Bring on Paris was the message from Team GB after matching their medal haul from London 2012 in Tokyo.
The British team finished with 65 medals – the same number as picked up at their home Games and just two shy of the all-time record in Rio de Janeiro.
It was enough to finish fourth in the medal table and UK Sport, which funds Britain’s Olympians, has already stated its ambitions to end up in the top five at least at the next Games in Paris in three years’ time and Los Angeles in 2028.
But with a lineup in Japan of which two-thirds were first-time Olympians, Team GB chef de mission Mark England was even more bullish about their chances at the next Games.
“Touching on Paris, we’ve had 16 fourth places,” he said, “and this is a very, very young team. It’s a very, very talented team, and it’s a team that I’m absolutely confident that will go to Paris in less than three years now and do exceptionally well.”
Team GB‘s medal haul in Tokyo included 22 golds and England said they had surpassed the exploits of London and Rio in the circumstances - a fortnight he called “the greatest achievement in British Olympic history”.
For a second consecutive Games, the team won medals across more sports than any other nation – 18 sports and 23 disciplines in all, something which England called “the miracle of Tokyo”.
But Andy Anson, CEO of the British Olympic Association, said the focus was now on how the GB medal rush could trickle down to grassroots sport. The successes at both London 2012 and Rio have not translated as anticipated.
Anson said: “We’ve got to do a lot more. I’ve had several conversations with athletes. They want to help. They are actually passionate about driving participation. They believe it is part of their role. I think it’s incumbent on us… to work with these athletes to help them influence people to participate in sports.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Team GB Medal Haul
“We’re looking at turning our Team GB into a 24/7, 265-day brand using athletes to really interact and drive the health agenda – we’ve got to make it happen this time.”
Lauren Price brought the golden curtain down on the Games with her boxing triumph, one of six medals from a sport which has been one of the leading lights in Tokyo.
In contrast, the athletics team came away without a gold medal for the first time since 1996 while, in rowing, it was Britain’s first gold-less Games since 1980.
UK Sport chair Katherine Grainger argued the two sports needed “more investment, not less” in order to turn things around.
“I think there will be a lot of conversations around what happened,” she said. “These sports will be the first to say they’ll be reviewing and debriefing and go into detail about what worked, what didn’t work coming into these Games.”
