Live Rio 2016: Parade of Heroes

Good afternoon and welcome to Manchester - the home of today's

In just a few minutes' time, Team GB and Paralympics GB

will make their way from the Museum of Science and Industry,

through the city centre, finishing here with a climactic stage

event in Albert Square, which also happens to be our

The crowds are gathering here in the Square,

all hoping to grab a glimpse of their sporting hero,

400 of whom will be arriving on that stage in about an hour's time.

It is going to be a fantastic afternoon, people coming out on the

streets to show their appreciation for a tremendous summer of sport.

Team GB set the ball rolling with their own Olympic record,

winning 67 medals - two more than London 2012

with an astonishing 147 medals, and 64 golds.

# 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.

Incredible memories, and we'll be reliving all those

amazing moments over the next couple of hours.

I've been joined by a few sporting heroes of my own.

Captain of the London 2012 Wheelchair Rugby team, Steve Brown,

Britain's most successful Olympic swimmer this century,

Rebecca Adlington, and six-time Olympic champion, Sir Chris Hoy.

What a fantastic line-up to get this whole thing going. I'm going to ask

you to dip into your own Rio memories. Steve, what would be a

highlight if you could condense it in the one thing? For me you have

the track and field, every single area of the games was great. All of

the worries about whether there would be crowds and whether they

would be interested. On day one, I opened my blinds and watched

thousands of people going in through the park gates, and watching how Rio

got behind the games was the highlight for me. The noise was

exceptional. After the London Paralympics, many thought we

wouldn't see anything like that again, but Rio showed the

Paralympics has moved to be a -- an incredible event in sport. People

were watching sport for sport's sake when they were watching the

Paralympics. They came along and loved the sport they saw. Rebecca,

do you have one moment that for you and I to the whole of Rio or is it

difficult to condense it down? It is so difficult, highlights across the

board, but obviously in the pool what Adam Peaty did was incredible.

The swimming was amazing because it was like being in a football

stadium. They didn't get the swimming etiquette that you have to

be quiet when the starting gun goes, there was singing and chanting,

which was great because you don't get that normally. To see the

British team, from a swimming point of view we had the best Olympics we

have have had. All of the stadiums have their own personality, and

athletics the same thing applied, they didn't get the etiquette of not

knowing people. In the velodrome was at the unique atmosphere? It almost

felt like a home event like we were back in Manchester or London. I was

impressed with the way the team performed. My highlight would have

to be Jason Kenny, under extreme pressure with the drama of the false

start, amazing, but also the way the whole team backed up after London to

come back from a home Olympics to do so well. Mr and Mrs Kenny we believe

are somewhere in a camper van on their honeymoon! So we won't be

seeing them today but we wish them the very best. We will have to wait

no longer because the parade is about to start. I do believe the sun

has even come out. The skies have turned blue once more.

Guiding us through proceedings in the commentary box is Andrew Cotter.

It is almost exactly a month since the closing ceremony, 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 perhaps take it for granted that

in Olympics terms, winning gold medals is normal. Go back 20 years

to Atlanta, there was one gold medal at the Olympics, Steve Redgrave, and

Matthew Pinsent, who is with us today. What an improvement over 20

years, and that is what we are celebrating today. Marty will be on

float number one, just to let you know what will be happening. A few

showers coming down. The floats have Paralympic athletes and Olympic

athletes, they will be winding their way through the city ending in

Albert Square. On float number one is Sir Matthew Pinsent. Andrew,

thank you. I can remember being part of an Olympic team, and we had a

convertible car so how things have changed. I'm going to talk to one of

our multiple gold medallists from Rio, Libby Clegg, in a second, but

let's remind you of her amazing performances in Rio.

COMMENTATOR: Clegg and Clarke complete the double.

The Paralympic record falls and for Libby Clegg that is a second

Everyone has seen new running, how does that memory fit in your own

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

I've been on holiday, I've been visiting family and friends so it

feels like a long time ago now already. You had a fairly upset and

the mulch was run into the games, you changed your guide, how was

that? It was a difficult decision but obviously with my success in Rio

it was definitely the right decision. Working with Chris is

amazing, he's such a fantastic person and obviously a great athlete

to come with. And he is not here today, any messages for him today

about the parade? I will tell him he's missing out because it is

amazing but I think is going to London tomorrow for the parade there

so I wish him all the best. I haven't spoken to him for a couple

of weeks because I'd been on holiday. Any downside to wearing

your two gold medals? They keep bashing and they get scratched

really easily, never mind. Congratulations once again! Back to

you, Guppy. -- Gabby. Chris is still with me and we're

joined by 2012 Bronze medallist We'll be hearing from them

throughout the afternoon. Does it stir memories from your own

Olympics in 2012? Yes, seeing people paraded around London, people had

banners and there were schoolchildren there. My neighbours

literally picked their kids up from school and went to London to be a

part of it. People here are so excited to celebrate that success.

Someone is doing a roaring trade in gold bowler hats as well! They look

very impressive indeed, making their way home from school it would seem,

to make sure they take in the atmosphere here. It is

a great idea to have this parade in Manchester and take the Olympic road

jokes and Paralympic road show to the whole of the nation. Most

definitely, the atmosphere is fantastic. It is great to see

everybody celebrating. Celebrating the performances of our athletes.

You know they are all supporting when we were competing under the is

great to see. What is interesting, when you are away from home, you

kind of don't know what is going on, you have no idea. Are people buying

into this, are they supporting it? Exactly, and that's a great chance

for the athletes to support the public as well. The whole nation was

willing them on to win the medals. Absolutely and they have a chance to

see their heroes up close. Andrew Cotter can tell us how things

are going down there at the start. That is a nice rainbow over

Manchester. It seems it is such a distance from Rio, but Manchester is

certainly giving everything to this parade. A golden tram has been

wheeled out onto the tracks in the city to mark the success of Great

Britain. It is 91, the combine the number of medals won by this

country. The floats, 14 of them, will go through. We have the

Paralympic athletics go first, then Olympics, and it alternates. There's

the Olympic athletes, and Jessica Ennis-Hill, recently retired, she

won a silver medal in Rio. She certainly wanted a gold medal but

what a career she has had. Twice world champion and gold medallist in

2012 in London and here is one of the stars. But so many stars and

medals on display. Rebecca Adlington and Steve Brown alongside me.

Rebecca, looking back to you in 2008 in Beijing, that was the first real

parade when you came back from that one and this seems commonplace now,

it just shows the success Britain has in the Olympics and Paralympics.

Definitely. Obviously the London parade was something else, it was

incredible, but it was great to have won after Beijing as well. Everyone

was building up to the London Games. It was an amazing thing and it is

great they are having two parades, but rightly so up here in Manchester

to spread it out. The drummers are back, from the London 2012 opening

ceremony. Using buckets came about as a financial necessity because the

cost of finding drums was going to break the bank for London 2012 so

they are here, adding their colour and noise. Sounds like samba from

Rio is brought to Manchester today and they are getting ready to lead

out some of the floats. It goes from the side the Museum of Science and

Industry, through Deansgate, then looks around and comes back to

Albert Square. A couple of golden cars to lead them out as well. A

reminder of what was achieved at the Olympic Games, Great Britain and

Northern Ireland claimed 67 medals overall. 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, and that was

the first time in which a country who had hosted the Games immediately

before had gone on to win more medals the next time. In Rio, there

was such great success, and at the Paralympics as well. 147 medals in

total at the Paralympics, 27 more done in London. Sometimes we take

that success for granted, Steve, but there's a lot of funding and hard

work goes into it. The jump from home games and

surpassing that in a games abroad four years later is something new.

