Highlights Rio 2016: Parade of Heroes

Good evening and welcome back to Manchester, where we have enjoyed a

fantastic celebration of what was a wonderful summer of sport for

Paralympic GB and Team GB, and the rain here in Manchester certainly

didn't dampen the spirits. # Breeze driftin' on by,

you know how I feel Andy Murray is a double

Olympic gold medallist! Sarah Storey is Great Britain's most

successful Paralympian! Adam Peaty takes Olympic

gold for Great Britain! That is a third gold

medal for Bethany Firth! Glover and Stanning defend

their Olympic title. # Blossom on the tree,

you know how I feel # It's a new dawn, it's a new day,

it's a new life for me, yeah, COMMENTATOR: A double gold

medallist in the 100 metres. Alistair Brownlee, the Olympic

trialthon champion! Kadeena Cox, gold in the Velodrome

and gold now on the track. # Scent of the pine,

you know how I feel # Oh, freedom is mine,

and I know how I feel # Yes, it's a new dawn, it's

a new day, it's a new life for me COMMENTATOR: Laura Trott

is Britain's most successful female Max Whitlock - double

Olympic champion. Jason Kenny's got it,

a sixth gold medal! Mo Farah is going to

get the double double. It is a mixture of sunshine and

showers, almost exactly one month since the closing ceremony of the

Paralympics so it is a chance today to relive events in Rio and refresh

memories, which is worth doing bearing in mind what was achieved.

There will be youngsters watching who revel in the success and take it

for granted that in Olympic terms winning medals is normal. Go back 20

years to Atlanta, there was one gold medal at the Olympics. Steve

Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent. I can remember being part of a team that

came back, and our parade was a convertible car. Float number one

has just started moving. Libby, how does that memory fit in your own

mind? It feels like such a long time ago, so much has happened since

then. Been on holiday, been visiting family and friends so it feels like

a long time ago already. Any downside to wearing your two medals?

They keep bashing together, having two they get scratched really

easily. Never mind! Looking down on the city of Manchester and a

reminder of what was achieved. The Olympic Games, Great Britain and

Northern Ireland claimed 67 medals altogether, and ahead of China in

the table which is always a useful marker, behind only the United

States. Two more medals overall than managed at London 2012. Paralympics,

147 medals in total, 27 more than in London.

It is an absolute treat, Manchester looking resplendent. Jazz, I will

come to you first because it must seem like ages ago when you won your

first silver medals but here you are taking in the applause you deserve.

What is it like? We have had a bit of rain but that has not dampened

it. We thank the public for the support because it has been

incredible. Write until we landed we had incredible support from everyone

and it is amazing to be here today and thank everyone. Jack, I'm sure

you want to say the same message. Rio was some time ago and now you

finally get to meet the public that gave so much support. Yes, it is

nice to do it with the Olympians and Paralympians together as well. For

me personally I had no idea what the sport was like at home. To come back

and see thousands of people in the streets of Manchester, out in the

rain as well earlier. They have stuck through it, it is nice to be

here and to be able to say thank you to everybody because they are

massive part of it as well. Becky James, world champion, and a double

Olympic medallist as well. Just talk about your journey you had for the

three years building up the Rio 2016 because a lot of people won't

remember what you went through to be here on this float, enjoying the

Manchester crowd you know so well and rejoicing what was a great

summer. It was a really tough journey. The two years coming into

the Olympics was really hard, especially from 2014 I was injured.

I had a long period off. I had a really good year out from Rio, and

to be standing here with two medals aren't to be celebrating with

everybody is incredible. Anne Dickins, four years ago what were

you doing? Standing on the side of a road just like this, waving at the

athletes I had been looking after at 2012 and I was a games maker at that

very parade so it seems funny to be on a float waving back at the

people. And was competing at the Games a dream or at Fort or none of

that? I always said it would be nice to get the Rio, but to get the -- to

the final and to win a medal was more of a dream than I could ever

have hard. It is difficult to know where to look and who to mention,

there's so many to talk about, and big crowds. We are expecting upwards

of 100,000 in Albert Square, where the parade will end with an onstage

performance and greeting of the athletes.

