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Team GB arrive home

“It is nearly impossible to say”, she said.

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“It’s great to be back on British soil again and I can’t wait to inspire the next generation of British athletes”.

The EIS said its centres have provided support to 93 per cent of the 67 medal-winning individuals and teams in the British squad. “To add to the medal target personally was such a special moment – it really was the best Games in my opinion”.

“It has been a brilliant Games but this is not an overnight success. this is 20 years in the making and we’ve now enjoyed five successive Games of medal growth”.

Great Britain’s record-breaking Olympians landed back home on Tuesday morning.

Geoff Barton, head of King Edward VI school, a Church of England comprehensive in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, which the silver-medal-winning swimmer Chris Walker-Hebborn attended, said: “We shouldn’t be entirely surprised if a school with a purpose-built rowing lake produces more Olympic rowers than one without”.

He added that he was looking forward to going paintballing and racing his vehicle when he got home.

Other heroes of Rio, including cycling golden couple Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, had already arrived back in the United Kingdom before the official Team GB flight.

She said they had “inspirational leaders” and people looked to them to “deliver success” and “deliver big results”.

“Justin, on the journey, has been absolutely outstanding, not only in the support of the Great Britain Olympic team but also golf in the Olympics as well”.

Tennis star Andy Murray has already been touted as a possible recipient of a knighthood, having been awarded an OBE following his success at the US Open and Olympics in 2012.

“The important things about the funding is not only the quantum that comes from the National Lottery and the Exchequer, but that actually it is guaranteed for a number of cycles”.

Congratulatory messages have poured in, with Prime Minister Theresa May saying she was “extremely proud” of the team’s achievement following the “amazing” games and wants to see that success recognised with honours.

“The lovely thing is that after London 2012 we thought it could not be replicated, that feeling of uniting a nation, but the reaction here at Heathrow is just a small taste of what is to come”. I think we all felt that nearly couldn’t be replicated, it couldn’t happen again, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

“It gave an immediate sense of the enormity of the achievement British athletes have posted in Rio de Janeiro”.

“For a short while at least you can have a lot of very positive news stories”.

“The high performance system is working better than ever with the British Olympic Association (BOA), UK Sport, the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and the institutes in all four home countries collaborating and working together to produce the results”.

“The British Airways Flight BA2016 touched down at Heathrow just before 10am, with the plane’s nose painted gold and the word ‘VictoRIOus” emblazoned along the side.

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However, the true highlight of the games for us Brits will be the performance of Team GB, who claimed 27 golds, 23 silvers and 17 bronzes.

Britain revels in return to superpower status