Team GB set record overseas medal target of 48 for Rio 2016

Great Britain have been set a target of 48 medals for Rio 2016, which would represent the most successful overseas Olympics ever for the nation should it be reached.

UK Sport claims that a return of between 47 and 79 medals in Brazil will prove good value for the £350m of public money invested into elite sport since the last Games on home soil.

Team GB finished London 2012 with 65 medals, a big improvement on the previous best of 47 gained four years previously in Beijing, but the intended tally for this year has again increased on previous events.

A target of at least 121 Paralympic medals has been set by UK Sport, meanwhile, surpassing the figure achieved in London when 120 medals were claimed - 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze.

No host country has ever previously improved on its medal tally at the next summer Games.