It has been a normal year, hasn't it, Joe, and here you are in

Manchester, just normal, isn't it? Yes, just normal! It is fantastic to

see everybody supporting Team GB and the Paralympians, and the rain has

just about stopped. Could you have imagined all those months ago this

is how you would be celebrating? This is a dream, to be standing here

with this around my neck is a dream achieved. We are here living it and

it is amazing. Float number 12 has Olympic rugby, Olympic sailing,

shooting, tennis, triathlon, and Matthew Pinsent is on float number

12. Lutalo Muhammad, I'm afraid the only

question anyone will ask you for years is why didn't you run away?

There's a lot of cold of course! Losing by 0.1 with one seconds ago

was devastating but being here I cannot help but smile, I am in great

spirits and I have another opportunity in four years which I

will take with both hands. Everybody lived with you through those tearful

moments, that must have been horrendous at the time. It was

absolutely devastating, probably one of the lowest points of my life but

the sun did rise the next morning and I've got another opportunity in

four years. I'm still very blessed to be an Olympic silver medallist as

sad as it was at the time so it is all smiles. Hannah Russell, and

Bethany Firth who has come complete with poncho. Very cleverly done,

Bethany. You know all about wet weather. This is just a little bit

of something. Yes, nothing will stop us smiling. Exactly, Great Britain's

most successful Paralympian 2016, that is huge. We can see all four of

your medals, what did that feel like? It just meant that all of

those hours of training were worth it and the whole team did incredible

as well so it was great to be out there. Your housemates in Rio as

well, Hannah Russell, who didn't do too badly either, three medals in

total, two of them gold. How nice is it to celebrate with the British

public? It is fantastic, this time around to have a parade in

Manchester and London is incredible. Everyone can get together and

celebrate the success Britain has had. It might be wet but look at the

smiles on these girls' faces. The time has come, this is what we

are all here for so first onto the Albert Square stage, ladies and

gentlemen, the British Paralympic athletes!

# Gold! Always believe in your soul # You've got the power to know your

indestructible # Always believe

# Hannah, I'm going to jump in here, you can share my umbrella.

The unstoppable Hannah Cockroft. Two gold medals in London, two in Rio,

you have done some phenomenal things. How are you, looking back on

it? It means nothing until you come somewhere like this and see the

amount of people behind it. Thank you for coming out into this

terrible weather and supporting us. Another man who knows the taste of

victory, Richard Whitehead. There wasn't much question about you

bringing home the 200 metres gold but the 100 metres gold, if that

race had been 101 metres long I reckon you would have added. If it

was 101 metres maybe I would be retired now and not thinking about

moving on to Tokyo so today is a great celebration about what we did

in Rio, but without the support here in Manchester and the rest of Great

Britain, it is all about you guys really. So thank you for the

support. You are awesome. Without the volunteers, the national lottery

players, everyone in gold hats, we love you!

# I've got to kiss myself I'm so pretty...

#. Jessica, come over here. Jessica

Ennis-Hill, Manchester! The rain stopped appropriately. I know, I'm

not looking very glamorous. What was the parade like? Incredible, we

cannot thank you enough for the support you have given all these

years, and for you to turn out and cheer and wave your flags is

incredible, thank you. We know you have announced your retirement

now... I tell you what, we might have a future in panto if this

continues. How long did you think about it?

It was a tough decision, I knew in my heart it was the right decision

but it was still difficult to make it public and say it. The messages

and support I've had over the years has been incredible. I can't thank

you all enough, it's been very special. Ladies and gentlemen, the

British athletes, Jessica Ennis-Hill.

What you make of a crowd like this? Think of the weather and how long

they have stood here, what does it mean to you to get this reaction? It

means everything to me, I would like to thank everybody for coming out

today, especially in the brain. Manchester, I love you! I think it's

fair to say Manchester loves you. -- especially in the rain. Enjoy the

rest of it. Can I do something cheeky? You always do. I'm going to

go down and do some cheeky selfies! That, ladies and gentlemen, is the

last we will see of Nicola Adams for the next two and a half hours. Let's

not forget every single member of the Team GB track cycling squad came

back with a medal from Rio. So did that help you all or did it kind of

put added pressure on as the Exxon went on Exxon went on the next one

went? Went? I think it really helped. Especially day one, Callum

and Phil won. They won and broke the Olympic record on day one of the

competition. For me, that gave me so much confidence in our team, the

preparation, the equipment, everything that we'd done together.

