It has been yet another record breaking 16 days for British athletes at the Olympics this summer, with Team GB competitors bringing home a record haul of medals from a rocking Rio.
With 67 gold, silver and bronze medallions hanging around their necks, the haul eclipses even that of London four years ago and cements the 2016 Games as the nation’s greatest ever Olympic Games.
Only the ever-dominant US team surpassed the GB medal count, with usual recent bridesmaids China slipping to third place in the medal table.
The British Olympic Association had set a target of just 48 medals prior to departure, yet this number was surpassed with five days left of competition left to go as Britain ruled in Rio.
“We’re making sporting history – 67 medals, nearly 130 medallists, across 19 sports,” said Liz Nichol, UK Sport chief executive.
“Even the sporting superpowers haven’t done that in the past, but we are one of those now.”
Success in the 2016 Games has been put largely down to investment in sport in the UK.
BOA chairman Bill Sweeney added: “Since National Lottery funding started in 1997, we have had five consecutive [summer] Olympic Games of medal growth – no other country has come close to that.”
From Usain Bolt’s unprecedented ‘treble-treble’ to a refugee team making its debut at the Games, this year’s Olympics were not only a success for the Brits.
In total, over 11,000 athletes competed across 28 events and 306 categories as the world’s best sportsmen and women came together to battle it out in the international arena.
In athletics, IAAF President, Seb Coe, said fans have been treated to an unparalleled level of performance at this year’s instalment of the Olympic Games – and with three world records and nine Olympic records all registered, it is clear to see why.
“It’s a bit like glugging your way through a quart of cream, it’s been exceptional,” he said on the night prior to the closing ceremony.
“It has enthralled, it has entertained, it has captured the global imagination this week.
“The sport is alive and incredibly strong. The performances have been incredible and I cannot remember a group of athletes who have come to an Olympics better prepared.”
International Olympic Committee chief, Thomas Bach, was also quick to declare Rio 2016 a success.
“These were the marvellous games, in this marvellous city,” he said.
“These Olympic Games are leaving a unique legacy, for generations to come. History will talk about Rio de Janeiro before and a much better Rio de Janeiro after the Games.”
Team GB Olympic Champions:
GOLD:
Adam Peaty – 100m breaststroke, swimming
Joe Clarke – K1, kayak
Jack Laugher & Chris Mears – men’s synchronised 3m springboard, diving
Men’s team sprint – cycling
Helen Glover & Heather Stanning – women’s coxless pair, rowing
Men’s coxless fours – rowing
Men’s team pursuit – cycling
Mo Farah – 10,000m, athletics
Men’s eight – rowing
Women’s team pursuit – cycling
Justin Rose – golf
Max Whitlock – floor, gymnastics
Max Whitlock – pommel horse, gymnastics
Jason Kenny – individual sprint, cycling
Andy Murray – tennis
Charlotte Dujardin – dressage
Giles Scott – sailing
Jason Kenny – keirin, cycling
Laura Trott – omnium, cycling
Alistair Brownlee – triathlon
Hannah Mills – 470 event, sailing
Saskia Clark – 470 event, sailing
Jade Jones – taekwondo
Nick Skelton – eventing, showjumping
Great Britain – women’s hockey
Liam Heath – solo kayak 200m
Nicola Adams – boxing
Mo Farah – 5,000m, athletics
SILVER:
Jazz Carlin – 400m freestyle, swimming
Men’s 4x200m – freestyle relay, swimming
Siobhan-Marie O’Connor – 200m individual medley, swimming
David Florence & Richard Hounslow – C2, canoeing
Katherine Grainger & Vicky Thornley – women’s double sculls, rowing
Men’s sevens – rugby
Jazz Carlin – 800m freestyle, swimming
Bryony Page – trampolining
Team dressage – equestrian
Women’s eight – rowing
Jessica Ennis-Hill – heptathlon
Becky James – keirin, cycling
Men’s 4x100m – medley relay, swimming
Louis Smith – pommel horse, gymnastics
Nick Dempsey – RS:X, windsurfing
Callum Skinner – individual sprint, cycling
Mark Cavendish – omnium, cycling
Becky James – sprint, cycling
Jack Laugher – diving
Jonathan Brownlee – triathlon
Liam Heath – double 200m, kayak
Jon Schofield – double 200m, kayak
Lutalo Muhammad – taekwondo
Joe Joyce – men’s super heavyweight boxing
BRONZE:
Tom Daley & Dan Goodfellow – men’s synchro 10m platform, diving
Ed Ling – men’s trap, shooting
Sally Conway – -70kg, judo
Chris Froome – road race, cycling
Steven Scott – double trap, shooting
Max Whitlock – all-round, gymnastics
Greg Rutherford – long jump
Sophie Hitchon- hammer
Amy Tinkler – floor, gymnastics
Nile Wilson – horizontal bar, gymnastics
Katy Marchant – sprint, cycling
Joshua Buatsi – boxing
Marcus Ellis – doubles, badminton
Chris Langridge – doubles, badminton
Great Britain – 4x100m relay
Vicky Holland – triathlon
Bianca Walkden – taekwondo
Great Britain – women’s 4x400m relay
