JASON KENNY became the outright most successful British Olympian of all time after he won a seventh career Olympic gold medal with victory in the men's Keirin on the last day of action in Tokyo.
Earlier last week, his wife - Closing Ceremony flagbearer Laura Kenny - had become the top female British Olympian by winning her fifth career Olympic gold medal alongside Katie Archibald in the women's Madison.
And, certainly, on the back of this performance, it can now be said that the supposed demise of British track cycling had been much exaggerated.
Beyond the Kennys, Matthew Walls became an Olympic champion in the men's Omnium and later added a silver in the Madison alongside Ethan Hayter. Additionally, Jack Carlin continued to show promise by taking bronze in the men's sprint.
There was not such good news from the Olympic Stadium where Britain failed to win a gold medal in athletics for the first time since the complete flop at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
In fairness, the outcome was not too much of a surprise, especially when big medal chances - heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson (calf) and sprinter Dina Asher-Smith (hamstring) - both pulled up during their events with injuries.
To her credit, Asher-Smith recovered sufficiently to secure a bronze the 4 x 100m relay alongside Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Daryll Neita.
Undoubtedly, though, the men's equivalent event was the closest that Team GB came to athletics gold all week - and it really was painfully close.
CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 37.51 seconds to be beaten by the Italian quartet by one-hundredth of a second.
It completed a remarkable summer for Italy following triumphs in the Euro 2020+1 Final and, through Marcell Jacobs, a men's 100m Final from which Hughes was disqualified for a false start.
Elsewhere, in the women's 1500m, Laura Muir enjoyed a Tom Daley-esque moment of redemption as she took silver after so many near-misses in the major championships over the years.
Then, in the men's 1500m, fellow Scot Josh Kerr won bronze in the second-fastest British time ever behind only Mo Farah and ahead of the likes of Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram.
Kerr, aged 23, should have plenty of majors left in him, hopefully - and so should 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson who stormed to a shock silver in the women's 800m.
In her first senior outdoor championship, the Leigh Harrier performed outstandingly in her Final to break the British record set by Kelly Holmes back in 1995.
Add in Holly Bradshaw's bronze in the pole vault - and, while there was no gold rush (or even a trickle, for that matter), this was a pretty acceptable showing for an athletics cohort in transition and beset by misfortune.
Collectively, of course, Team GB has performed spectacularly well in the last couple of weeks and equalled the tally from London 2012 with 65 medals overall.
That was good enough for fourth place in the medal table behind United States, China and hosts Japan with the Americans only just jumping above the Chinese on the final day.
A late run of British gold medals held off strong challenges from the team representing Russia, who finished fifth, and sixth-placed Australia.
And, altogether, Team GB won medals in 18 of the 26 sports in which it entered competitors - a greater breadth of sports than any other country in the world.
Chelsie Giles got the first of the 65 medals with bronze, appropriately enough in the Japanese sport of judo, on the second day - and Lauren Price completed the haul with gold in the middleweight boxing in the last few hours of the final day.
In between, there were British Olympic champions in no fewer than nine different sports: cycling, swimming, sailing, boxing, equestrian, modern pentathlon, triathlon, diving and gymnastics.
“For this team to deliver 65 medals is absolutely extraordinary,” the Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England said.
"The team has made history on the back of the most complex, challenging and most difficult environments that we will ever face, certainly in my lifetime. And I can say that because I’ve been involved in five or six summer Games.”
Gold medal success for Team GB in modern pentathlon for both Kate French and Joe Choong was particularly impressive, given they were only two gold medals available - while in another multi-sport event, the triathlon, Team GB took medals in all three events, including a gold in the new mixed relay event.
Indeed, in an encouraging demonstration of adaptability, Team GB performed strongly in several of the new sports and events.
Charlotte Worthington won the inaugural gold medal in the women's BMX freestyle - and, on the final day of a historic performance in the swimming pool, Britain won the first ever mixed 4 x 100m medley relay through Kathleen Dawson, James Guy, Anna Hopkin - and that man Adam Peaty.
