and ungainly compared to other species!
🥇Good luck Team GB!🥇