Teams don't do that, countries to go from home games to playing away and

have more success than they did at home. Especially when you look at

the funding, the homes of all, playing in front of a home crowd, to

take that same energy and do it away four years later is something that's

new and exciting to see. As you mentioned when you are in the studio

a few months ago, the key thing for you was there were such scare

stories and doom mongering ahead of Olympics and Paralympics, that the

funding was pulled out and the crowds went going to be great, but

it turned out brilliant. I was talking to people in Brazil, in Rio,

and asking them when they booked their tickets, when they got

involved. They tried to explain to me that the rest of the world didn't

understand how last-minute Rio do things, and that's right down to the

ticket bookings are getting themselves part of the Paralympics.

They wanted to be there. They wanted to be part of it but they didn't get

their tickets until the last minute. Richard Whitehead at the back there,

the first float on its way. Richard Whitehead, who defended his 200

metres title in Rio in the teeth 42 class. -- T42 class. Libby Clegg we

have heard from already, won gold in the 100 and 200. And Hannah

Cockcroft, who always seems to win, and we shouldn't take that for

granted, she took three gold medals in her sport in Rio to go with her

two she won in London. Yes. You can see the medals round their necks,

the smiles on their faces, they are proud of what they have achieved in

the country is there for them. Kelly and Jasmin peering over the side of

the float. Kelly Massey took the bronze in the 4x100. The first two

throats of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. I think they are moving at

45 second intervals. It will be smiles all round. So much metalware

around their necks. We are looking at the swimming coming shortly,

Rebecca. It took awhile for the success to get going and once it

came in Rio, there was great success again for Great Britain. Yes, the

swimmers did absolutely fantastic, the best Olympics we have ever had.

It was amazing. Adam Peaty it's got the first gold medal, breaking the

world record, and I've been created this belief for the rest of the

team. I think swimming, we are not one of the best countries,

especially when you have America and Michael Phelps and everyone. It is

great with the swimmers that they thought, hold on, Adam is just a boy

from Uttoxeter who loves what he does, he doesn't train in a special

facility or anything like that. It installed a lot of belief in the

team and it was great the medals then kept flowing. We only had one

or two nights where there was no medals at all, which was a nice

change, especially in the swimming world! There we are, lots of selfies

and videos being taken on phones as the floats move from Liverpool Road.

We will bring you more details of who is where and each float as and

when they going down Deansgate. Great to see the crowds coming out.

We have had some rain. The sun is coming out. There is a new order

tribute band. It interesting to hear what Rebecca were saying about how

the belief spreads through a team. I read a wonderful quote from Nile

Wilson the other day saying the next four years or so important because

he is going for gold now. He has seen what's happened and what is

possible. That is what it's about, sending that belief in a sport

through 18. -- 18. Yes, if you have a role model you think, they can do

and I can do it. Whether it's at the National Centre... They can look at

them and think it's down to hard work and determination they have

achieved those levels. Nile came back in as a Jude Law member of the

team, so Louis Smith and Max Whitlock and thought, I can go one

better. And even younger gymnasts, the eight to nine-year-olds, they

look and think Great Britain, medals on the world stage. That's what

happened in cycling and you were close to the vanguard of that. It

helps the old athletes as well. You have younger athletes coming into

the team, pushing for places and in a way it inspires field athletes to

work harder to keep their place in the team. Some of those old

athletes, Hannah Cockcroft, great experience and goes one better,

three gold medals this time? Yes, a fantastic performance. It just shows

in Paralympic sport adapt of talent. You have people fighting for that

place on the team. It is fantastic. We did so well. Beautiful rendition

of that... I think it is Elbow, behind us. I hope you can hear me

because it is incredibly loud, the PA system. We are fighting against

at the moment, but it is because the atmosphere out there is ready like a

party. This is where we are all going to end up in just over an

hour's time. 400 Paralympic and Olympic heroes will take to that

stage. Out there at the moment on the floats for us it is a very big

hello to Ore Oduba. You have you got with you?

Hello, we're just standing by embracing ourselves. This float is

moving, even at three miles an hour, you have to make sure you are

careful. It is an absolute treat. Manchester looking resplendent. It

has been my home for five years and it is used adding the red and blue

city of Manchester celebrating football parade. Today the red white

and blue of the Great Britain teams coming together. We have had rain,

but it's all right because a couple of guys I have next to me are very

good at getting wet! Adam Peaty takes Olympic gold for

Great Britain. Absolutely fantastic! Silver for Jazz Carlin, wonderful

silver medal for Great Britain, well done Jazz Great Britain win the

silver, what a wonderful team effort there. Silver for Great Britain,

Silverton Siobhan-Marie O'Connor. Gold to USA, silver to Great

Britain, what a fabulous team effort that was. Silver for Jazz Carlin,

yes, well done! They have done it! Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow are

bronze medallists. Yes! That is an Olympic medal. Silver for Jack

Laughter. Yes, come on! It is gold. Jack Laughter and Chris Mears have

done it. Here they are soaking up the applause. The smiles on your

faces as we go through the city of Manchester is amazing. Jazz, it must

seem like ages ago when you won the first silver medal, but here we are

taking in the applause he richly deserved, what is this like? Yes, we

had a bit of rain but it hasn't dampened the mood. You can hear the

cheers, it's incredible. I want to thank the British public for the

support, because it's been incredible from the moment we were

out there until we landed, such incredible support. It's amazing to

be here today and thank everyone. Absolutely. Jack, I'm sure you want

to give the same message, Rio was some time ago and finally you get to

meet the public who gave you so much support those months ago? Yes, it's

been quite a long time and it's nice to do this, the Olympians and

Paralympians together. I want to say thank you. I had no idea what the

support was like at home, I turned off my Facebook and Twitter. To see

these thousands of people crowding the streets of Manchester, and in

the rain, these people have stuck through it. It's so nice to be able

to be here, to showcase and say thank you to everybody, because they

are a massive part of it as well. I'm sure the question is and many of

them on to us, where is Chris? He's on holiday. He's been away for ages.

He's in America. I know... Tell him he's missing out. On his behalf I

will say thank you to everybody as well. I will let you guys soak up

the applause, Jack Laughter and Jazz Carlin, absolutely fantastic. Thank

you. Look at those medals, looking so loud and proud! If you thought

the Aquatics was good in Rio, what about cycling? That really was hot.

COMMENTATOR: It's bronze for Chris Froome.

Becky James wins a second silver medal.

A brilliant bronze from Katy Marchant.

The gold medal goes to Great Britain.

Laura Trott, Britain's most successful female

Becky James, world champion and double Olympian medallists. Just

talk about your journey that you had for the three years, building up to

Rio 2016. A lot of people would have remembered what you went through to

be here on this float, enjoying a Manchester crowd you know so well

and rejoice in 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 and it was a good 18 months and I

was back riding my bike properly. I had a long period of. I had a really

good year out from Rio. To be stood here with the two silver medals and

celebrating with everyone is incredible. Manchester is your home,

of course. This is where British cycling is based. Just describe the

feeling, you know the streets pretty well, often they are dark and

blooming at the time you're getting up in the morning and you don't see

these people but they are here and all for you. It's incredible.

Manchester is home for me now. To be here with all this support is just

fantastic. I can't thank everyone enough. When

you are in Rio didn't see any of this, you have Twitter and Facebook

and all that support, but this is completely different and nothing

like I've experienced before. A lot of people will be familiar with the

factual boyfriend is George North. He's been on a few open top bus

parades. Has he given new technique you need to employ to wave to your

loving crowd? No, I'm just trying to get around and say hello to

everyone. I never imagined this many people to be out. I'm absolutely

loving it. I will let you soak it in, Becky, well done.