As well as the women's Madison and the mixed relay in triathlon, mentioned above, there were also medals in the men's BMX freestyle through Kye Whyte, women's skateboarding through 13-year-old Sky Brown, and women's featherweight boxing through Karriss Artingstall.
The women's +87kg weightlifting was also technically a new event - although, in reality, it was simply an adjusted version of the existing heavyweight category.
Nonetheless, Emily Campbell's silver medal was the first ever won in weightlifting by a British woman, and the first British weightlifting medal of any sort since 1984.
Remarkably - except for the opening day - there were medals for Team GB on each and every day of Tokyo 2020+1.
Day 11 on Tuesday 3 August was particularly special, producing eight medals which coincidentally matched the total from day 11 of both London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
To begin, Britain woke up to sailing gold medals in the 49er and Finn categories for Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher, and Giles Scott respectively following a series of ridiculously tight races.
Meanwhile, there was a silver medal in the Enoshima Yacht Harbour for John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the mixed nacra 17 class.
In the velodrome, there were also silver medals for Archibald, Laura Kenny, Elinor Barker, Neah Evans and Josie Knight in the women's team pursuit, and for Carlin, Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens in the men's team sprint.
But the medal rush did not stop there. At breakfast time in the UK, Birtley boxer Pat McCormack took a fourth Team GB silver of the day in the men's welterweight and Jack Laugher secured a bronze in the 3m springboard diving.
Finally, there was that athletics medal for the teenager Hodgkinson, a fifth Team GB silver of the day.
The following day - Wednesday 4 August - could not quite live up to those incredible standards but still produced five medals including another sailing gold, this time for Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre in the women's 470 class.
Benjamin Whittaker and Frazer Clarke won silver and bronze boxing medals at light heavyweight and super heavyweight respectively, a few hours after skateboarder Brown had become Britain's youngest ever Olympic medal winner.
Strangely, despite a generally impressive Games, it looked like boxing gold might somehow elude the male Team GB competitors.
However, on the penultimate day of competition, Birmingham flyweight Galal Yafai completed the domination of his weight division.
Of course, there are some Olympians who, it felt, seemed simply destined to make it onto the podium.
Max Whitlock defended his pommel horse title to become the most successful British gymnast in Games history - and top all-time British diver Tom Daley added a bronze in the 10m platform to the gold which he won with Matty Lee in the synchronised event.
In equestrian, following the dressage success for Charlotte Dujardin, Team GB continued to produce the goods.
Tom McEwen won gold in team eventing alongside Laura Collett and Oliver Townend - and won silver in the individual category on Toledo De Kerser. Ben Maher won gold in the jumping event on Explosion W.
Other reliable medal shouts came on the water in canoeing where Liam Heath picked up his fourth career Olympic medal in the K1 200m sprint - and from women's field hockey team which has now won medals at the last three Olympics.
True, in the hockey, there was disappointment initially as eventual winners Netherlands got revenge for the defeat in the 2016 Final in Rio de Janeiro with a comprehensive 5-1 semi final win.
However, the Team GB squad held its nerve to secure third place in a dramatic 4-3 win against India.
For sure, though, this Olympics - from a British perspective - belongs to the Kennys and their phenomenal achievements, and Britain will certainly miss them when they are gone.
Their fierce determination and prestigious talent is further augmented by their delightfully modest attitude and low-key approach to publicity.
After all, when asked how they are going to celebrate their Record Games, Jason Kenny suggested that a quiet night with their three-year-old son, Albie, is probably going to be as wild as it is going to get.
“Just being home is the plan,” he said. “Being fair with Albie, we haven’t seen him for two weeks now. It’s the longest we’ve ever been away from him."
Little Albie - who has been staying with grandparents - will not realise yet but his parents are both British sporting legends.
