If Greater Manchester was a country, it would currently be sitting in sixth place on the Olympic leaderboard, just behind Germany and Russia and ahead of Japan and France, reports The Guardian.
Residents of the region have now won 14 gold medals, five silvers and one bronze in the Rio Games.
An independent Greater Manchester, with a population of 2.8 million, would stand just behind Russia, which has a population of 144 million and has won 17 gold medals, and Germany, which has a population of 81 million and 17 golds.
It would come ahead of Japan, which has a population of 127 million and has so far won 12 golds, and France, with its population of 66 million and nine golds.
The figure can largely be explained by the phenomenal success of Team GB’s cycling squad, many of whom live near the Manchester velodrome, which has won 11 medals.
If the medals won by Greater Manchester residents were removed from Team GB’s overall haul, the UK would fall from second to seventh place.
Theresa May announced on Saturday that Manchester would join London in hosting a parade for the UK’s Olympians in October, following calls for an official celebration to be heldoutside the capital to reflect the fact that the country’s athletes come from across the UK.
The prime minister said it would be “a celebration fit for heroes – and rightly so, because that is exactly what they are.” The deputy leader of Manchester city council, Sue Murphy, said the city had been “a medal factory”, pumping out golds as the home of British cycling and British Taekwondo.
“It’s fantastic to see the product of years of hard work and training at the centres of excellence in east Manchester,” she said.
Among Greater Manchester’s Olympians are the cyclist couple Laura Trott and Jason Kenny, who won two and three gold medals respectively, and Taekwondo star Jade Jones.