Article originally published 13/08/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
This is the moment Sir Bradley Wiggins stuck has tongue out just after being confirmed as Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian.
Sir Bradley had just been presented his fifth gold medal - his eighth medal of any colour since 2000 - after a thrilling track cycling men’s team pursuit victory over Australia.
And while the strains of ‘God Save The Queen’ is usually a moment for quiet reflection, the Knight of the Realm opted instead for levity.
Team-mates Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull seemed to enjoy the comic relief, which has already drawn comparisons to Britain’s Daley Thompson whistling the anthem when the decathlete bagged gold in LA in 1984.
Tabloid newspapers are likely to whip up a similar furore to 32 years’ ago.
Wiggins has a reputation as a prankster. When he won the Tour de France in Paris four years ago he began his victory address by joking he was about to “draw the raffle numbers”.
Today’s jape followed a stunning victory in the velodrome, where Team GB surged to win gold in a world record of 3mins 50.265secs despite trailing for much of the race.
Wiggins’ Olympic medal haul is one more than fellow cyclist Sir Chris Hoy’s seven and rower Sir Steve Redgrave’s six.
After the victory, the three greats were brought together.
