As Team GB’s remaining athletes landed on home soil, the British Olympic Association’s chairman branded Operation Tokyo 2020 a “remarkable achievement”.

Sir Hugh Robertson also backed Britain’s athletes to outdo their stunning performances when they head to Paris for the next Games in just three years.

Robertson and Team GB faced a logistical challenge like no other to compete in Japan at a Games already delayed by a year and plunged into a state of emergency due to Covid-19.

“I was just thinking about getting through every fight and that’s what I managed to do.”

Robertson says the experience of Tokyo will stand Team GB in good stead when the Games arrive just across the Channel in 2024.

“There are reasons to be optimistic,” he added. “It’s only three years away and we have a very young team who will only get more experience.

“The events in Tokyo tends to suggest the pipeline of young stars coming through is very strong.

“And of course, in Paris, hopefully with all this behind us, they’ll have the benefit of lots of British supporters. It will be a sort of proxy home Games for us.”