Village shows off its pride for Olympian Louis

And it did not take long for gymnast Louis to realise the amount of support there was for him following his exploits in Rio, with a banner in the village where he lives proclaiming: “Congratulations Louis. Helpston is proud of you!”

There was also time for a picture with Dorothy Astle who was visiting Helpston when she bumped into its famous resident.

She said: “I’ve always admired Louis Smith and his incredible efforts putting UK gymnastics on the map. It was great to meet such a charming man and personally congratulate him on that success.”

Windsurfer Nick, who attended Orton Longueville School, also appeared to be relaxed back on British soil.

He posted a photo on Twitter showing scores of identical red bags on the ground at Heathrow with the message: “Mine’s the red one!!”.

Louis, who grew up in Eye, could also not resist a Twitter picture.

Having touched down on the gold-nosed British Airways Boeing 747, which had “victoRIOus” emblazoned on the side, he tweeted a photo of himself with the message: “Homeeeeeee #greattobeBAck @British_Airways thank you for such an amazing flight back safe and sound.”

Louis won silver on the pommel horse - his fourth Olympics medal - while Nick is now the most decorated men’s Olympic windsurfer with his silver in the Olympic RS:X.