Party time for Beijing stars
Celebrations for Great Britain’s most successful Olympic Games for 100 years are set to continue into today as the nation’s new sporting heroes toast their overwhelming success in Beijing.
The 300-strong squad were met by crowds of flag-waving fans yesterday as they touched down at Heathrow Airport on a British Airways plane painted with a special gold medal nose.
Team GB finished a superb fourth in the medals table after amassing a tally of 47 medals, including 19 golds, 13 silvers and 15 bronze.
Now, as a result, Olympic chiefs are set to raise its medal target to an ambitious new high as London prepares to host the Games in 2012.
Team GB’s return follows a weekend of partying after the Chinese officially handed over the Olympics to Britain during Sunday’s dramatic closing ceremony. And the celebrations look set to continue today as the medal-winning stars begin to adjust to their new-found hero status. Among the biggest stars to emerge were Chris Hoy, winner of three gold medals in the track cycling, and Rebecca Adlington, who claimed two golds in the swimming.
On touching down, Hoy said: “It’s quite overwhelming. It’s an incredible reception. You’re living in a bubble in the Olympic village and it’s only when you land and see quite how many people have turned up you realise – it’s incredible.”
Adlington is set to toast her double gold at the Adlington Arms after her local Yates’s pub announced it would change her name in her honour.
But for now, the 19-year-old is just delighted to be back with her loved ones. “I’m having a month off and then getting back in the water,” she said. “I just can’t wait to get home and see my family.”
The team were met at Heathrow by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who reiterated his promise to invest heavily on young athletes in the build-up to London 2012. “We will be investing more in sport in our schools, as well as for our elite athletes,” he said.