It has been claimed that Great Britain's medal haul of the 2012 Olympic Games, comprising 65 medals, 29 of which are gold, is the country's best result for 104 years. 1908 was the first time that Britain hosted the Olympics, it was only the 4th Games of the modern era, and Great Britain won 146 medals - 56 of them being golden. It continues to stand as the largest number of golds, and of medals overall, that Britain has won at a single Olympiad. But the question could easily be asked: how on Earth did that happen? And could it happen again?

Host Nation bounce

The early Olympics of the modern era were particularly prone to 'home nation bounce' - the tendency of host nations to perform abnormally well during the games.