Fans were asked not to greet the team at the airport and instead lined the streets or waited in their thousands at Prince Charles Park where an official welcome ceremony was to take place.
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The players, wearing their gold medals, were introduced to the ecstatic crowd as “the greatest rugby sevens team in the world”.
Englishman Ben Ryan was Monday awarded Fiji’s highest honour for coaching the South Pacific nation’s rugby sevens side to a historic gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
“In recognition of the achievement, it is an honour for me that I have this opportunity to present the country’s highest recognition medal award to Ben Ryan”, President Jioji Konrote said as the coach was made a Companion of the Order of Fiji.
The stands were packed at ANZ Stadium in Suva for the Fiji sevens team’s welcome home celebration.
Captain Osea Kolinisau found the outpouring of emotion overwhelming, telling journalists: “We knew it was going to be insane but not this insane”.
Fijians have welcomed home their first Olympic gold medallists, lining the streets of Nadi to cheer for their sevens heroes.
The party is scheduled to roll into today after Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama declared Monday a national holiday.
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Fiji had been planning to make amends to its national flag to remove colonial symbols, but following the Olympic win last week, Mr Bainimarama said the decision would be held off.