Betty, what an inspiration. She had 18 months of injury and illness and

things were touch and go whether she would make those kind of heights

again. Yes, a fantastic season post-London, she didn't make the

Olympics in London but a great year in 2013, four medals in the World

Championships and then this horrendous period when she got ill

and had injuries. Off the bike for months on end. To see her bounce

back and went to silver medals at the Olympic Games, one of my

highlights, to see that happen. We all expect the team pursuit for men

and women to do well, Jason Klatt Kenny and Laura Trott. I had this

morning on the radio, the challenges of coming back, not so much the

challenges of coming back after a break but the challenges of getting

back into training. That must be a big shock to the system, when all

this party dies down. The interviews start to fade away and the muscles

have to start working again and the lungs. It's tough, but in many ways

you are craving it because you've come from this routine and this

structured lifestyle, where for a few days or weeks is fantastic to be

able to let off some steam, but in many ways you crave that routine, or

and I think most most athletes do. The difficulty is having some real

motivation. What are you training for next, how can you get yourself

back to work as hard as you need to to win medals? Having those goals,

for you after Beijing, you would have been quite within your rights

at the age were to say that was a fantastic period. But you obviously

set your sights very much an Olympic medals. That four-year cycle would

have been tough without back? Yes, I came home from Beijing and come

forth, it was an amazing achievement but it wasn't what I wanted. I was

devastated and didn't know if I could put myself through another

four years of hard work and determination but the one thing that

kept me going was my coach. I was able to have that relationship with

her and take it step-by-step for my goals. I worked every six months to

a Europeans or World Championships but London 2012 was always in the

back of my mind. I think that as old athletes it was, we can't give up on

that dream of an Olympics in our own country. You see the

crowd here today, but in London it was just insane. If you are fit

enough, well enough and strong enough you go, I've tasted it now

and I want a bit more. These days are the ones you have to remember

that four-year cycle, to get you through those dark and cold mornings

and those aching limbs? Most definitely. When you commit to that

four years cycle, day in and day out, rain or shine, cold mornings...

For me, you know that you can't rest. Your rivals are trading just

as hard as you and you have to be the best that you can be, so you

have to draw on that motivation, what ever it is, to be the best you

can be. Out there on the streets, that's why

people come out, because they have an understanding of what it takes

and the sacrifices. I use that word perhaps it'll advisedly because it

is what you really want to do, but you do miss out on family occasions,

holidays, normal everyday activity that we take for granted.

Absolutely, and technically it is a sacrifice, you are missing out on

these amazing things that you don't get a second chance for, you cannot

go back to a wedding or birthday, but is what you need to do to be the

best and that is what your rivals are doing. We love doing it but it

is a great chance to interact with the crowds, for them to enjoy

themselves and have another big party before they get back into

training. Before they get back into the hard business of earning another

crack at the Olympic dream. I know Matthew Pinsent realised his dream

quite a few times. He's about to catch up with a very special

canoeist, who went from games maker to medal winner in a short cycle.

It's gold for Great Britain again, and what a wonderful moment

for this 49-year-old, who four years ago was volunteering

Just talk about that journey, four years ago what were you doing?

Standing on the side of a road just like this, waving the athlete I have

just been looking after at 2012. I was against maker that parade so it

seems funny to be on the float waving back at people. And was

competing at the Games a dream? I always said when I started it would

be nice to get to Rio and that was my goal. To compete and then get to

the final and get a gold medal, it was way more than any dream I could

ever have hard. It was a comprehensive performance from the

canoeists, what were the ingredients to that? Just a lot of hard work and

dedication. Every single day we trained apart from Sundays, which is

a rest and recovery day. I love having a vote, you would never put

yourself through it if you didn't love what you do. Just a curiosity,

thinking how far can I go? How good can I get? Looking at that footage,

I just feel so proud to have achieved what I have achieved in

four years. It has been an amazing journey. At the age of ahem, it is

unlikely Tokyo would be on the agenda for you? Never say never.

People have a preconception about what they can do at a certain age

and I have blown up out of the water. People say you cannot get fit

at a certain age but I have proved them wrong. If you believe you can

do something special, get out there and do it. And brilliantly you

brought a little message. Show us the message. Thank you to everyone

for watching and supporting us, we really appreciate it. Well done. So

it carries on, it is difficult to know who to mention, there are so

many to talk about. Rebecca Adlington is alongside me with Steve

Brown. How difficult is it to know whether to go back and try for

another Olympic cycle. Tokyo seems a long way away. It is, four years is

a long time. A lot of athletes, you just say am I going to retire or

Carreon. You do have the Commonwealth Games and World

Championships in that period of time so there is a lot of stuff still to

look forward to. You have got to play it by ear because in sport

illness and injury crops up. Of course you would like to go on

another four years but you play a lot of it by ear. A lot of these

guys have been saying it's a lot of dedication but they love what they

do so if their body is willing to continue, go for it. A lot of people

want to finish on a high, a lot of people want to keep going as long as

they possibly can. I always wanted to finish on a high but not everyone

has that attitude. Steve, we talked about there is no real surprise or

secret to success for Great Britain, it comes from funding in the

lottery. Do the Paralympic sports kept as well funded as the Olympic

sports? They seem to, you look at the medals and it speaks for itself.

We have been very fortunate the way the funding works. I cannot speak

for all of the sports across the board but I know lottery funding and

UK sport funding makes a difference to the athletes I speak to and the

way they get the train, and the input they get from dieticians, the

world-class coaching. That is why the medal haul is has you see in

front of you. We saw Jonathan Brownlee here with Alistair

Brownlee, triathlon success, and again you don't have to go back to

long when it would have been as Matthew Pinsent was talking about

earlier, one single car bringing back the medals from the Olympic

Games in the parade. Big crowds in central Manchester, expecting upward

of 100,000, huge crowds in Albert Square and that is where the parade

will end with an onstage performance. We will be talking

about the Olympic canoeing shortly as well and the success there for

Britain in the Whitewater, and on the Sprint as well, both slalom and

Sprint canoe provided Britain with great success four years ago and so

it was once again in the Whitewater and slightly calmer waters of the

lagoon in Rio. First medal at the canoe sprint

regatta here in Rio. David Florence and Richard Hounslow

have another plate of silver to add He will leave Rio as

the Olympic champion. Joe Clarke of Great Britain,

the 23-year-old that is the Olympic The Olympic Games in Rio didn't get

much more successful for Britain's canoeist, not least for Joe Clarke.

