Jason Kenny – Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Mark England, Britain’s chef de mission hailed the team’s achievement as the greatest in their Olympic history after the team matched their medals total from their home games in London in 2012 on the final day of competition in Tokyo.

Jason Kenny, a track cyclist and Lauren Price, a boxer ensured that Britain finished their campaign with two more gold. This took them to fourth place in the Tokyo medals table with 22 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze medals for a total of 65. It made Tokyo their second-most successful Olympics overseas after the contingent won 67 medals in the Rio de Janeiro Games five years ago.

“Following Beijing we had no idea that British athletes would deliver 65 medals in London. We knew we were in great shape for Rio but it had never been done before, matching and then surpassing London’s number of medals,” England told reporters on Sunday.

The next Olympic Games are in less than three years and England believes the youths would be in great shape heading into Paris.

The British Olympic Association and UK Sport had previously announced a change of approach towards funding. This was previously targeted only at potential medallists, in the middle of an athlete welfare crisis and various governance problems. Last year, the organisation said that it would be taking a more holistic approach towards Olympic funding, with positive culture at its core, raising fears that a softer approach might lead to a drop in results.