Athletes went on to greet their family and friends and could be seen embracing their loved ones – some of whom they had not seen for weeks.
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Rower Katherine Grainger, who became GB’s most decorated female Olympian on winning silver with Victoria Thornley in the double sculls, said she was glad the team had been a source of joy for the country after a year of political upheaval. Andy was the flag-bearer and spoke to all of the team before the opening ceremony, spoke really eloquently about being part of Team GB and the importance of everybody doing everything they could to replicate London.
On Monday, Chinese media Global Times revealed how Chinese sporting fans are filled with a sense of pride after their women’s volleyball team got first place, bringing their overall gold medal count to 26.
“It has nearly felt like it has been a tough year for the country, a lot has happened politically in the nation in the last few months”, Grainger said. The good thing about sport is it reunites people.
Team GB athletes Max Whitlock (left) and Nicola Adams return home from the 2016 Rio Olympics, at Heathrow Airport in London August 23, 2016.
The 21-year-old swimmer was conscious of breaking historic records by winning his gold medal, while the Brownlee brothers looked towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but plan to have a break from training first.
Oh and 77 bottles of champagne which were presumably empty by the time they got home.
England said: “We had some very, very high-profile athletes in the team in a way that we hadn’t necessarily had before”.
A total of 320 athletes and support staff travelled back from Rio in a gold-nosed British Airways Boeing 747 with “victoRIOus” emblazoned on the side.
He explained: “When we were looking at this in the run-up to London 2012, I think we identified four components to Olympic success – funding, structure, coaching, and the athletes themselves”.
You could follow the medals table and wonder how the United States won across 25 disciplines, and how Britain managed to pip China in a photo-finish for second place.
Several British competitors defended titles won in London, notably Mo Farah who again won the 5,000m and 10,000m, while boxer Adams and taekwondo’s Jade Jones also repeated their victories of four years ago.
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Between them, the British sportsmen and women were carrying 67 medals.