Your debut at Olympic Games, you come away with a gold medal and here

you are in Manchester, just normal, isn't it? Yes, just normal... No, it

has been fantastic. For people to come out today in these numbers and

support us is fantastic. 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, it is like the dream achieved. I dreamt it, so we are here living

it and it's amazing. I was with you guys in the Olympic village, and you

showed me your bedroom! We don't need to get into that, but here we

are celebrating and you must be happy with the last few months. Yes,

we were out in Rio a long time, celebrated after it but it was great

to get home, see the friends and family. After London we had the

parade in London, but it is fantastic here to come up to

Manchester and spread the love around the country a little bit. The

reception is incredible. David, a number of silver medals for you, but

do these celebrations get boring? They can't get boring. No, it's

amazing to get the chance to come out and say thanks. The support we

had from the British public is incredible, you could feel that even

in Rio. It is even more incredible than you imagined. Great to have it

in London and Manchester as well. It does feel a little bit, despite this

float going at three miles per hour, like we are going down the rapids of

the canoe kayak route. There is a bit of doubt about whether your

event will be up Tokyo, it isn't there? In terms of gender equity the

double canoe will be dropped, replaced by a single canoe for the

women. David has his single canoe still, and going strong in that. For

me, I'm getting close to retirement I think. I think I need to get home

from Rio, settle down, gather my thoughts. It is quite an emotional

time. The actually say I'm retiring, it is very hard so I'm building up

to it and I think it will probably happen soon. Fingers crossed we will

see more of you, whether it is in Tokyo or the next few months and

years. Guys, enjoy the atmosphere. It has died a little bit as become

to this ramshackle building but as we turned the corner there will be

people waving and cheering. We need to talk to a gentleman who knows all

about the Olympic Games and winning. Nick Skelton, the first question I

want to ask you is how can I cry like you? Because on strictly come

dancing at the weekend I cried like I had heard some devastating news,

but when you cry it is endearing. Rio was a wonderful moment, wasn't

it? For me it was all those years I have been doing it, then it finally

came out so what can you do? It is your whole life you have been

trying, then it finally came to fruition. Why was it so emotional

for you? I just think the years I have been in the sport. That was my

seventh Olympic Games, and OK in London we won the gold for the team,

but when you do it for yourself, so many years and the accidents I have

had, breakages and stuff, when it happens it was a big, massive relief

for me. And we all know that you were Great Britain's oldest gold

medallist for quite some time. It is not about age, but as we talk about

how long we might get to see Nick Skelton on Olympic ride, is it when

Big Star continues, you continue? I think so, when he retires I will.

You brought lost macro so many incredible emotions back in Rio so

we will let you enjoy another emotional time. I will try to keep

my tears back, you already nailed it.

There were so many great moments in Rio which belonged to people who

were let's say a little bit older than the norm in winning gold

medals, and Nick Skelton was one of those moments, if at first you don't

succeed keep trying and eventually he got there. There were a few women

who got medals over the age of 40 as well. You say you have retired but

there is always a great come back to be had. Make us feel bad! Katherine

Grainger, in terms of her longevity on the way she came back, two years

out of the sport, I didn't think she would make it back to an elite

level. It was touch and go when the votes were decided, and to go

through the mental agony of waiting to find out and seeing her one week

before the teams would be announced, and I think her experience helped

her get through that psychological journey. She has seen a few highs

and lows through her career and that was one more challenge to overcome.

I don't think she will go on to Tokyo, she might, at that was a

standout performance for me. Certain sports lend themselves to longevity

more than others, and gymnastics sees most people retire before they

have left school. Yes, there are now more gymnasts staying past the age

of 20. Talking about it with the experience, with the age you get

that experience. It took me three Olympic Games to achieve that medal,

but each Olympic Games, championships and Europeans, you are

picking up that experience and taking it into the next competition

and that can give you the edge over competitors. They can train for

longer hours and do more numbers, but I had to train a lot more

clever, but when it came to competing I had that mental edge.

That experience and maturity which you cannot buy, you cannot rush.

That can only come from the hours in the gym pushing hard, whatever it is

that gets you to the top. Yes, and it shows you what that belief does

for you as well, with that experience and what you can achieve.

Keep going. And I know athletics is a younger person's sport, from my

point of view as well, wheelchair racing you can go quite a lot

longer. Look at David Weir, Antonie Grey Thompson went on until she was

in her mid-30s so if you can do it, fantastic. Anne Dickins is knocking

on the door of 50 and Nick Skelton knocking on the door of 60 so

there's plenty of time to choose some new sports, should you decide.

You can peruse the options today. Let's get back out there because the

atmosphere is building in Albert Square.

It is building in Flickr, more populated parts. We saw a glimpse a

moment ago of Sarah Storey, a multiple medal winner, who is from

Eccles, Greater Manchester. This will be very special. She has won 16

Paralympic medals as a swimmer, then she turned to cycling and has nine

more medals, three in Rio, which are clanking around her neck at the

moment. Kadeena Cox, who is not too far away from her. There is

Katherine Grainger. Multiple medal winners. Again, we sort of take it

for granted now, but it is so difficult. Rebecca Adlington is a

multiple medal winner. When you look at what athletes do in other

disciplines, you must have huge admiration for them? Every single

athlete, even ones are not here today. Some of the athletes have

decided to just go to the London one, but it's like every single

person has their own individual story. We don't like to say

sacrifices, because we choose them, but have got their own struggles,

challenges. It's incredible. You do take it for granted a bit for now,

like you said, it's become the norm. We expect these guys to keep getting

better and better, more and more medals. I heard Nicola say today,

Nicola Adams, about if she turns pro or not. She said she has the

decision to win the world title will become the first-ever boxer to get

three Olympic gold medals. What a toss-up to have. It's incredible.

There has been a hard edge to Team GB, in terms of how can we identify

where we can win medals. If the sport has success, you get more

funding, so it's quite ruthless in a way, but it does bring the medal

success. You see, I don't agree with that. I don't agree we should give

more and more money to the guys who are doing so well. It should be the

weaker ones? Exactly. I have this philosophy if they are already miles

better than every other country, stop giving it more and more money

and give some to them were ones that aren't achieving the medal success.

The other point I wanted to get a little political, it's great having

success at the very top of that inspires people to take up those

sports, but if there aren't the facilities... We spoke about Adam

Peaty, in Derby there's been a great fuss about if there will be swimming

pools for people to try swimming. It doesn't matter if people are

inspired to try if they don't find the facilities? It's pretty huge

issue with swimming, I get e-mails asking about signing petitions,

keeping facilities open. It's expensive to keep running swimming

pools and venues, but my philosophy is water is water, it doesn't

matter... I used to train in three yard pool. You do it because you

love the sport and that is what it's all about. But it is tougher a lot

of sports. Callum Skinner... Gethin Jones! What did he take part in?

There will be an inquiry into that, he was on there... He is quite a

decent swimmer but I wasn't aware he was competing at him epic became.

Steve Brown is here as well. We were talking about facilities, but Paris

sports also? Yes, not just the facilities but the equipment.

Wheelchair rugby, those cost anything of ?5,000 upwards. If

you're going into a new sport, that is a lot of money to see if you like

the sport, let alone how well you might do at it. There is Jonnie

Peacock sporting his medal as well. Alan Davies is looking quite

menacing. I think he's pointing at you, Steve! He won the shot put in

Rio. Not able to defend his discus title. Some of the canoeists now.

Some floats are a little busier. Float number 12, rugby, sailing,

shooting, triathlon and Matt Pinsent is there an float number 12.

Thank you. As you mentioned we are going to focus on taekwondo and in a

minute shooting. Let me start with Lutalo Muhammad. The only question

anyone is going to ask you, I'm afraid, is why didn't you run away?

Because I'm not a coward, of course! Losing with .1 of a second ago with

devastating at the time, but coming out of this atmosphere, all these

people, all the GB fans, I can't help but smile. I'm in great spirits

today. And I have another opportunity in four years' time.

Everyone lived through those tearful moments with you just after it. It

must have been horrendous at the time? It was, 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 hard

as it was at the time, so it's all smiles. What did the gold medallist

say to you afterwards? I saw him the next day and he said he has no idea

how it happened. He said only God allowed me to win. He said I was the

Olympic champion, which was nice for him to say and let's be honest, he's

right! LAUGHTER He got lucky, got lucky! We will see

what happens in four years' time. Are you training already? Not at the

minute, back training in January. All roads lead to Tokyo from

January, so I am excited to start my new Tokyo Olympic journey. Very

good. Let's talk to some other people starting their journey to

stop Amber, you were sixth in Rio, how does that sit with you? It was

OK. Obviously every athlete there goes there is going for the gold

medal. You do get the disappointment of not being a medallist, but the

success of Team GB itself has been so fantastic and to say I have been

a part of that really does mean a lot. Just the amount of support

we've got out here today from all the fans is incredible. What's the

strangest thing that has happened in a month or six weeks since you've

been home? It's been very weird, to be honest! It's just been strange.

