Rio Paralympics 2016: Ellie Simmonds believes team spirit was key to golds
Gold medallist Ellie Simmonds believes the closeness of the ParalympicsGB squad played a huge part in the team's success in Rio.
ParalympicsGB athletes landed back in the United Kingdom on Tuesday where they were greeted by large crowds of friends, family and fans after their most successful Games since 1988.
The team returned from Brazil with 147 medals overall, made up of 64 golds, 39 silvers and 44 bronze, and swimmer Simmonds was quick to highlight the "unbelievable" team spirit among the squad in the athletes' village.
She said: "It was incredible, we got on so well in ParalympicsGB and it is so nice to be able to support them.
"We don't usually get to be with other sports like athletics but it was nice to chat and socialise and celebrate the achievements of the group.
"The team spirit we had in the group was just unbelievable."
Simmonds claimed her fifth Olympic gold medal after winning the 200m medley in Rio, after picking up two at Beijing 2008 and two more in London.
She also set a new world record in her latest triumph, going under three minutes in the event for the first time after touching in a time of two minutes 59.81 seconds.
Speaking about the achievement, the 21-year-old from Aldridge said: "I was so shocked. I had the belief that I could do it but you never know on the day what the conditions are going to be like.
"I was so happy to have broken that three-minute barrier and be the first to that."
