While other Rio medallists took part in festivities in Trafalgar Square, and later attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, four-time medallist Smith instead visited two mosques in East London to learn more about the Muslim faith. Smith apologised for the video as soon as it was made public.

The athlete has been pilloried in the British media after a video emerged of him and his friend, fellow gymnast Luke Carson, jokingly mimicking Muslim prayers while drunk at a wedding. Carson has already retired from professional competition due to an injury, but Smith may miss out on the next Olympic games, due to be held in 2020, thanks to the level of objection to the joke.

One of the mosques he visited is run by Ahmadi Muslims, a sect within the faith which rejects violence and focuses on charitable works.

Smith said: “We discussed my actions and they showed me what they learn & the true meaning behind there [sic] religion of peace. The community work they do for various charities is actually crazy and the money raised each year would blow your mind.”

Following the public release of the video over a week ago, Smith admitted that he has been inundated with death threats on his social media accounts, forcing him to go to the police.

However, he rejected the idea that his actions fall under legitimate freedom of speech, saying: “I was ignorant to people’s religion. And I apologised for offending those who follow the faith. And just because I have the right to doesn’t mean I’m happy with doing that.

“People have commented about it’s freedom of speech but I feel if I was to preach freedom of speech I wouldn’t use my video to… read more at source.