Four years of hard work and then the next minute it's just, you can't do

any more. Being back home has been so nice. Being recognised in the

street, asking for photos and signatures, I'm just a normal girl

from Bracknell. It's so cool to have this support. Finally, Steve Scott,

bronze medallist from Rio. The experience today, even trying to

punch through the rain at the moment? Very similar to Rio,

actually. It was raining just like this today. Great support. These

guys coming out, even the weather hasn't stopped them. I thank them

very much. Shooting as a sport in Rio, how was the overall

performance? Everyone performed extremely well, as expected, really.

It's the Olympics, everyone is on top form. I performed at my desk on

the day you manage to come away with this lovely medal. Do you sleep with

on your bedside table? No comment! It might still be on sometimes!

Well-deserved, well-deserved all three of you. Thank you. Steve Scott

with a bronze in the shooting and a bronze from Ed Ling. Interesting

hearing from Lutalo Muhammad about how close he was to gold and the

fine margins of sport and something to keep you going for another four

years. He is already looking to Tokyo, but sport can become as much

as we see the celebrations, it can be very cruel Wes Welker.

Definitely, that is part and parcel of it. As a sports person you know

what you're getting involved in. That's what makes it interesting and

exciting. I always say I've learned so much more from the tough part is,

the disappointment, it's made me a lot stronger and a better athlete.

You get very good at criticising yourself, in a way, but you have to

have that analysis and be able to say, actually, this didn't work,

this works, try new things. That's what the next four years of that is

about, try new things. People will move clubs and go to different

venues and try different tactics. Some of the longest races on the

longest games are won and lost in the last seconds. Wheelchair rugby

was no different. Wheelchair rugby went to two overtimes against Canada

to get to the semifinals and fight again. They lost in the last second.

That was an hour and half of wheelchair rugby they lost in the

last second. It doesn't matter what the sport is, marginal differences,

the difference between a medal and no medal. An wheelchair rugby, your

sport, exactly the same as four years ago, defeat against Canada in

the event, fifth place. How is the appetite in this country, do you

think, for wheelchair rugby? It is a great sport, a brutal sport but it's

great fun? I was hugely disappointed for the team. Watching the man

talking over their games with an easy decision for me to take. Come

in fact, the team improved so much from London 2012 to where they are

now, as a team, a huge difference. Unfortunately coming fifth again

doesn't really show the growth of the team and the sport. The fifth

place in London and fifth place again, the actual truth is those top

four places, there was at London 201240 point difference, at Rio it

was only four. Isolated showers we can see coming down. So many we

haven't mentioned, we just haven't got time, but the women's hockey

team winning against the Netherlands. I mentioned for Maddie

Hinch, the goalkeeper from that side who just got here in time because

she plays for a Dutch side now is there this morning and the flight

was initially cancelled. She got here through getting on another

airlines flight to get here. That was one of the outstanding moments

of the Olympics. I know as sportsmen and women you would enjoy watching

the sports? It was my first Olympics when I wasn't competing service

incredible for myself to be part of that. I went to the cycling and went

to other venues and it was just amazing. The support those guys had,

I know everyone keeps saying it, but it was incredible in Rio. It's nice

to be up to come back home, especially for some of the athletes

like Jessica Ennis-Hill, who has announced her retirement, it is so

nice for her that she gets to end her career on this day. What an

amazing day. What an amazing day indeed. A selection of hoodies on

the day. Smiles in the rain. What a shame, it has come down and

behind us in the studio the umbrellas are up, they are well

prepared anyway! I didn't bring mine, did you? I was coming in and

there was sunshine at two o'clock or three o'clock and I was thinking I

should have brought my sunglasses. We have had four seasons in one day

so we might get sunshine yet. When the guys there were talking about

Jessica Ennis-Hill and retirement and this is the swansong if you're

not going to come back from your Olympic experience to compete again.

It's knowing when the right time is, knowing when your body has had

enough. It can be just as tough as making the decision to keep going?

It's tougher in certain sports and not as measurable. In cycling it's

very much data driven, driven by numbers, so you can see when you are

peaking and plateauing and dropping. For me it wasn't so much choice, it

was more the data was pointing that way. In other sports where more

about skill or tactics, I think it can be harder. And also we've heard

the guys talking about funding. That makes a difference. If you can carry

on because you are funded, because not everyone out there, the 400 on

the stage, will be earning a lot of money outside of the lottery funding

they get. That can be the Ben Moon and keep going? The funding is a

huge difference and it makes such a difference to your training and what

you can do. The support you get around you. I know from an athlete's

point of view that the support you get is not just the money, you get

the nutritional lists, the coaches, the physios and it's that one big

team that helps towards success. Yeah. We are just hearing, literally

hearing the rain coming down behind us here. Almost biblical

proportions. They are still smiling out there, well done guys! That's

not particularly pleasant as a spectator sport out there? It's not,

but it shows how proud they are the Team GB athletes. They will have

seen the weather forecast. I was the same as Chris, coming in with my

sunglasses on thinking this will be an amazing evening for the athletes.

But it won't dampen the spirits. They are so proud of them. They just

want to be out there and celebrate with them. We couldn't do it when we

were in Rio. You could see all the athletes, they were kind of in a

bubble. They didn't really realise what they had achieved. I remember

talking to some of the gymnasts when they got off the plane at Heathrow

when they flew home, they just kind of when, oh, wow. This is the

support we've had. It's been crazy for them. Well it's very wet, wet,

wet out there and I know you have some people with you, Ore.

Yes, I have sandwich myself between these two to stay dry this 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. Yeah, nothing is going to stop us smiling.

Exactly. Great Britain's most successful Paralympian from Rio. We

can see all four of your medals. What did that feel like? It has

meant all those hard hours of training and early mornings well

worth it. The whole team did incredible, as well. Great to be out

there. The whole team? Your house may in Rio as well, Hannah Russell

right here, you didn't do too badly either. Three medals in total, two

gold. It was something special. How nice is it to celebrate it with the

great British public? Absolutely fantastic. And I have a parade in

Manchester and London this time round is incredible. Everyone can

get together and celebrate the success Great Britain have had. You

know what, it might be wet, but look at the smiles on these girls faces.

They don't care, they don't care if you have a really warm studio back

there in Albert Square. It's no trouble at all. What's next, very

quickly, Hannah? Tokyo will be the next thing on the agenda for the

Olympics and Paralympians, is that the target? Yes, that is the next

target for me. At the moment a bit of downtime to rest and recover and

then back to hard training. Sounds like a plan. My next thing on the

agenda, get a poncho like destiny. And after that I think it is a

diplomat. The ribbons are getting drenched, a good way of working out

it's pretty good quality of the paint is not coming off them in this

weather! It is a risk as well, if you get the

ribbon worked... I went to a primary school, it was about the importance

of drinking water. They got them to fill the bottles of water, but the

medal got drenched. It was put underneath the hand dryer, now it is

Woodley, not a straight line. It is fine, it has got character now. It's

a good job you have got a few more. I have the motivation to go out and

win some more, yes! Is your medal quite secure? Yes, but once I had it

on my knee, someone shouted and I dropped it on the floor and I was

devastated because it has big dents in it now. I was devastated but now

it has its own little story. It is the medal equivalent of smile lines.

