Jason Queally - kicked-off Britain's gold-medal haul.
BRITAIN'S BEST FOR 80 YEARS
By Ian Gordon, PA Sport, Sydney
Britain's 321-strong Olympic team ended the Sydney Games on Sunday celebrating
their best gold medal haul for 80 years.
The squad won 11 golds in 16 days of fierce competition - the first time they
had reached double figures since the Antwerp Games in 1920.
Britain finished 10th overall in the table after also winning 10 silver and
seven bronze medals for a combined total of 28.
The tally is the best since Britain won 37 medals in Los Angeles in 1984 when
they benefited from the Eastern Bloc tit-for-tat boycott after the United States
stayed away from Moscow four years earlier.
The overall performance banished the bitter memories of Atlanta four years ago
when the team returned with just 15 medals including only the one gold won by
rowers Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.
Redgrave confirmed his place as one of the greatest Olympians of all-time with
his historic fifth successive gold along with team-mates Pinsent, James
Cracknell and Tim Foster while the men's eight also took gold.
Britain's yachtsmen enjoyed a sail of the century winning three golds through
Shirley Robertson, Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy as well as two silver.
Athletics won double gold in the Olympic Stadium with Jonathan Edwards and
Denise Lewis as well as two silvers and two bronze medals.
Britain's cyclists spearheaded the gold medal charge on the opening day thanks
to Jason Queally and also won silver and two bronze while dead-eye Richard
Faulds was crowned Olympic shooting champion.
Audley Harrison boxed his way to Britain's first gold in the ring since 1968
before modern pentathlete Stephanie Cook completed a memorable title double on
the final day with team-mate Kate Allenby adding bronze.
The sports of judo, badminton, canoeing, equestrianism and badminton also won
medals with the only low point the failure of Britain's swimmers to pick up a
medal for the first time since 1936.
Final British medallists at the Sydney Olympics
GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL
11 10 7 28
GOLD:
Day one, Jason Queally - cycling (men's 1km time trial)
Day five, Richard Faulds - shooting (men's double trap)
Day eight, Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, James Cracknell -
rowing (men's coxless four).
Day nine, Andrew Lindsay, Ben Hunt-Davis, Simon Dennis, Louis Attrill, Luka
Grubor, Kieran West, Fred Scarlett, Steve Trapmore, Rowley Douglas - rowing
(men's eight).
Day nine, Denise Lewis - athletics (heptathlon).
Day 10, Jonathan Edwards - athletics (triple jump).
Day 14, Shirley Robertson - sailing (women's Europe class).
Day 14, Ben Ainslie - sailing (Laser class).
Day 15, Iain Percy - sailing (Finn class).
Day 16, Audley Harrison - boxing (super-heavyweight)
Day 16, Stephanie Cook - modern pentathlon.
SILVER:
Day two, Ian Peel - shooting (men's Olympic trap)
Day two, Jason Queally, Chris Hoy, Craig MacLean - cycling (men's Olympic
Sprint)
Day four, Jeanette Brakewell (on Over To You), Leslie Law (on Shear H20),
Pippa Funnell (on Supreme Rock) and Ian Stark (on Jaybee) - equestrian (Three
Day Event team competition).
Day five, Paul Ratcliffe - canoeing (men's K1 canoe/kayak slalom).
Day five, Kate Howey - judo (women's 70kg class).
Day eight, Steve Backley - athletics (men's javelin).
Day nine, Guin Batten, Gillian Lindsay, Katherine Grainger, Miriam Batten -
rowing (women's quadruple sculls).
Day 10, Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks - sailing (49er class).
Day 13, Darren Campbell - athletics (200m).
Day 15, Ian Walker and Mark Covell - sailing (Star class).
BRONZE:
Day three, Yvonne McGregor - cycling (women's individual pursuit)
Day four, Bradley Wiggins, Bryan Steel, Chris Newton, Paul Manning - cycling
(men's team 4000m pursuit). Rob Hayles and Jon Clay also awarded medals for
competing in semi-finals.
Day six, Simon Archer & Joanne Goode - badminton (mixed doubles).
Day 10, Katharine Merry - athletics (women's 400m).
Day 10, Kelly Holmes - athletics (women's 800m).
Day 15, Tim Brabants - canoeing (men's K1 100m sprint).
Day 16, Kate Allenby - modern pentathlon.
British Medals tally at previous Olympics
GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL
1896 Athens 3 3 1 7
1900 Paris 17 8 12 37
1904 St Louis 1 1 0 2
1906 Athens 8 11 0 19
1908 London 56 48 37 141
1912 Stockholm 10 15 16 41
1920 Antwerp 15 12 12 39
1924 Paris 9 13 12 34
1928 Amsterdam 3 10 7 20
1932 Los Angeles 4 7 5 16
1936 Berlin 4 7 3 14
1948 London 3 14 6 23
1952 Helsinki 1 2 8 11
1956 Melbourne 6 7 11 24
1960 Rome 2 6 12 20
1964 Tokyo 4 12 2 18
1968 Mexico City 5 5 3 13
1972 Munich 4 5 9 18
1976 Montreal 3 5 5 13
1980 Moscow 5 7 9 21
1984 Los Angeles 5 11 21 37
1988 Seoul 5 10 9 24
1992 Barcelona 5 3 12 20
1996 Atlanta 1 8 6 15
