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Great
Britain have surpassed the tally of 47 medals won in Beijing in 2008.
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Rio 2016 is officially
Great Britain's best overseas Olympics after they surpassed the Beijing tally
of 47 medals with five days of action still to go.
Press
Association report continues:
Boxer
Josh Buatsi's defeat in his light-heavyweight semi-final officially earned him
a bronze medal, Britain's 48th of the Games.
Moments
after Buatsi's medal was confirmed, cyclist Jason Kenny triumphed in the men's
Keirin to take Team GB's tally of gold medals to 19 in Rio - the same amount
won in Beijing.
There
is still a lot of work to do to equal the London 2012 tally of 65 medals, 29 of
which were gold, but plenty of chances remain.
One
of those chances duly delivered another medal when diver Jack Laugher added
silver in the 3m individual springboard to the gold he won with Chris Mears in
the synchronized event, bringing up Team GB's half century.
UK
Sport has invested around £274million into Olympic sports over the past four
years and its chair Rod Carr said: " Our National Lottery and Government-backed
athletes have worked so hard for many years to compete here in Rio, and to
collectively achieve a historic best ever away Games medal haul with five days
still to go is a fitting accolade for this special team.
"Our
vision is to inspire the nation through Olympic and Paralympic success and Team
GB is doing that, not just through their performances but through their
incredible stories of commitment, team work and determination that have seen
them reach the pinnacle of their sports, showing how ordinary people can
achieve exceptional things."
Liz
Nicholl, chief executive officer of UK Sport, added: "Our high performance
system is the envy of the world and continues to go from strength to strength.
"This
milestone of reaching a record away games is a historic achievement and we are
confident the outstanding medal success of Rio 2016 will continue over the
coming days.
"The
British Olympic Association has done and is doing a truly world-class job of
supporting our athletes at the preparation camp in Belo Horizonte and here in
Rio, leaving nothing to chance, to ensure they are the best supported team at
this Games bar none."
Minister
for Sport Tracey Crouch said: "The performance of Team GB at Rio 2016 has
been phenomenal. Surpassing the medal target with days of competition left is
an incredible achievement and I congratulate the whole team, including the
athletes, coaches, physios and all the support staff, on already making this
our best ever performance at an away Games."
British
Olympic Association chief executive officer Bill Sweeney said: "We said we
believed this to be our most talented Team GB squad and everything we have seen
to-date has proven that to be true. We have incredible faith in the athletes
and our sports and with a number of them still to compete we are hopeful of
creating yet more history and new heroes and heroines."
Team
GB's Rio 2016 chef de mission Mark England said: "What this team has
delivered so far at Rio 2016 is an incredible achievement and the country
should be extremely proud of the athletes and their support staff.
"The best ever away Games is a piece of history and I'm delighted that we've been able to reach that target so on early on at Rio 2016. With five days still to go, and a number of sports yet to even start competing, no doubt we can look forward to more success to come from Team GB."
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