Exactly, it has character. Behind us on the stage, Helen Skelton and Mark

Chapman are getting the crowd ready because shortly the Kaiser Chiefs

will be coming out, and when that happens that means we will be a

couple of songs away from the Olympians and Paralympians making

their way onto the stage and becoming the real stars of the show

in Albert Square. As I speak, there they are. The cows -- Kaiser Chiefs

ready to entertain the crowd. You come out, the rain stops, and away

you go! We are going to play you a couple of songs. If you don't know

the words, just mime. Here is an old one that you will all know.

# Let the clocks be reset and the pendulums held

# There is nothing at all except the space in-between

# Could it be, could it be that you're joking with me

# And you don't really see you with me?

# Could it be, could it be that you're joking with me

# And you don't really see you with me?

# Know what ya doing, doing to me?

Don't let the rain dampen your spirit. This is for anyone who has

ever competed in an Olympic event. It is our new record, it is

# All together now, strike up the band

# Take it all from the top, the top, the top, the top

# That could only be filled by you again

# Never be filled by anyone else but you

# Never be filled by anyone else but you

# You're the only one, it's you and me

# Take it all from the top, the top, the top, the top

# That could only be filled by you again

# Never be filled by anyone else but you

# Never be filled by anyone else but you

# Find each person and the world will sane

# That could only be filled by you again

# That could only be filled by you again

The fantastic Kaiser Chiefs there and the next people on that stage

will be the start of the Paralympians and Olympians arriving

in Albert Square. The rain has been coming down heavily for a while as

you could see, but it is not dampening spirits. Matthew Pinsent,

who have you got with you now? Well that was Andy Lewis of course,

Paralympian triathlete but we cannot hear from him at the moment. I think

the rain could be affecting the technicals out here. It is coming in

sideways, you are very brave staying with me. You could hear the dulcet

tones of Mark Chapman and Helen Skelton. They have got umbrellas at

the moment, telling the crowd what is about to happen so let's go out

there as they welcome our heroes. You have got an umbrella, you are

fine! Let's show the whole country who are watching the rain doesn't

mean anything to us. Are we ready? The time has come, this is what we

are all here for. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are

going to start bringing out our Olympic and Paralympic heroes from

Rio 2016. Myself and Helen and JJ will talk to them when they come out

on stage. We will bring them out in groups of sports, Olympians and

Paralympians. First of all, the British Paralympian athletes!

APPLAUSE Leading out the representatives from our Paralympic

team, Hannah Hurricane! Let me share my umbrella. The unstoppable Hannah

Cockcroft. You have done some phenomenal things, how proud are

you, now you've got some time to look back on it? It means nothing

until you come somewhere like this. Thank you for coming out in this

terrible weather and supporting us, it means so much. Everybody come

forward a little bit because the crowd want to show their

appreciation and their thanks. Hannah, I have to ask the question,

whenever you win your gold medals, because she does it a lot, you lick

them, why? It is just something unique. Everybody else kisses them

and I thought of my own stamp on it! What does it taste like? They don't

taste that great but they taste like victory! The thing I love about you,

you had your second and third gold medals in Rio and they are not even

your favourite events, longer than you prefer. Yes, I am a sprinter,

but I did the 800 and I thought why not, I just went for it and it

turned out OK. I think it turned out better than OK. And another man who

knows the taste of victory, Richard Whitehead. Gold and medal winner.

There wasn't much question about you bringing home the 200 metre gold

medal at the 100 metre gold medal, if that race had been 101 metres

long, I reckon you would have had it. If it had, I would have retired

now and not be thinking about going to Tokyo. Today is a great

celebration but without the support here in Manchester, and the rest of

Great Britain, it is all about you guys really. You are awesome.

Without the volunteers and the national lottery players, everybody

in the gold hats, we love you! Are going to see double gold? That is

the question. I would love to be able to bring that back for you. The

support that we get via social media really drives us on so keep sending

those supportive messages. We are going to do this not just for

ourselves but for you so let's have a big cheer for Team GB and

ParalympicsGB! Absolutely, a huge congratulations.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Paralympic athletes. Now it is time

to put your hands together for the British Olympic athletes!

Jessica, come over here. Jessica Ennis-Hill, Manchester! The rain has

stopped, appropriately. I know, I'm not looking very glamorous! You and

me both. What was the parade like? It was incredible. We can't thank

you enough for the support you have given us over this year, for so many

years, and for you to turn out in this weather, to cheer and wave your

flags is incredible, so thank you. What was your will -- Rio experience

like? Fantastic. One of those occasions where everything comes

together and I had this fantastic team behind me. It was incredible.

We know that you have announced your retirement. BOOS we might have a

future in pantomime if this continues. How much did you mull

this over? A long time but I knew in my heart it was the right decision,

the right time to do it, but it was difficult to make it public and say

it. The messages and support I have had over the years has been

incredible. I can't thank you all enough, it's been incredible. Ladies

and gentlemen, the British Olympic athletes! Jessica Ennis-Hill, thank

you. Let's keep our Olympians and Paralympians coming onto the stage.

Next ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Olympic and Paralympic

archery team. For the Paralympians it was a very good Paralympics, six

medals, three of them gold, two for John Walker, who will give us a

wave. There we go. One of those he won as a team with Joe Frith.

Congratulations to the archers from the Paralympians and Olympics.

Behind the archers we have the British Paralympic boxing team. And

again, and medal for David Smith, who got a silver four years ago and

he has got a gold this time. Well done to David Smith.

Congratulations! And our next athletes we are

welcoming to the stage are the British diving teams. Please put

your hands together for our divers! So this is the most successful

British Olympic diving team ever. We have Jack Laughter, picked up

Britain's first-ever gold medal in diving. There it is. Congratulations

guys. Followed by the divers we have the British swimming team. CHEERING

APPLAUSE here she is, Jazz Carlin leading out the two silver medals in

the 400 and 800. Dan Wallace carrying his silverware to. Go on,

Dan! Wave that medal. Congratulations. Our underwater

swimmer as well. Good to see you guys. And now the

Olympic boxing team represented in Manchester by Lawrence. ... Nicola

Adams! Come on Nicola, come on now, get

over here! Nicola, come on down here. It goes without saying you are

the owner of not only one or two medals and world titles and historic

achievement but possibly the biggest smile in sport. Is that fair to say?

Yeah, quite fair, I guess! In terms of what you've done, historic

achievements. Looking back, what are you proud of the most, so far? My

Olympic gold medals, it has to be, doesn't it? Two times. Manchester!

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

long they've been stood here, what does it mean to you to get this

reaction? This means absolutely everything to me. I would like to

say thank you for everyone coming out today, especially in the rain.

Manchester, I love you! I think it's fair to say Manchester loves you.

Yeah. Congratulations Nicola, I will let you meet the rest of the team.

Can I do something cheeky? You always do. I'm going to go down and

do some selfies. That ladies and gentlemen is the last we will see of

Nicola Adams for the next two hours at the very least.

Enjoy yourself Nicola and everyone. Next up, more medallists, more world

record holders. Please welcome the British cycling team.

CHEERING APPLAUSE Becky James, Callens,, and Liam,

some of the guys representing our great cycling team who train here in

Manchester, who play here in Manchester.