The Kennys truly are Britain's Golden Couple.
🔴MEDAL TABLE Final standings • BBC closing montage
🔴TEAM GB MEDALS 22 GOLD • 21 SILVER • 22 BRONZE • TOTAL 65
GOLD • BBC montage
SILVER
BRONZE
[1] Men's eight Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Henry Fieldman (cox)
[2] Women's field hockey team Giselle Ansley, Grace Balsdon, Fiona Crackles, Maddie Hinch, Sarah Jones, Hannah Martin, Shona McCallin, Lily Owsley, Hollie Pearne-Webb, Izzy Petter, Ellie Rayer, Sarah Robertson, Anna Toman, Susannah Townsend, Laura Unsworth, Leah Wilkinson
The Kennys truly are Britain's Golden Couple.
🔴MEDAL TABLE Final standings • BBC closing montage
Pos | G | S | B | TOTAL | |
1 | UNITED STATES (USA) | 39 | 41 | 33 | 113 |
2 | CHINA (CHN) | 38 | 32 | 18 | 88 |
3 | JAPAN (JPN) | 27 | 14 | 17 | 58 |
4 | GREAT BRITAIN (GBR) | 22 | 21 | 22 | 65 |
5 | RUSSIAN OLYMPIC TEAM (ROC) | 20 | 28 | 23 | 71 |
6 | AUSTRALIA (AUS) | 17 | 7 | 22 | 46 |
7 | NETHERLANDS (NED) | 10 | 12 | 14 | 36 |
8 | FRANCE (FRA) | 10 | 12 | 11 | 33 |
9 | GERMANY (GER) | 10 | 11 | 16 | 37 |
10 | ITALY (ITA) | 10 | 10 | 20 | 40 |
11 | CANADA (CAN) | 7 | 6 | 11 | 24 |
12 | BRAZIL (BRA) | 7 | 6 | 8 | 21 |
13 | NEW ZEALAND (NZL) | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
14 | CUBA (CUB) | 7 | 3 | 5 | 15 |
15 | HUNGARY (HUN) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
16 | SOUTH KOREA (KOR) | 6 | 4 | 10 | 20 |
17 | POLAND (POL) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
18 | CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
19 | KENYA (KEN) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
20 | NORWAY (NOR) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
21 | JAMAICA (JAM) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
22 | SPAIN (ESP) | 3 | 8 | 6 | 17 |
23 | SWEDEN (SWE) | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
24 | SWITZERLAND (SUI) | 3 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
25 | DENMARK (DEN) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
26 | CROATIA (CRO) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
27 | IRAN (IRI) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
28 | SERBIA (SRB) | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
29 | BELGIUM (BEL) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
30 | BULGARIA (BUL) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
31 | SLOVENIA (SLO) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
32 | UZBEKISTAN (UZB) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
33 | GEORGIA (GEO) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
34 | CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE) | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
35 | TURKEY (TUR) | 2 | 2 | 9 | 13 |
36 | GREECE (GER) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
36 | UGANDA (UGA) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
38 | ECUADOR (ECU) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
39 | IRELAND (IRL) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
39 | ISRAEL (ISR) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
41 | QATAR (QAT) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
42 | BAHAMAS (BAH) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
42 | KOSOVO (KOS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
44 | UKRAINE (UKR) | 1 | 6 | 12 | 19 |
45 | BELARUS (BLR) | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
46 | ROMANIA (ROU) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
46 | VENEZUELA (VEN) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
48 | INDIA (IND) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
49 | HONG KONG (HKG) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
50 | PHILIPPINES (PHI) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
50 | SLOVAKIA (SVK) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
52 | SOUTH AFRICA (RSA) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
53 | AUSTRIA (AUT) | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
54 | EGYPT (EGY) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
55 | INDONESIA (INA) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
