Great Britain, or in full Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), the previous host of the 2012 Olympics at London, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016 and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Greece, and Switzerland, though Great Britain is the only country to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. The team represented the United Kingdom, the three Crown Dependencies, and the thirteen British Overseas Territories, ten of whom sent representatives.
These Games were the most successful for Great Britain since 1908, winning a total of 67 medals, which exceeded its London 2012 tally of 65 medals, therefore becoming the first nation to surpass its medal total at the Olympics immediately following one that it hosted. Great Britain also became one of only two nations (the other being Azerbaijan) ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive Games. Overall, Great Britain finished second in gold medals behind the United States and third in total medals after the United States and China. The country won gold medals in more sports than any other nation at the Games and topped the medal tables in cycling, sailing, triathlon, golf, and rowing. Great Britain also secured its first-ever golds in golf, diving, and gymnastics, and successfully defended 18 of the gold medals it had won in London.
In cycling, male, cyclist Jason Kenny won three gold medals, placing him alongside Sir Chris Hoy as the joint-most successful British Olympian. Sir Bradley Wiggins won his fifth gold and eighth overall medal, making him the most decorated British Olympian. Laura Trott won two gold medals to become Britain's most successful female Olympian with a total of four golds; dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin's gold medal had briefly placed her in first. Katherine Grainger's fifth consecutive medal, a silver, made her Britain's joint most decorated female Olympian, and made her one of only five British Olympians to win medals in five consecutive Games. Trott, Dujardin, taekwondo-ka Jade Jones and boxer Nicola Adams became the first British female Olympians ever to successfully defend individual Olympic titles.
Gymnast Max Whitlock won Britain's first ever gold medals in gymnastics, in men's floor and pommel horse, and four golds were claimed in rowing. Alistair Brownlee became the first triathlete to successfully defend an Olympic title. In athletics, in both the men's 5,000 and 10,000 metres, Mo Farah successfully defended his Olympic titles to become Britain's most successful ever athlete in the discipline. Christine Ohorougu became the second British track and field athlete to win medals in three successive Games.
In swimming, Adam Peaty won gold in the 100 metres breaststroke, the first British male swimmer to win gold since 1988. Jack Laugher and Chris Mears became Britain's first Olympic diving champions. Giles Scott won his fifth consecutive gold medal in the Finn sailing class, while Nick Dempsey became the most decorated windsurfer in Olympic history with his third medal, a silver. In the first Olympic men's golf tournament for 100 years, Justin Rose claimed the gold medal. In the women's field hockey, Great Britain won the country's first gold medal in a team sport at a Summer Olympics for 28 years.
Medallists
| style="text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;"| Medal Name Sport Event Date Swimming Men's 100 m breaststroke Canoeing Men's K-1 Diving Men's 3 m synchronized springboard Cycling Men's team sprint Rowing Women's coxless pair Rowing Men's coxless four Cycling Men's team pursuit RowingMen's eight Cycling Women's team pursuit Athletics Men's 10,000 m GymnasticsMen's floor GolfMen's individual GymnasticsMen's pommel horse Cycling Men's sprint Tennis Men's singles Equestrian Individual dressage Sailing Finn Cycling Women's omnium Cycling Men's keirin Triathlon Men's triathlon Sailing Women's 470 Taekwondo Women's 57 kg Equestrian Individual jumping Great Britain women's field hockey team Field hockeyWomen's tournament Canoeing Men's K-1 200 m Boxing Women's flyweight Athletics Men's 5000 m SwimmingWomen's 400 m freestyle SwimmingWomen's 200 m individual medley * SwimmingMen's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay RowingWomen's double sculls David FlorenceRichard Hounslow Canoeing Men's C-2 Great Britain national rugby sevens team Rugby sevensMen's tournament Equestrian Team dressage GymnasticsWomen's trampoline SwimmingWomen's 800 m freestyle RowingWomen's eight Cycling Women's keirin Swimming Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay Athletics Women's heptathlon Sailing Men's RS:X GymnasticsMen's pommel horse Cycling Men's sprint Cycling Men's omnium Cycling Women's sprint Diving Men's 3 m springboard Canoeing Men's K-2 200 m Triathlon Men's triathlon Taekwondo Men's 80 kg Boxing Men's super heavyweight Shooting Men's trap Diving Men's 10 m synchronized platform Cycling Men's road time trial Shooting Men's double trap Judo Women's 70 kg Gymnastics Men's all-around Athletics Men's long jump Athletics Women's hammer throw Gymnastics Women's floor Gymnastics Men's horizontal bar Cycling Women's sprint Boxing Men's light heavyweight Badminton Men's doubles Athletics Women's 4 × 100 m relay Triathlon Women's triathlon Taekwondo Women's +67 kg * Athletics Women's 4 × 400 m relay
| style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"| Medals by sportSport TotalCycling64212Rowing3205Gymnastics2237Canoeing2204Athletics2147Equestrian2103Sailing2103Swimming1506Boxing1113Diving1113Taekwondo1113Triathlon1113Field hockey1001Golf1001Tennis1001Rugby sevens0101Shooting0022Badminton0011Judo0011Total27231767 Medals by dateDayDate Total16 Aug000027 Aug110238 Aug002249 Aug0202510 Aug2046611 Aug1304712 Aug3306813 Aug3418914 Aug53081015 Aug11131116 Aug32491217 Aug00001318 Aug32161419 Aug21141520 Aug30361621 Aug0101Total27231767
* – Indicates the athlete competed in preliminaries but not the final
Multiple medallists The following Team GB competitors won several medals at the 2016 Olympic Games. Name Medal Sport Event Cycling Men's team sprintMen's sprintMen's keirin Gymnastics Men's floorMen's pommel horseMen's all around Athletics Men's 10,000 metresMen's 5,000 metres Cycling Women's team pursuitWomen's omnium Equestrian Individual dressageTeam dressage Canoeing Men's K-1 200 metresMen's K-2 200 metres Diving Men's synchronized 3 m springboardMen's 3 m springboard Swimming Men's 100 m breaststrokeMen's 4 × 100 m medley relay Cycling Men's team sprintMen's sprint Swimming Women's 400 m freestyleWomen's 800 m freestyle Swimming Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relayMen's 4 × 100 m medley relay Cycling Women's keirinWomen's sprint Swimming Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relayMen's 4 × 100 m medley relay
Administration On 29 April 2014, the British Olympic Association announced the appointment of Mark England as Chef-de-Mission to the British Olympic team at Rio 2016.
