Peaty's pivotal gold will help inspire new Olympic generation

Twenty-seven golds, 23 silvers and 17 bronze medals were collected as the British squad beat China to finish second only to the United States of America in the medals table.

There were only the most optimistic British sports supporters that thought the success at London 2012 could be matched in the sweltering heat of Rio de Janiero.

The build-up was certainly different.

From problematic venues, to a Zika virus and then the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal, there were enough sideshows to distract from the sporting action.

But nothing could take the eyes, and daily front-page coverage, away once Adam Peaty charged ahead of that 100m breaststroke race to break his own world record.

Many of the Team GB squad pointed to that moment being pivotal in post-medal interviews.

Momentum is not something often considered with a multi-sport team but the dominance of Peaty’s victory in the pool provided an unequivocal feeling that Britain could take on the world.

So they did.

From gold in the swimming pool came gold in the diving pool and City of Leeds pairing Jack Laugher and Chris Mears producing their performance of a lifetime in the 3m synchronised springboard, as Joe Clarke slalomed his way to gold on the canoe rapids.

Perhaps most pertinent to the Team GB momentum was that the first golden moments were won by athletes primed at London 2012. Those motivated by the tagline ‘inspire a generation’ of four years previous.

There were no golden post boxes this time as the Royal Mail kept the lid on celebrations.

But that did not stop British athletes, and loyal supporters, painting Brazil’s arenas the colours of the union.

Justin Rose gave golf a thrilling welcome – despite pre-Games reservations across the sport – while rugby sevens also burst onto the scene with a British silver.

Of the second comings, Leeds boxer Nicola Adams created another piece of history inside the ring while Jade Jones followed suit on the taekwondo mat and Andy Murray repeated his Wimbledon heroics.

On the track, Jessica Ennis-Hill left athletics with an emotional silver medal and Mo Farah held off the Kenyan and Ethopian challengers to win the double double over the middle distance events.

Farah has now established his place as Britain’s greatest athlete, pride of place in front of the likes of Seb Coe, Steve Cram and Paula Radcliffe.

Likewise, Leeds brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee can take pride in developing triathlon beyond where they found it. Their victorious embrace at the finish in Rio was the moment for Yorkshire at an Olympic Games.

British cycling had its issues going into the Games with the controversial de-selection of sprinter Jess Varnish and the unsavoury fall-out with coach Shane Sutton.

The form guide looked worrying, too, with British lagging behind rivals at the 2016 world championships.

But after winning 12 medals in London, the Team GB squad were in no mood to let their dominance of the past decade crash.

Golden couple Jason and Laura Kenny brought the smiles back to British cycling and the return to the track of greats Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish brought a repeat of the metallic dozen, with six of a golden hue.

Britain’s rowers continued their rich tradition of success on the water with golds in the men’s eight, men’s coxless four and through the unbeatable coxless pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning.

The tears were also flowing at the equestrian centre for the evergreen show-jumper Nick Skelton and eventer Charlotte Dujardin while the women’s hockey added a squad-full of emotion in the most dramatic of circumstances.

For a population of 65 million, Britain fought with the heavyweights and won. Sixty-seven medals were won across 19 sports, and another generation were inspired.

Tokyo 2020 may be destined for disappointment but who says that British sporting momentum cannot continue on a roll?