The 35-year-old Ainslie became the greatest sailing Olympian of all time last week when he won the Finn class at Weymouth – his fourth consecutive Gold medal at successive Olympiads and the fifth consecutive Olympic Games he has secured a medal.

Ainslie: “It’s a really proud moment for me and for sailing to have such an involvement at the end of what’s been such an amazing Games for the whole country.

“There have been so many people involved in making these Games so special, so I think one thing you’d say on behalf of all the athletes is thanks so much to everyone involved – all the volunteers, and the whole nation for getting behind the team.

“It’s been our best-ever performance at the Olympics, and I think a lot of that comes down to having so much fantastic home support.”