Medal and performance targets UK Sport targeted 47 medals for Rio, the highest target ever for an away Olympics, following the success of the 2012 Games in London. The GB squad surpassed this target on 17 August
Key Target missed Target met Target exceeded
Sport Medals target set Medals or resultTarget missed, met, or exceededArchery 0 0Athletics 7–9 7Badminton 0–1 1Boxing 3–5 3Canoeing 3–5 4Cycling 8–10 12 Diving 1–2 3 Equestrian 2–4 3 Fencing 0–1 0Field hockey 1–2 1Golf 1–2 1Gymnastics 3–5 7Judo 0–1 1Modern pentathlon 1–2 0Rowing 6–8 5Rugby sevens 0–1 1Sailing 3–6 3Shooting 1–2 2Swimming 3–5 6 Synchronised swimming 0 0Table tennis 0 0Taekwondo 1–3 3Tennis 1–2 1Triathlon 2–3 3Weightlifting 0 0Total 47-79 67
Funding As with previous games, UK Sport was the body responsible for allocating elite funding for Olympic sports. In December 2012, a record £347 million of funding for Olympic and Paralympic athletes was announced with the aim of becoming the first nation in recent history to win more medals at the Games following being the host nation.
Four sports, basketball, synchronised swimming, water polo, and weightlifting, initially had all their funding withdrawn, while swimming and badminton had their funding cut. Following an appeal process weightlifting had its funding restored.
The Sport and Recreation Alliance, an umbrella body that represents national sports organisations in Britain, raised concerns about how the Scottish independence referendum, which took place on 18 September 2014, would affect sport funding and recognition issues for Scottish athletes who aim to compete at the Olympic Games.
Competitors Nick Skelton, the show jumper, participated at his seventh Olympic Games, a record for a British competitor. He celebrated this achievement by becoming the first British rider to win an individual gold medal in jumping.
The team included seven sets of siblings: Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (Triathlon), Peter and Richard Chambers (Rowing), Ellie and Rebecca Downie (Gymnastics), Callum and Derek Hawkins (Athletics), Andy and Jamie Murray (Tennis), Cindy Ofili and Tiffany Porter (Athletics), and John and Michael Whitaker (Equestrian). There were also two married couples: Chris and Gabby Adcock (Badminton) and Helen and Kate Richardson-Walsh (Hockey). Mark Gleghorne (Hockey) competed for Great Britain while his brother Paul competed for Ireland in the same sport.
| style="text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;"| The following is a list of the number of competitors participating in the Games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes:
SportMenWomenTotalArchery 1 1 2Athletics 41 39 80Badminton 4 4 8Boxing 10 2 12Canoeing 5 7 12Cycling 16 10 26Diving 5 6 11Equestrian 7 5 12Fencing 3 0 3Field hockey 16 16 32Golf 2 2 4Gymnastics 6 7 13Judo 3 4 7Modern pentathlon 2 2 4Rowing 28 15 43Rugby sevens 12 12 24Sailing 8 7 15Shooting 3 3 6Swimming 16 12 28Synchronized swimming — 2 2Table tennis 3 0 3Taekwondo 2 2 4Tennis 5 2 7Triathlon 3 3 6Weightlifting 1 1 2 Total 202 164 366
Archery
One British archer qualified for the men's individual recurve at the Olympics by securing one of three available Olympic spots at the 2016 European Championships in Nottingham. Meanwhile, another British archer was added to the squad by virtue of a top six national finish in the women's individual recurve at the 2016 Archery World Cup meet in Antalya, Turkey.
AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankPatrick HustonMen's individual65638W 6–4L 0–6did not advanceNaomi FolkardWomen's individual63923W 6–5W 6–0 W 6–2L 1–7did not advance
Athletics
Great Britain secured a place in all relay events with the exception of the men's 4 × 100 m relay based on the team's performance at the 2015 IAAF World Relays, before securing a place in the final relay in July 2016 by their position in world rankings. British athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): The team nominated its athletes with an entry standard for the individual events based on the results at the British Championships, scheduled to take place in Birmingham between 24 and 26 June 2016.
On 24 April 2016, the top two finishers in both the men's and women's 2016 London Marathon won automatic places for Team GB at the Olympics. Two days later, British Athletics confirmed four athletes, and added Derek Hawkins, brother of Callum to the men's marathon, and race walker Dominic King to the walk.