Aspiration is always to push on and do better – Lord Moynihan

Britain have had their best Olympics since 1908, winning 65 medals on home soil, including 29 golds.

Australia are the only country to claim more gold medals at a Games immediately after one they have hosted – in 2004 – but no nation has ever secured more medals overall.

The BOA want to be the first and clearly believe yesterday’s announcement that there will be no Government cuts in the funding of Olympic sports ahead of 2016 could make it possible.

BOA chairman Lord Moynihan said: “The aspiration is always to push on and do better – absolutely. If you’re an athlete, if you’re a team, your aspiration is always to do better. No question at all in my mind. You never say, ‘Okay, we did very well. Now let’s fall back’.

“We have phenomenal athletes in this country, unbelievable athletes, and we’re building great support structures.

“And we must always push on and always attempt to raise the bar and always seek to achieve better results.”

Moynihan insisted it was far too early to set specific medal targets but added: “Every sport should have a comprehensive review of their performance.

“Those who have done really well will need to review why they did really well. Those who haven’t lived up to the expectations will need to review that.

“It won’t be until we’re very close to Rio that we have an assessment of who we’re competing against, let alone how good our own team is.”

Britain have won medals in 16 sports at London 2012, five more than at the Beijing Games four years ago.

BOA chef de mission Andy Hunt said: “I believe it could be more than that. And that’s such an important legacy from these Games.

“Our insight and engagement with sports is like never before and we’re not going to stop that.”