Team GB's historic success
at the Games saw their biggest medal haul in a century with 27 golds, 23
silvers and 17 bronzes.
There was a party
atmosphere as the team waved goodbye to Rio, with athletes posing for selfies
with their British Airways pilot and flight crew.
Team GB's athletes have
arrived back home to a heroes' welcome following their best Olympics in more
than a century.
A customised gold-nosed
Boeing 747 with "victoRIOus" emblazoned on the side and 320 athletes
and support staff on board landed at Heathrow airport just before 10am.
There were cheers and
applause airside as the athletes filed off the plane, proudly wearing their
medals.
The athletes will face the
media at a news conference shortly.
Rowing gold medallist Helen
Glover tweeted pictures from the "flight of a lifetime", including
one of another Team GB star Max Whitlock performing gymnastic tricks inside the
plane. He won two golds in Rio in just over an hour.
Glover tweeted that the
team had stood and "belted out" the national anthem as it played over
the plane's loudspeakers before take-off.
The jet - which also
carried back pole vaults, javelins, bicycles and a 6.7m sail back from Rio -
was loaded with 77 extra champagne bottles and treats for team members, who
were offered a three-course menu.
Other heroes of Rio,
including cycling golden couple Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, had already
arrived back in the UK before the official Team GB flight.
After winning 67 medals in
Rio, and finishing second in the medal table, Britain's Olympians can look
forward to victory parades and royal honours as reward for their success.
Prime Minister Theresa May
has announced there will be a parade in Manchester and a further event in
London in October.
Downing Street also said
there would be "no formal cap" on the number of honours that can be
handed out to Team GB medal winners.
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