56 | ETHIOPIA (ETH) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
56 | PORTUGAL (POR) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
58 | TUNISIA (TUN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
59 | ESTONIA (EST) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
59 | FIJI (FIJ) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
59 | LATVIA (LAT) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
59 | THAILAND (THA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
63 | BERMUDA (BER) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
63 | MOROCCO (MAR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
63 | PUERTO RICO (PUR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
66 | COLOMBIA (COL) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
67 | AZERBAIJAN (AZE) | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
68 | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
69 | ARMENIA (ARM) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
70 | KYRGYZSTAN (KGZ) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
71 | MONGOLIA (MGL) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
72 | ARGENTINA (ARG) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
72 | SAN MARINO (SMR) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
74 | JORDAN (JOR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
74 | MALAYSIA (MAS) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
74 | NIGERIA (NGR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
77 | BAHRAIN (BAH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
77 | SAUDI ARABIA (KSA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
77 | LITHUANIA (LTU) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
77 | NORTH MACEDONIA (MKD) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
77 | NAMIBIA (NAM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
77 | TURKMENISTAN (TKM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
83 | KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ) | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
84 | MEXICO (MEX) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
85 | FINLAND (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
86 | BOTSWANA (BOT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | BURKINA FASO (BUR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | IVORY COAST (CIV) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | GHANA (GHA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | GRENADA (GRN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | KUWAIT (KUW) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | MOLDOVA (MDA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
86 | SYRIA (SYR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
🔴TEAM GB MEDALS 22 GOLD • 21 SILVER • 22 BRONZE • TOTAL 65
GOLD • BBC montage
26-July | Tom Pidcock | Cycling | Men's cross-country | Report | |
26-July | Tom Daley Matty Lee | Diving | Men's synchornised 10m platform | Report | |
26-July | Adam Peaty | Swimming | Men's 100m breaststroke | Report | |
27-July | Tom Dean | Swimming | Men's 200m freestyle | Report | |
28-July | Tom Dean James Guy Matt Richards Duncan Scott [Callum Jarvis] | Swimming | Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay | Report | |
30-July | Bethany Shriever | Cycling | Women's BMX racing | Report | |
31-July | Jess Learmonth Jonathan Brownlee Georgia Taylor-Brown Alex Yee | Triathlon | Mixed relay | Report | |
31-July | Kathleen Dawson James Guy Adam Peaty Anna Hopkin [Freya Anderson] | Swimming | Mixed 4 x 100m medley relay | Report | |
01-August | Charlotte Worthington | Cycling | Women's BMX freestyle | Report | |
01-August | Max Whitlock | Gymnastics | Men's pommel horse | Report | |
02-August | Laura Collett Tom McEwen Oliver Townend | Equestrian | Team eventing | Report | |
03-August | Stuart Bithell Dylan Fletcher | Sailing | 49er | Report | |
03-August | Giles Scott | Sailing | Finn | Report | |
04-August | Hannah Mills Eilidh McIntyre | Sailing | Women's 470 | Report | |
04-August | Ben Maher | Equestrian | Individual jumping | Report | |
05-August | Matthew Walls | Cycling | Men's Omnium | Report | |
06-August | Katie Archibald Laura Kenny | Cycling | Women's Madison | Report | |
