Olympic champions Team GB have returned home to the heroes’ welcome they deserved.
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Some 320 Team GB members touched down at Heathrow to cheers from airline staff before being applauded off flight BA2016, which had been aptly decorated with a golden nose cone.
Great Britain had a great time at the Rio Olympics.
China won the gold medal for the women’s volleyball at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, bringing pride to the Chinese public amid reports that the country had a disappointing performance at the sporting event.
Lily, a University of Birmingham sport, exercise and rehabilitation student, tweeted a joyous picture of gold medallists aboard the plane and the message: “Get your medals out. champers and the national anthem blasted out. we’re going back to our fave nation!”
Team GB joined in a rendition of God Save The Queen before take off and later enjoyed a three-course meal and 77 bottles of champagne.
Described by CNN as a nation with an “obsession for gold”, China appears to have had a hard time during the 2016 Rio Olympics where the country ended in third place after Great Britain overtook them in the overall medal count.
Although both were absent on Tuesday, Team GB chef de mission Mark England was full of praise for Murray and golfer Justin Rose, revealing how a rousing speech from Murray on the eve of the Games had spurred the team to go on to glory.
“Everyone’s really glad to be back home but it’s been a really nice way to end it”.
“That support means everything to the athletes and for them to arrive home on board victoRIOus and share their experiences with their family, friends and fans is very special; and we thank British Airways for arranging this special plane home”.
France’s Olympic team also landed in Paris today after winning 42 medals in Rio, including 10 golds, a postwar record for the overall medal count.
“Wow, that reception was insane”.
Video consumption of Rio 2016 by the advertiser-coveted demographic across NBC Olympics’ TV screens, digital platforms, and social media set records, according to research conducted by NBC, Facebook, Snapchat, Google/YouTube, Shareablee, and The Nielsen Company.
Sally Gunnell, Olympic gold medallist in the 400m hurdles in 1992, told BBC News that the prospect of leading a successful team home can be a motivational factor for athletes for Tokyo 2020.
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“What inspires you to carry on is that you want to be that person at the front”, she said. “I love watching all this, it is lovely to see the excitement of the whole team”.
