Olympics 2016: Heroes of Team GB return triumphant from Rio

Team GB's Olympic heroes were afforded a rapturous welcome at Heathrow as they returned from Rio after the country's best-ever overseas Games.

Gold medallists Max Whitlock and Nicola Adams were first to emerge from the gold-nosed Being 747 which carried 320 athletes and support staff, plus equipment including bikes, javelins, sails and medals back home.

"Of the 366 athletes who went to the Rio Games for Team GB, 130 of them - just over 35% - returned with a medal, including every member of the 15-strong track cycling team," reports the BBC.

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Other gold medallists on the flight included Alistair Brownlee, Adam Peaty and the women's hockey team.

After landing, the Olympians posed for photographs before collecting their belongings and heading to the team hotel, where they were reunited with loved ones.

Chef de mission Mark England said: "I think it is the best sporting achievement by any team in British sporting history. I think when we arrived just an hour or so ago it was overwhelming the reception that we got, not just from British Airways but also everyone who is in Terminal 5.

"It gave an immediate sense of the enormity of the achievement British athletes have posted in Rio de Janeiro."

The UK's most decorated female athlete, Katherine Grainger, who won a fifth Olympic medal at Rio said: "What makes the Olympics so special is it's so inclusive across a number of sports. The lovely thing is London was a hugely inspirational experience and we felt we couldn't replicate that so to be the only nation to better themselves after a home games is incredible.

"The reception at Heathrow has been incredible. It's been a tough year for the country. The good thing about sport is it reunites people. To add to the medal target personally was such a special moment - it really was the best Games in my opinion."

And members of Team GB gave an insight into the celebrations on board the flight through social media: