Team GB lead way in range of golds

British competitors top the standings for victories across different disciplines

Great Britain won golds across the most sports at the Olympic Games in Brazil.

The 2016 Olympics came to a close on Sunday evening and Team GB ended the proceedings ahead of China in second place in the overall final standings with a total haul of 67 medals – two more than the remarkable total achieved in London four years ago – and 27 golds, which was a British record for an ‘away’ Games

The hard-earned collection from Rio included 27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze – the biggest medal count for the nation in more than a century.

The United States’ 121 medals, which included 46 golds, led the way, but not even they could top Team GB’s total of 16 competition victories across different disciplines.

British competitors won golds in swimming, canoe slalom, diving, track cycling, rowing, athletics, artistic gymnastics, golf, tennis, equestrian, sailing, triathlon, taekwondo, hockey, canoe sprint and boxing.

The US total of 46 came from just 14 different disciplines, with their domination in swimming and athletics clear as those two sports accounted for 16 and 13 golds respectively.

China and Russia won golds from 10 sports, though the Chinese claimed more, 26 in total, thanks to their dominance in table tennis and weightlifting, while Germany’s 17 golds came from nine different sports.

Other countries’ hauls were more diverse, with hosts Brazil winning seven golds from seven different sports.

Some nations excelled in only athletics – all of Kenya and Jamaica’s six golds, along with each of their silver and bronzes too, came in track and field events.

Thirty-nine different disciplines are listed as Olympic sports, including four cycling events, three types of swimming contests and three formats of gymnastics, and Great Britain accrued medals in 22 of the sports.

Of those events Team GB failed to achieve a medal in, there were no entrants in the basketball, beach volleyball, football, handball, rhythmic gymnastics, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

That meant the only sports where a Briton was involved but no medal was returned were archery, cycling BMX, cycling mountain bike, fencing, marathon swimming, modern pentathlon, synchronised swimming, table tennis and weightlifting.

Speaking at the conclusion of the Rio games on Sunday, UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl said: “We’re making sporting history – 67 medals, nearly 130 medallists, across 19 sports.”