Team GB are flying the flag

Well, the curtain has closed on a truly memorable Rio Olympics and it will be sadly missed.

Two weeks of allmanner of sport, watching athletes who have dedicated their lives to grabbing a gold medal and launching their name into the history books.

And none more so have etched their name in history than Team GB.

The record-breaking, history-making, medal-taking British athletes are truly a special bunch.

Their first target ahead of these Games was to beat their all-time greatest‘away’medal haul of 45.

It was breezed past as quickly as Jason Kenny could cycle round the track.

Then the next aim was to become the first nation ever to beat their medal haul after hosting a Games.

And that aim was also beaten right at the line – just as Mo Farah crossed the finishing line in the 5000m for a historic double.

Then, finally, it came down to a neck and neck battle with China to see who would finish second over all in the medal table.

Amazingly, we won by a fingertip, just as Adam Peaty had managed to do in the swimming to kick-start our gold rush.

It all contributed to our most successful Olympic Games ever.

We have well and truly blown all expectations out of the water and for that, every athlete must be commended.

What a refreshing change it has been to switch on the TV and watch down-to-earth, hard-working and dedicated athletes instead of overpaid, prima donna English Premier League footballers.

To put into perspective our achievements this year, China has a population of 1.3 billion people – we sit with 64 million.

That means if China had finished with 20 times more medals than us, it would be in proportion and we wouldn’t have too much to complain about.

When you look at the top five countries in the medal table, we have the smallest population by far

o to produce as many world-class athletes is unbelievable.

There have been plenty of moans and groans on social media about the cost per medal of these Olympics.

About £4 million for each medal from National Lottery and Exchequer

Team GB have etched their name in history