-- Callum Smith. Let's have a chat with Joe. Are you all right? Yes,

brilliant, I'm loving the gold hats everybody! We now have blue sky

above us as well. Everyone seems to be walking out slowly, like they

don't know what to expect when they get in front of everyone. We paraded

around everyone and we got into a marquee where there were some towels

and they sent us out again. Glad to see the sky is blue again. I'm

loving all the gold out here. It was a remarkable Olympics for you

personally. Second Olympic gold medal and the team pursuit squad

broke the world record in every single round. Was that the perfect

games? It really was. We were particularly surprise to break it

three times, in qualifying it was a surprise. In the semifinal some of

the girls said they were only at 80%. Personally I was a bit higher

than 80%. Some said, I wasn't even trying that had in the ride. In the

final it's all about the win, but it's the cherry on top of the cake

when you get a world record. Let's not forget every single member of

the Team GB track cycling squad came back with a medal from Rio.

CHEERING APPLAUSE Did that help you all or put added pressure on as

the next and went on Exxon went and the next one went question I think

it typically helps, protected on day one.

Callum and Phil and Jason, they came sixth at the World Championships but

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, their equipment, everything that we'd done together,

that just gave me so confident that they had won. Phil was running

around with his and unreal everyone was like, I won one of those as

well. The debut based I remember seeing all the men's team pursuit

squad watching us. I was like, oh wow, they've come to Jerusalem. I

was so please. The next day I was told they were there for a BBC

interview. -- come to cheer us on. Thank you for speaking to us and for

all the team who have come out. Team GB cycling everyone! And they keep

on coming. Next up onto the stage, please welcome the Paralympic

cycling team. 12 goldS3 silvers and six bronze for

ParalympicsGB in Rio. We are going to talk to two of them here on the

stage. They need a big round of applause. Sarah Storey, most

decorated female British athlete of all time and Kadeem Fox, the first

Paralympian in 28 years to win medals in two different sports at

the Games. Huge achievements, huge

achievements. Dame Sarah Storey, the most successful female Paralympian

GB has ever produced. What does that mean to you? It's huge. Tanni Grey

Thompson is a great athlete, I've always looked up to her. I don't

think it will ever sink in I had won more gold medals than she has, but

she has been an incredible mental to me and she will continue to be so.

She is just so incredible. -- incredible temper my. You have done

two sports in the same games, breaking a record that stood for 28

years for Great Britain. 32! 32? LAUGHTER

Who wrote these cards customer yes, it was fun. I went out there to

achieve what I did and we weren't sure if it was going to go as well

as it did but I went out there and perform to the best I could and I'm

happy with what I did. How do you prepare for something like that?

Such vastly different sports? It was tricky but I cycled a bit and ran a

bit and it worked! Not just a bit! What do you think of that

achievement Godsmark it's incredible. You think you have to be

able to remember what venue you're going to at the start of the day if

nothing else. And an incredible job, she was just saying she had been

able to do the road race. She picked up an injury. We got little lunch

pouches we could take on our bikes and she quite liked the look of

those. This is your seventh Paralympic games. How have the Games

changed since you started all those years ago? Everything is just so

much bigger. We always had the same elite sport, the same incredible

athletes, the same incredible support staff, but more and more

people know more about what we do now. More and more athletes around

the world training full-time. The numbers inside the village are

bigger and bigger every and there are more sports. We had para

canoeing and try from the first time. It's incredible to see it grow

over last few years. Thank you. Interview with two sports, picking

up a third? I was on holiday and I did some rafting and I think I could

be pretty decent roller, so who knows! You pretty much a triathlon

covered as well. I can't swim! I should learn whilst I'm here because

this rain is getting pretty bad. Incredible support you get now.

People watching at home, I don't think there can be two better women

to ask. What would you say to people who want to get involved in

Paralympic sport? Go find a club, join a club, learn how to do the

events you're interested in. If you are young, just as many sports as

you can. I even talked my way into the boys cricket team for a while at

school. I played table tennis, did running, did gymnastics, swimming

and obviously now cycling. Do as many as you can, find out what you

love, what you're good at and work as hard as you possibly can. Not

every day is going to be like Parade Day. There will be some hard days in

there as well, but the hard graft makes it worth it when the sun shine

like it does on a day like today! LAUGHTER

Thank you so much. Please go and join your incredible team. A big

round of applause please! Fantastic advocates for the sport. I

think it's fair to say we will watch what Kadeena Cox does necks because

she is capable of anything. Please put your hands together now for the

Paralympic canoeing team! This is actually the first time the

Paralympic canoeing was represented at the Olympics, and it's fair to

say we did pretty well. Anne Dickins there, raise your hand high. Anne

was the Games maker in 2012, got herself involved in the canoeing,

had a go and it turns out she's pretty good and she comes home with

a gold medal. Congratulations. Next up is the Olympic canoe team.

# We are the champions, my friends # We'll keep on fighting until the

end #. Two gold medals and two silver

medals. They are used to the water, I don't

know why there is any need for that poncho! Good to see you, guys, thank

you so much. And behind the canoeists we have the

Olympic equestrian team! Two gold and one silver in this. Team

dressage silver, individual gold dressage and this man here, Nick

Skelton, gold in show-jumping at 58 years of age! CHEERING APPLAUSE in

his seventh Olympic Games, 16 years after he fractured his neck in 2000.

Nick Skelton! And the medals keep coming, please

welcome next big Olympic gymnasts! Two gold medals, two silver medals,

three bronze medals. We have a meeting killer, the youngest member

of Team GB, Nile Wilson also there with the bronze medal, Bryony Page

who got the silver medal in trampolining, and Max is going to

talk to Helen. Take a bow, what you did in Rio was

phenomenal. Three gold medals within the space of an hour, talk us

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

hour and a half was unbelievable and the support we have had this whole

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

incredible. We didn't realise how much support we had until we stepped

off the plane so thank you. In terms of support, 10 million people were

watching you. Did you come back, were you getting stopped in the

street everywhere? Yes, the recognition has gone up a bit, but

for individuals the sport profile has been incredible. The amount of

people doing gymnastics today is crazy so hopefully we can keep that

continuing. It has been our mission is to inspire a generation so we are

doing quite well. Let's talk about the pommel, to see two Great British

boys battling for the top spot, how nerve wracking wasn't watching Louis

? I don't watch any other competitor, but to have two guys

there one and two is crazy, it is a big statement. I am a big believer

that success breeds success and I hope to inspire a generation. I was

standing with some of your team-mates watching others get

medals, it seems like you are close-knit gang, how proud are you?

So proud, we took away seven medals and I could not be more proud. What

we have done is incredible and we need to keep continuing it and the

support you guys give helps massively. Congratulations. Ladies

and gentlemen, the fabulous max Whitlock! I will let you join your

team. Absolutely unbelievable achievement. I felt pretty Jami, I

used to stand behind Matt Baker to watch what was going on because it

was such a good atmosphere. Another team that managed to put in some

stunning performances, the Paralympic Equestrian team. In terms

of medals, these guys really brought home the bacon. 11 medals in total.

11 possible medals from seven events. We are joined by Lee

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

the flag bearer for ParalympicsGB, how did that feel? I had all full

friends saying do something funny with the flag over your face, I said

I intend to stay on the scooter and not drop the flag! You managed to

stay on that and on your horse as well, getting a gold and silver. You

won silver in London 2012 and that's spurred you on to get the gold in

Rio. Yes, my horse behaved himself in Rio and I love him to bits. The

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

kicked on and got the gold medal. And it must have been a big trip for

Zion, what is he doing now? In the field, eating grass like a normal

horse, then we will prepare him for the World Championships next year.

