Champions finally come down to earth

While most of the medal winners were whisked off to the airside press conference, the rest of the competitors, coaches and family members started appearing through the arrivals hall in dribs and drabs. The waiting crowd whooping loudly when anyone wearing GB kit came out, even if they didn't know who they were.

Jurgen Grobler appeared first from the rowing contingent , mainly unrecognised by the waiting media, followed shortly afterwards by Cath Bishop and Dot Blackie looking tired after the long flight.

We managed to get a quick word with Ed Coode when he came out with Greg Searle. When we asked if they were planning to continue with the pair, he replied that it was an option they were considering, however four years was a long period to commit to and it would be a while before they made their minds up.

The men's VIII, wearing their gold medals, got a big welcome from the crowd and were soon draped in Union Flags, clutching bottles of champagne. Simon Dennis summed the Sydney Olympics up as "one of the most amazing sporting spectacles ever", and commenting on their post race partying he said "It's still going on a bit - there were certainly a good 3 or 4 days just absolute madness, then it started to quiet down a bit. Now we've come back here and it's all kicked off again." Not that he seemed to be minding much.

Kieran West told us about the press interest in Sydney. "We had a few interviews out there, but once the press conference was over, we sort of disappeared silently into the night. It's the way we like it really."

We asked Luka Grubor how his ex-countrymen in the Croatian VIII had reacted to him winning the gold. "Really well. I've known them for quite a while and they were pretty pleased to get bronze. If anyone was going to take the win away from them, they preferred it to be me. They were definitely contenders, they came out of the blue this year to challenge a lot of the big VIII rowing nations. The Olympics in Australia has been all about the guy who gets it right that year, that day, who takes the risks - and all the favourites were there to be stuffed."

When the men's coxless four finally appeared, they were greeted by the expected media feeding frenzy. Tim Foster was busy talking to the press while the other three waited for him to come over for a photograph, and "Hurry up!" muttered James Cracknell impatiently. Before long they were rushing up and down the arrivals hall, grinning from ear to ear, signing autographs, being photographed and answering questions, with the biggest crowd clustered round Steve Redgrave and his family.

When asked if they had been aware of the interest and excitement that they were creating, Tim replied, "Well, we got some idea when we saw the papers. When we're involved [in racing] and we're building up, you know how much it means to you but then when we finished, we turned round and realised how much it meant to other people. The number of people who came out to support us was just great. I think there were more Brits than Aussies there when we raced and ever since then seeing the papers and what have you, has been just fantastic."

As far as their immediate plans go, Tim confirmed he was planning to "relax and enjoy it - go on holiday maybe while it all quiets down and make the most of it." As for the location of his medal on the flight back?, "It was actually wrapped up in a dirty pair of boxer shorts," he confessed. "I'll try and look after it a bit better."