Britain's Rio Medalists Honored in 'Heroes Return'

(ATR) Great Britain's Olympic and Paralympic athletes hailed the "incredible" atmosphere as they were heralded by adoring crowds in consecutive medal parades in Manchester and London.

Athletes braved the rain in the north of the UK on Monday before being paraded in London’s Trafalgar Square in front of hundreds of spectators celebrating Great Britain’s record haul of medals from the Rio 2016 Games.

Team GB won 67 medals in Brazil, two more than they did at their home Games four years ago in London. Paralympics GB also beat their 2012 tally, coming home with 147 medals.

Sarah Storey became GB’s most successful female Paralympian this year when she won her 12th gold medal in the C5 individual pursuit, before adding to her collection with golds in the road race time trial and C4-5 road race.

The 38-year-old hailed those who had turned out to celebrate the team’s achievements but also took the time to tell Around the Ringswhy the momentum of the Paralympics had to be continued and expanded upon – especially in the United States.

"It’s absolutely fantastic," Storey told ATR. "To be able to take a parade through the streets of Manchester, it’s my home town, was just the icing on the cake of what’s been an incredible summer and obviously this afternoon we head out to Buckingham Palace and we’ve been able to see people here today in Trafalgar Square so it’s been an incredible couple of days.

"I raced on the road a few days after the velodrome but unfortunately no-one put that on television, so that’s part of the thing that we need to change. Momentum is about getting more coverage of the Paralympic Games certainly in the U.S., the coverage was better but it was still poor compared to the Olympic Games.

"So I think when we talk about momentum we need to be realistic about what we can achieve."

Double gold medal winning gymnast Max Whitlock said: "It’s brilliant, it’s amazing to see. You don’t realize how much support there is out there but there are huge fans here who are obsessed with sport and it’s unbelievable for us to see. The views that we had, you never think that would happen and you can really start to believe it when you see events like this today."

The Heroes Return parade through the streets of Manchester was attended by more than 150,000 people with many more watching the live broadcast on the BBC. The London event was a more concentrated affair, with just a stage setup in Trafalgar Square but it was attended by BOA Chairman Sebastian Coe who steps down from the role next month.

Former Olympics minister Hugh Robertson will challenge two-time Olympic field-hockey medalist Richard Leman to succeed Coe as chairman next month in the organization’s elections on Nov. 24.

Also in Trafalgar Square was London Mayor Sadiq Khan who labelled members of both teams "superheroes".

"Millions of us stayed up all night, going to work the next day sleep deprived… but with a smile on our face and a spring in our step."

The reception at Buckingham Palace for the athletes is being attended by the Queen, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry.

London gets to sample the Olympic fervor once again when it hosts the IAAF World Championships next summer.

Written by Christian Radnedgein London

Follow him on Twitter: @ChristianRad

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