“This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me”, said USA gymnast and closing ceremony flagbearer Simone Biles, who won five medals, four of them gold, in her first Olympics.
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Rio has ambitious plans to reconvert venues for public use but other host cities in the past, including Athens, Beijing and London, have tried this with minimal success. There was momentary concern before they appeared as the steps for them to climb down failed to work properly, causing a small delay as new ones were sought.
Team GB are set to receive a heroes’ welcome when they touch down in the United Kingdom following their best Olympics in more than a century.
Double gold medal-winning gymnast Max Whitlock and Nicola Adams – who defended her women’s flyweight boxing gold – were chosen to lead Team GB off the plane once it landed at Heathrow slightly ahead of schedule.
While Robertson was confirming the future of British Olympics is secure, Team GB athletes were enjoying the party atmosphere aboard flight number BA2016, with pictures uploaded to social media before take-off revealing that the champagne was already flowing. Team GB’s Rugby Sevens flew business class.
The Brazilians closed out the Rio Games in style Sunday. High winds buffeted the Maracana, power briefly went out in the upper part of the stadium, and rain drenched performers and athletes as they entered the ceremony, many with medals hanging around their necks.
Peaty added that he was extremely proud of his achievements and he could not think of anything better to do with his life than to “dedicate” it to his country.
The athletes are due to land at London’s Heathrow just before 10am with a press conference taking place shortly afterwards.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: “It will be a celebration fit for heroes – and rightly so, because that is exactly what they are”.
Most of these concerns were addressed or overblown, and while there were several cases of theft and armed robbery involving athletes and officials, the 306 events across 28 sports during the 17-day competition ran without any major disruption or security incident.
For Team GB’s homecoming, it also features ‘#greattobeBAck’ – a hashtag that the fans and athletes are encouraged to use.
Meanwhile Whitehall sources indicated that most of the stars who have kept millions glued to their screens over the past few weeks will be recognised in the New Year’s Honours.
Andy Murray, Justin Rose, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Jason Kenny and Laura Trott had all left Brazil earlier than the bulk of the Team GB colleagues.
Liu Peng, head of China’s Olympic committee, said China would learn lessons from Rio, when rising standards in other teams had taken them by surprise. Brazilians also believe he is the first to ever wear a wristwatch, an invention made by a friend so he could see the time in flight.
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“I’m looking forward to seeing him, he will probably hug me and crush me”. A lot can change in four years.
