Great Britain's Olympic heroes were given a rapturous reception when they arrived at Heathrow.

Gold medal winners Rebecca Adlington and Chris Hoy were the first passengers to emerge from the first class cabin on a jumbo jet with a gold-painted nose.

And the athletes were greeted by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown as they entered the terminal building.

All of Great Britain's gold medal winners gathered on the steps for a memorable photo and they were followed onto the tarmac by the silver and bronze medallists.

Simon Clegg, Team GB chef de mission, said: "On behalf of the team I should say how delighted we are to be back at home in the UK.

"I have to say the whole team is really pleased to be back home and indeed very proud of what has been achieved over the last 17 days of the competition."

He said: "I think it's been both an inspiring and outstanding performance by Team GB and our best Games for 100 years."

Lord Coe, who is leading the preparations for the London 2012 Games, said: "Team GB have provided us with just the most extraordinary platform, one we could not possibly imagine before we came here.

"It's the opportunity to drive the project for us, but take nothing from any of those guys who've performed, I think, way beyond what I think any of us were expecting."

Great Britain finished fourth in the overall medals table in Beijing with 19 golds and 47 medals in total, the biggest haul from a British team in 100 years.

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