BMX rider Kieran Reilly was one of twelve British gold medallists at the European Games©Getty Images

British Chef de Mission Paul Ford has hailed his team's performances in Kraków-Małopolska as "our most successful European Games yet, with results that speak for themselves."

Britain won 12 gold, 10 silver and 27 bronze eclipsing their previous best at the inaugural European Games held in Baku eight years ago when they won 47 medals, including 18 golds.

"Since our very first plans for Kraków began to form, we wanted to put the very best plans in place to help athletes achieve their best possible performances on the field of play and to create a culture in which every member of our delegation could come away with a positive experience of the Games," he explained.

"Our athletes delivered exactly as we had prepared for, they thrived on the field of play, executing performance plans to the letter and bringing home results that speak for themselves."

Eighty-four British competitors won medals in 13 sports and 20 secured quota places in six sports, more than any other competing nation.

"These achievements put the team in fantastic shape ahead of next year," Ford continued.

Eden Cheng’s victory with her final dive in the women’s 10 metres platform diving had earlier started the rush for quota places.

Amy Rollinson and Desharne Bent-Ashmeil also won diving gold in the three metres women's synchro.

The British women's rugby sevens side secured their Olympic place with a convincing 33-0 victory over host nation Poland in the final.

World and Olympic modern pentathlon champion Joe Choong claimed another quota place despite missing out on gold in the men’s individual competition.

Birmingham 2022 super-heavyweight boxing champion Delicious Orie seems set for Paris after emulating that performance to win gold and another quota spot.

"Our overall focus was geared towards the future, and with Paris 2024 coming ever closer, we wanted to support every sport on their path to qualifying for and preparing for the Olympic Games," Ford added.

Elsewhere, he highlighted the individual performances by 18-year-old archer Penny Healey who won gold in individual and team events to make sure of another quota place.

A scorching run by Kieran Reilly to win BMX freestyle park gold was also a highlight.

Ranjuo Tomblin, Britain’s first male artistic swimmer, won two bronze medals with duet partner Beatrice Crass.

"We saw the entire delegation embrace our values of pride, unity, respect and responsibility, and the positive impact this had on our performance environment was clear for all to see," Ford added.