Article originally published 17/08/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
Team GB is on course to beat the all-time record for Olympic medals after officially reaching the best overseas Games tally with a haul of 50.
Another rash of medals on Day 11 means Britain has surpassed the Beijing tally of 47 medals - and with five days of action still to go.
Team GB is some way off the London 2012 tally of 65 medals - but is ahead of where it was four years ago. After Day 11 in the home Games, the country’s total was 48.
The medals table top five in Rio makes for satisfying reading.
50-up - and more importantly for the standings, 19 golds - puts Britain ahead of China despite having a fraction of the population.
In fact, if all the swimming medals were subtracted, Britain would boast more gold than the mighty US - and top the medals table.
Day 11 saw Laura Trott win gold, sailor Giles Scott take gold, cyclists Rebecca James and Katy Marchant take silver and bronze in the women’s sprint, and gymnasts Amy Tinkler and Nile Wilson win bronze.
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.
Later, diver Jack Laugher added silver in the 3m individual springboard to the gold he won with Chris Mears in the synchronised event, bringing up Team GB’s half century.
The target for the entire Rio games was 48.
Liz Nicholl, chief executive officer of UK Sport, which has invested around £274million into Olympic sports over the past four years, said:
“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.”