At the London 2012 Olympics, the Great Britain cycling team won eight of the 18 gold medals available; no other nation won more than one. Although some aspects of their success have since attracted controversy, they are credited with popularising the idea of marginal gains - minor enhancements which individually contributed small performance improvements, but which had a considerable effect when combined. The press at the time reported cyclists taking their own pillows to events so they would sleep well, and being trained in hand-washing to avoid catching colds.
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