06-August | Kate French | Modern pentathlon | Women's individual | Report | |
07-August | Galal Yafai | Boxing | Men's flyweight | Report | |
07-August | Joe Choong | Modern pentathlon | Men's individual | Report | |
08-August | Jason Kenny | Cycling | Men's Keirin | Report | |
08-August | Lauren Price | Boxing | Women's middleweight | Report |
SILVER
25-July | Bradly Sinden | Taekwondo | Men's -68kg | Report | |
26-July | Lauren Williams | Taekwondo | Women's -67kg | Report | |
26-July | Alex Yee | Triathlon | Men's individual | Report | |
27-July | Duncan Scott | Swimming | Men's 200m freestyle | Report | |
27-July | Georgia Taylor-Brown | Triathlon | Women's individual | Report | |
28-July | Tom Barras Jack Beaumont Angus Groom Harry Leask | Rowing | Men's quadruple sculls | Report | |
29-July | Mallory Franklin | Canoeing | Women's C-1 | Report | |
30-July | Duncan Scott | Swimming | Men's 200m individual medley | Report | |
30-July | Kye Whyte | Cycling | Men's BMX racing | Report | |
01-August | Luke Greenbank James Guy Duncan Scott Adam Peaty [James Wilby] | Swimming | Men's 4 x 100m medley relay | Report | |
02-August | Tom McEwen | Equestrian | Individual eventing | Report | |
02-August | Emily Campbell | Weightlifting | Women's +87kg | Report | |
03-August | John Gimson Anna Burnet | Sailing | Mixed Nacra 17 | Report | |
03-August | Katie Archibald Elinor Barker Neah Evans Laura Kenny Josie Knight | Cycling | Women's team pursuit | Report | |
03-August | Jack Carlin Jason Kenny Ryan Owens | Cycling | Men's team sprint | Report | |
03-August | Pat McCormack | Boxing | Men's welterweight | Report | |
03-August | Keely Hodgkinson | Athletics | Women's 800m | Report | |
04-August | Benjamin Whittaker | Boxing | Men's light heavyweight | Report | |
06-August | Laura Muir | Athletics | Women's 1500m | Report | |
06-August | Chijndu Ujah Zharnel Hughes Richard Kilty Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake | Athletics | Men's 4 x 100m relay | Report | |
07-August | Ethan Hayter Matthew Walls | Cycling | Men's Madison | Report |
BRONZE
25-July | Chelsie Giles | Judo | Women's 52kg | Report | |
27-July | Bianca Walkden | Taekwondo | Women's +67kg | Report | |
27-July | Jennifer Gadirova Jessica Gadirova Alice Kinsella Amelie Morgan | Gymnastics | Women's team all-round | Report | |
27-July | Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Fry Carl Hester | Equestrian | Team dressage | Report | |
28-July | Charlotte Dujardin | Equestrian | Individual dressage | Report | |
29-July | Matthew Coward-Holley | Shooting | Men's trap | Report | |
30-July | see below [1] | Rowing | Men's eight | Report | |
30-July | Luke Greenbank | Swimming | Men's 200m backstroke | Report | |
30-July | Bryony Page | Gymnastics | Women's trampoline | Report | |
31-July | Emma Wilson | Sailing | Women's RS:X | Report | |
31-July | Karriss Artingstall | Boxing | Women's featherweight | Report | |
01-August | Declan Brooks | Cycling | Men's BMX freestyle | Report | |
03-August | Jack Laugher | Diving | Men's 3m springboard | Report | |
04-August | Sky Brown | Skateboarding | Women's park | Report | |
04-August | Frazer Clarke | Boxing | Men's super heavyweight | Report | |
05-August | Liam Heath | Canoeing | Men's K1 200m | Report | |
05-August | Holly Bradshaw | Athletics | Women's pole vault | Report | |
06-August | see below [2] | Field hockey | Women's tournament | Report | |
06-August | Jack Carlin | Cycling | Men's sprint | Report | |
06-August | Asha Philip Imani Lansiquot Dina Asher-Smith Daryll Neita | Athletics | Women's 4 x 100m relay | Report | |
07-August | Tom Daley | Diving | Men's 10m platform | Report | |
07-August | Josh Kerr | Athletics | Men's 1500m | Report |
[1] Men's eight Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Henry Fieldman (cox)
[2] Women's field hockey team Giselle Ansley, Grace Balsdon, Fiona Crackles, Maddie Hinch, Sarah Jones, Hannah Martin, Shona McCallin, Lily Owsley, Hollie Pearne-Webb, Izzy Petter, Ellie Rayer, Sarah Robertson, Anna Toman, Susannah Townsend, Laura Unsworth, Leah Wilkinson
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