By Simon Stone, PA Chief Sports Reporter

Super-heavyweight boxing champion Audley Harrison pledged to forget the riches and enjoy the moment as he led the victorious British Olympic team through Heathrow Airport on Tuesday morning.

Over 300 Olympians touched down at 6am to receive a rapturous welcome from friends, family and supporters who had gathered to acclaim a 17-day performance which has been hailed as the best in living memory.

The haul of 11 gold medals was the most won by British athletes since the Antwerp Games of 1920.

Harrison was the last man to win gold before the team embarked on their 23-hour journey back from Sydney but he will be the first in the queue when the cheques are being handed out as he pursues a professional career.

Estimates of the 28-year-old's earning power have been placed at upwards of £60million.

When told of the figure on Monday morning, the majority of his British team-mates quickly put in a request for a beer.

But Harrison refused to be deflected from his desire to toast the whole squad.

"As far as I am concerned, I am still an amateur and still part of the Olympic movement," said Harrison.

"I know that there is lots of potential for me to earn lots of money.

"But this has not been about money for me. It is about achieving my goals.

"Before this team set off, maybe people back home weren't expecting too much.

"But Jason Queally winning the first gold medal in the cycling gave everyone a boost and the medals kept coming.

"As a nation, Britain is great again and I am proud to be a part of it."

Harrison has been approached by most of the top promoters about a professional career, with British world champion and another former Olympic gold medallist Lennox Lewis asking him to join his own fledgling stable.

However, it is more likely that Harrison will initially at least retain a degree of independence over his professional career and elect not to be tied down to one promoter.

"I want to cherish this moment and I will sit down and think about turning professional another time," he said.

"Lennox is the man at the top and I have a long way to go before I reach that level.

"But he has achieved his goals now and hopefully by the time I get there, both he and Evander Holyfield will have retired. It's time for the new breed."

The enthusiastic reception waiting for the squad on their arrival was in stark contrast to the lukewarm atmosphere which greeted the squad when they returned from Atlanta four years ago.

On that dismal occasion, rowing duo Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent were the only athletes to wear gold round the necks.

The pair were also celebrating this time - Redgrave for an unprecedented fifth time - although he refused to be drawn into speculation about his future.

"I have a race in 10 days' time and we will see how it goes from there," said the greatest Olympian of the modern era.

"I am proud to be part of this team but we have to carry on moving forward.

"Each sport has to analyse what happened and how to make themselves stronger. We can still improve on this performance. No doubt about it."

Javelin silver medallist Steve Backley was another member of the squad who faced the media four years ago, clutching the same silver medal he wore on Monday - again as runner-up to Jan Zelezny - but facing vastly different questions.

"That was probably the most disappointed I have ever been as an athlete," said Backley, as he recalled returning from Atlanta.

"In some ways I do not know how to deal with the fact that I am sat here having won silver again in a situation which is so different from the one I experienced before.

"On a personal level, I am still very motivated and injury permitting, I will be in Athens to try again in four years' time."

While a large percentage of Britain's medallists will take time out before resuming their professional sporting careers, for Stephanie Cook, the choice is slightly more stark.

As a modern pentathlete, the gold medallist is hardly the most recognisable face of British sport but she must now decide whether to devote more time to practice or whether to shelve her athletic achievements and concentrate on her medical degree.

She has spoken in the past of her desire to work in the Third World but as she faced the biggest media scrum of her life, hard decisions seemed difficult to make.

"What I have achieved is only just starting to sink in," she said.

"Medicine has been my career and what I have done in Sydney doesn't change what is in my heart.

"I appreciate my life will probably never be the same again but visiting the Third World is still one of my goals."

Three-day eventer Pippa Funnell also admitted she had calmed down following her initial bout of frustration after the show-jumping phase of the team event.

Funnell believed she had a chance of clinching gold on her horse Supreme Rock but was eventually forced to settle for silver. However, she now acknowledges that second best can sometimes be an achievement to be proud of.

"It was unfortunate the way my reaction came across because my first feeling was one of disappointment.

"I did think we could have won gold but that just gives us something to aim for in the future."

Kelly Holmes, who took bronze in the 800 metres, said: "I am really pleased. The team has just been excellent for me. It has been a really hard struggle for me.

"It was my gold medal run because of what I have been through. I am just so happy."

British Olympic Association chef-de-mission Simon Clegg acclaimed the entire squad who have done so much to brighten the image of sport in this country.

However, he reinforced Redgrave's belief that complacency should not be allowed to set in.

"We finished 10th in the medal table and that is a significant achievement," he said. "We are now well on the road to being a dominant force in world sport once more.

"Jason Queally's gold medal created a momentum we were able to sustain throughout the whole event.

"In 17 days, there were only two where we failed to win a medal. But we must not be complacent. Further improvement is necessary if we are going to perform consistently at this level and there is much work to be done.

"However, that can start next week. Now is the time to celebrate the outstanding achievements of team Great Britain."

Outside the airport Steve Redgrave's wife Elizabeth-Ann presented him with the keys to a brand new silver Jaguar XJR car worth £51,000. The present was given by her to celebrate his record-breaking fifth gold.

On the flight back from Sydney, BA upgraded all the medallists to business class while all the other Olympic competitors were given free champagne.