That gave me so much confidence they had won. Day one and Phil was

running around with his medal and we were like, we want one as well. The

day we braced I remember looking up and seeing all the men's team

pursuit squad there watching us. I said, wow, they came to cheer us on.

I was so glad they done that and the next day I found out they'd been

told to be there for a BBC interview so it probably wasn't of their own

accord. But it was nice to see them all out there. Thank you so much for

talking to us, and all the team who have come out, Team GB cycling.

Dame Sarah Storey, you are the most successful female Paralympian GB has

ever produced. What does that mean to you?

It's huge. Tanni Grey Thompson is an incredible athlete, I voice looked

up to her. I don't think it will ever think in I had won more gold

medals than she has. She has been an incredible mentor to me throughout

my career and will continue to be so, she is so incredible. You've

done that crossed two sports but you've done two in the same games,

breaking a record that stood for 28 years for Great Britain. 32! 32? Who

wrote these cards? Yeah, it was fun. I went out there to achieve what I

did. We weren't sure if it was going to go as well as it did but I went

out there and performed the best I could and I'm happy with what I did.

Max Whitlock, take a bow. What you did in Rio was phenomenal. Talk us

through that day. It was a crazy day. To do it in the

space of an hour and a half was unbelievable. The support we've had

this whole journey and for you guys to be here today, even in this

weather is just incredible. We didn't realise how much support we

had until we stepped off that plane, so thank you. In terms of support...

CHEERING 10 million people were watching you.

Did you kind of comeback, were you getting stopped in the street

everywhere? The recognition has gone up a bit, but for the individuals,

for the sports profile, it's been incredible. The amount of gymnasts

I've heard doing gymnastics today is crazy. So hopefully we can keep that

continuing, that's been our mission, to inspire generations, inspire

people into sport, so we're doing quite well in it. Ladies and

gentlemen Lee Pearson was the first man into the stadium because he was

the flag bearer for ParalympicsGB. How did that one feel? I got awful

friend saying do something funny with the flag over your face. I was

like, this is the most important time of my life, I'm going to intend

to stay on the scooter and not drop the flag. You manage that and you

manage to stay was taken gold and silver. You got an individual silver

in 2012 that determine due to come back and get the this year? It did.

Just before 2012 this particular horse broke my back in four places,

but he did behave himself out in Rio and I love him to bits. The silver

medal was so important on the Wednesday, and on the Friday we

picked on and did our job and got the gold.

Please put your hands together for the Olympic hockey team! CHEERING

AND APPLAUSE I knew that was going to get a big

round of applause. You could feel every decibel of that

cheer. Doing it in style! , and have a chat. Captain Kate

Richardson-Walsh. Are you all right? Yes, I'm a little bit like a drowned

rat but I'm a Mancunian, so I'm totally fine with it! Back on home

turf? Yes, lovely to be home, thanks for having us. I've said it before

and lots of people have said it since, 9 million watched on the

Friday night. Do you feel that was the defining moment for women's

sport, team sport? I think all of the performances from

the Paralympics and the Olympians, everyone did an amazing job. For

women and young girls were just saying to them, go out and achieve

your dreams. You can do if you work hard, if you're dedicated, anything

can happen. Helen and Katherine, don't try and

hide. Step forward, step forward. Hello

ladies. Do you think it's hard for them to appreciate for you guys

training is quite lonely? You are up and out early, anti-social hours.

With that in mind, how important our days like this?

It's amazing because you almost feel quite selfish that your training

every single day for a goal that is the biggest thing you can think of,

it feels like you're the only one that cares. When you race and you

realise you might have inspired some on, you might have made some on's

date, you might have made them excited, you might have got them to

pick up a new sport you realise, it's not about me, it's about

everyone, young and old. You don't have to want to be the next big

thing, you don't have to want to be the next Olympian, but what you can

gain from sport from health and fitness and making new friends, it's

just endless. The fact that we can do our jobs and be so lucky to do

what we do for a living, and have a reception like this at the end of

the day, I think it blows all of our minds.

The strength of British rowing is phenomenal and gets better and

better. And also the style and good-looking. Look at them! Didn't

get quite a big cheer! That was just friends and family. I mean, it is.

The whole team has been so successful crossed all the sports.

