Opinion | Great British blueprint continues to deliver success and Olympic Games medals after remarkable turnaround
Having attempted to claim Lee Lai-shan’s gold medal as their own in 1996 following a disastrous showing in Atlanta, Britain are on course to claim second place in the medals table ahead of China in Rio de Janeiro
In 1996, British newspapers mockingly claimed Lee Lai-shan as their own. Great Britain had won just a single gold medal at the Atlanta Games through the legendary men’s coxless rowing pair of Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave.
They wanted to double their tally with the gold of windsurfer Lee, who at the time was representing a British colony. It was Britain’s worst Olympic performance in 44 years.
WATCH: golden moments on Day 15 at the Rio Olympics
Twenty years is a long time in sport and Great Britain have risen majestically from that woeful Atlanta performance when they won 15 medals and finished 36th in the standings.
In Rio de Janeiro, as of Saturday night, Great Britain were in second place with 27 golds out of 66 medals won.
But their improvement came long before Rio. They won 65 medals in London and beat that record in Brazil. But what did Britain do to raise standards so effectively?
First, hosting the 2012 Olympics provided a major boost to sports development. The London Games itself left a positive legacy that the British athletes are making the most of in Rio.