Manchester may have had the parade and first day of the Rio 2016 homecoming celebrations, but London at least had the sunshine. At the Heroes Return celebration in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday, thousands gathered to celebrate Great Britain’s medal haul in the summer’s games in Rio.
Worries that the event might be under attended after the celebrations in Manchester the previous day proved unfounded, as fans, family and friends gathered to celebrate Team GB’s 67 medals, including 27 golds, and Paralympics GB 147 medals, including 64 golds.
The event – which saw athletes such as swimmer Adam Peaty, boxer Nicola Adams and paracylist Kadeena Cox among others soak up the adulation – kicked off with the bands of the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards giving a rousing rendition of Rule Britannia.
Congratulating the two teams, mayor Sadiq Khan called them “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,” he said.
Team GB’s final medal haul put them second in the table, above China for the first time since it returned to the Games in 1984. The country became the first host nation to improve on a home medal haul at the following Olympics. With 147 medals, meanwhile, Paralympics GB’s medal count was the highest since National Lottery funding was introduced for elite athletes in 1997.
The mayor said that people had thought the medal haul at London 2012 had been a one-off. “But do you know, what Team GB and Team Paralympics GB? You smashed it,” he said. “We are now a sporting superpower. Well done!”
BBC presenter Ore Oduba – who co-hosted with former Paralympic champions Chris Holmes and Tanni Grey-Thompson - led the crowd in cheers and waves of their ubiquitous foam hands every time he exhorted them: “Wave! Wave at them!”
Fans and athletes alike hoisted phones in the air, capturing the moment, as people held up banners with slogans like “What a race, Mo!”, and “Tokyo – who wants to go?”
Peaty, who got Team GB off to a flying start with the first Rio gold, thanked those who had come to join in the party. “Seeing all those GB flags, seeing all of you come out [...] it means so much to me,” he said. “That’s exactly why I do it, to make all of you proud.”
The swimmer, who broke the world record in the 100m breaststroke, added: “Hopefully we can inspire millions of kids around the world. Hopefully you can take some of that gold into your own lives.”
Para-equestrian Natasha Baker, who retained her dressage crown from London, told Grey-Thompson that she hoped to inspire others to get into Paralympic sport. “I watched you in Sydney and said I wanted to become a gold medalist one day, and now here I am with three,” she said.
Paracylist Cox, who was the flag bearer for Paralympics GB, joked: “I hope a lot of people will come into the sport – just not anyone who will beat me.”
A roar of approval went up when Oduba suggested that veteran rower Katherine Grainger, who was awarded a CBE in 2013, should be made a Dame. Grainger, who has competed in the last five Olympics, winning gold in London and silver in Rio, said that while London had been “sensational”, each Olympics “is different in its own way; whether you come back with a medal or experience, it’s always so special”.
In the crowd, eight-year-old Dylan Bowden was one of those the superheroes were hoping to inspire. “My favourite Olympians are the Brownlee brothers. They have really inspired me to get into sport – now I do swimming club, cycling club and running club,” he said. “I want to be a triathlete.”
The event closed with an explosion of red, white and blue ticker tape – giving a fright to Trafalgar Square’s famous pigeons – and the athletes left the stage for their next social event: an audience with the Queen.