And in the crowd as well! I think we know there is an expectation to

deliver big results now and we'll know that's what we're aiming for

and the intensity day to day in training comes through in those big

results. Everyone who saw the success in London and enjoyed the

big day is out after that knew what it'll be like. Everyone wanted to

have a day like this. I love these hats by the way. Do you want one?

Yes, I do. Can somebody here...? Health and safety wouldn't have been

very happy there, you could have had my eye out. There you go. CHEERING

Now I've got you a hat hopefully you won't stump me for this question,

what's next? Holiday. Good. Huge congratulations, your third

Olympic Games, how did this one compare? It was great, to come from

a home games in London, which is outstanding, and come to this one in

Rio was incredible. I'm so shocked by all the people who have come out

today and supported us. But it's fantastic, so thank you. Ellie

Robinson, I'm disappointed you've come down with your hood down after

that entrance in Rio. What was it like coming out that incredible Rio

crowd? The crowd in Rio were amazing, they knew how to get

everyone going. When you walked out for your race, it was an amazing

atmosphere to walk out and it got you going for your race. In a word,

you two are so smiley and new support each other, but what about

in the pool? Does that get wiped off and there's a more serious rivalry?

Yes, I'm very competitive. That was a quick answer! LE beat me in some

of the races are not happy about that. Hopefully that will change in

Tokyo. -- Ellie I support my team-mates all the way, the whole of

ParalympicsGB and Olympics GB. Where a great team and we're proud to be

British, so it's great. We were talking about the growth of some

other sports. Taekwondo has grown, even from when you were there in

London, 2012? I remember going to London on the would say, what sport

do you do? They didn't know what taekwondo was. Now I'm going on the

bus and everyone is screaming Jay Jones and knows me and knows the

sport, it's just unbelievable, really, the difference in a few

years. -- Jade Jones. What was the difference between competing in

London and Rio? In London I was just a young kid that went there and

bought my heart out and won. This time it was so different. I had all

that pressure going into it. I didn't think how much better it

would be until I got there. It was just light relief, more than

anything. Lutalo seems to be working the crowd differently to what's

going on on stage. The final sport is the triathlon team!

# Gold, you've got the power to know # You are indestructible

# Always believed # You are gold #.

We have our men's competitors here. Alistair and Jonny Brownlee!

CHEERING Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, we were

having a bit of the debate because we were saying, will they come or

won't they? They are not the kind of guys that

say yes, here we are, we are fabulous. What you make of this

afternoon? It's been fantastic. I would have preferred if the coaches

had carried on going along the M62 going home... At least we would have

got some sunshine then. Thanks for joining us, goodbye! He's kidding,

he's kidding. You are joking, right? Of course. The support has been

fantastic. You do spend your life travelling and embracing all over

the place, you don't quite get a grasp of how many people, hopefully

follow what you do. That's what events like these are so special,

seeing people on the side of the road cheering you on and they've

been watching the Olympics, fantastic. Let's talk of Mexico,

that photo of the two of you and you helping him went viral. CHEERING

I'm not going to get heat exhaustion tonight, I'm telling you that! It

was incredible. I went to hospital the night after the race and I woke

up and turned my phone and it crashed and you realised how viral

that video when. It's a weird situation in sport when you actually

become more well known for losing a race venue did for winning the race.

If anything came out of it, it's very good for the sport and it made

Alistair good as well. You are both very, very good for the sport and

we're very grateful you are here. Ladies and gentlemen, despite his

comments, a massive round of applause, Alistair and Jonny

Brownlee! CHEERING

Have you had a good afternoon? Brilliant. Ellie Simmonds said it

best, is she so proud to be British. It's so easy to understand when you

see a crowd like this that come out and braved the rain, they braved the

wind and go wild for our incredible GB athletes. We have to say, one

massive, big round of applause once again for Team GB and ParalympicsGB.

Good night. It has been a wonderful reminder of what was a super summer

in Rio for Team GB and for many of these athletes out here this is the

last hurrah, the last party, the hard work starts very soon, as they

go back to training ready for another cycle. But fear not, because

Tokyo is only 1376 days away. From all of us, a very good night.

Semi... ..finals. I think the flavour's perfect.

Drama. Jeopardy. I just haven't been sleeping.

Excitement. Tension. This is manic.