German Olympians return home
August 23, 2016
Germany's 423-strong entourage returned from the Summer Olympic Games on Tuesday, landing at Frankfurt Airport to a hero's welcome.
The German team won 17 gold medals, 10 silvers and 15 bronze, ending the Rio Games in fifth place in the medal standings. Seven of the 42 medals came in canoeing, while Germany's men's and women's football teams both finished in podium positions.
Not all athletes returned on the "winners flight" with Germany's men's football team having landed on Monday, as many of their key players returned to prepare for the Bundesliga kickoff on Friday.
"These were the Games of team sports," said Alfons Hörmann, the president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation told ARD public television after he and the athletes got off the plane.
"Therefore, approximately 40 percent of our athletes have come home with a medal. This is the highest percentage since Barcelona in 1992."