You have seen the evolution of this sport, what do days like today mean

to you? Today is phenomenal. To be up north, I have done a few London

parades in my life... I was just so proud to be here whatever the

weather and however moist iamb I just appreciate that you are all

here, thank you. It is not just you, the dominant team. How dominant are

we in the Olympics equestrian? I just think we love horses in this

country. We don't always like them slowing cars down on the road but we

are horse nation and we take on other superpowers like Germany and

Holland and we are animal lovers. We are super power in our own right.

Ladies and gentlemen, a massive round of applause for the Paralympic

Equestrian team and Lee Pearson. He knows how to work a home crowd!

Hello to everyone in London watching us! Let's bring on some more of our

heroes. Next, the Paralympic judo team. Representing them, Jack

Hodgson, Chris Skelley, Jono Drane. We have the

Paralympic powerlifting team! And next up, we have representatives

from the Paralympic rowing team! Another collection of medals, we got

three gold medals and one bronze medal, a great performance from the

guys. Ladies and gentlemen, the Paralympic

rowing team. Thank you, guys! Closely followed by the ladies who

delivered without doubt one of the moments of the Games, one of the

most nail-biting moments that 9 million of you tuned into. Please

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

APPLAUSE. I knew that was going to be a big one! They delivered in

style. Come and have a chat. The captain, Kate Richardson-Walsh. Are

you all right? I am a little bit like a drowned rat but I am a

Mancunian so I am used to it! I have said it before and lots of people

have said it, 9 million watched on a Friday night, do you feel that was a

defining moment for women's team sport? I think all of the

performances from the Paralympics and the Paralympians, everyone did

an amazing job. For women and young girls, we are saying to them go out

and achieve your dreams. If you are dedicated, anything can happen. What

was the spirit in the squad like, were their nerves? No, we were

completely focused. We were representing the women back home who

couldn't have made it. We were playing for them and you saw that on

the pitch that night. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. Importantly, it is Maddy

here because she was stranded in Holland this morning? Maddie the mad

dog Hinch is here. Penalty saving expert. Being successful at

penalties doesn't happen that often, doesn't happen ever... No, we are

all right! I know you are! To win on penalties in the Olympic final was

the most epic way to finish. The girls have done so much hard work at

the training base. When Holly put the ball in the goal, we erupted

just as the whole country did. When we do Olympics and Paralympics with

talk about legacy and inspiration, and we often talk about it in

relation to kids getting involved in hockey and that has been evident

since you won but also a lot of adults have got off the settee and

discovered hockey. Absolutely, loads of people played hockey at school.

Cheer if you played hockey at school! But life takes over, family

and work, but there is a hockey club for everybody. Please give it a go.

Thank you, as you say you are Mancunian girl. Britain's hockey

gold medallists! And next onto the stage, the judo team. Representing

the British Olympic judo team, we have Colin, and the pentathlon

team... It was a gruelling course at Rio so thank you for coming. Next

up, we have representatives from the Paralympic shooting team. Among

them, please show your appreciation for representatives of the

Paralympic shooting team. Closely followed by the Paralympic sailing

team. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. # You make me feel like I'm alive

again # Alive again #.

Next we are going to bring on one of Britain's most successful sports at

the Olympics, they topped the sports medal table with three gold medals

and two silver medals. They have had unbelievable success over so many

Olympics. Ladies and gentlemen, the British rowing team. So three gold

medals and two silver medals, including an historic silver in the

women's eight one fifth consecutive gold for the men's four as well.

Helen, Catherine, don't try to hide! Step forward! Hello, ladies. How do

you look so dry and glamorous when the rest of Las Mackrell looked like

we swam here. It was the Mac over the head in torrential rain! You

have been unbeaten since 2011, talk us through that partnership. We have

been very fortunate to have an incredible team behind us. And just

a lot of hard work. The support of the British public between London

and Rio was second to none. We couldn't have done it without you

guys and I mean that. It's not just days like today when we are

celebrating but days when we are training hard day in and day out and

we know we have the best of British behind us so thank you so much. Do

you think it is hard for people to appreciate that for you guys

training is quite lonely. Up and out early at anti-social hours and with

that in mind, how important our days like this? You almost feel selfish,

training for a goal that is the biggest thing you can think of and

it feels like you are the only one who cares. When you race and you

realise you might have inspired someone, you might have got someone

excited and pick up a new sport, you realise it is not just about me, it

is about everyone, young and old having a go at sport. You don't have

to want to be the next Olympian but what you can gain from sports,

health and fitness, making new friends, it is endless. The fact 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, it blows our minds. I just

need to check this medal because you do have a bit of a track record with

dropping them, don't you? It has already been repaired. We have only

been back two months and it has been to the repair shop but I haven't

dropped today! Not yet! Lets talk to Britain's most

decorated female Olympian, when she won the silver, sounds nice that,

doesn't it, Katherine Grainger? What does it entitle you to? I don't

know, most decorated, a trip to Homebase or something! Coming back

from Rio, what's the best thing that has happened to you? Well, today so

far. Every person who comes out has been well schooled in how to work an

audience. Going into the Olympics, where you nervous?

Yes, of course, everyone is nervous going into the Olympics. For me it

was probably the one where I didn't know what would happen. Why? We

didn't have the perfect build-up. Sometimes when you're up against the

odds it is when you can do something magical. Helen spoke about the

training and the times you get up and how hard the work is. Going into

it did you have, for someone who has had so much success, you said it was

difficult, did you doubt it at times? I'll be honest, even with the

most successful record behind you on behind you, you'd never expect a

result, you never are complacent until you've done it and I think

that's the way you should be. It's always a big thing to try and

achieve, Olympic medals. As the Olympic rowers hasta behind us,

including medals of men's teams who blame me for the weather where ever

we've been and it has rained again today. The strength of British

rowing is phenomenal and gets better and better. And also the style and

good-looking, look at them! Didn't quite get as big a cheer. That was

just friends and family! And it is. The whole team has been so

successful across all the sports. And in the crowd as well! I think we

know, there is an expectation to deliver big results now and we all

know that's what we're aiming for. Intensity day-to-day in the 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 could be

like an a day like this... I love these hats by the way. Do you want

one? Can someone here? Health and safety wouldn't have been very happy

there, you could have had my eye out! There you go. To Sumac and

finally, now I've got you a hat hopefully won't stump me for this

question, what's next? A holiday. Somewhere far away and

hot? I'm going to together with me! CHEERING

She said and it is live on television. Katherine Grainger and

Helen Glover, thank you very much. She is stealing hats, I like it!

That's three now. Let's bring some more out on the stage, the

Paralympic triathlon team next, ladies and gentlemen. A brand-new

sport at this year's Paralympics and Andy Lewis won the first ever gold

medal, Paralympic triathlon. Congratulations to you, Andy, and

the rest of the Paralympic triathlon team.

I'm delighted to introduce to you the Paralympic wheelchair basketball

team! Our men delivered a bronze medal, but here we have

representatives from our women's team who just missed out, finishing

a very close fourth. Congratulations, ladies! CHEERING

APPLAUSE. Following on, the Paralympic

wheelchair fencing team. Piers governor won silver, here's the

wheelchair sensor in 24 years to win a medal, well done!

Next up we have the Paralympic wheelchair rugby team! CHEERING

APPLAUSE. Thank you, guys.

Let's bring on another very successful Paralympic sport in Rio,

the Paralympic wheelchair tennis team!

CHEERING APPLAUSE won gold, two silver and two bronze. Gordon Reed

taking the gold. Alpha unit taking the silver and individually as well.

Jamie and Andy winning a bronze. Come and join us. A massive round of

applause for Gordon. You had to play your doubles partner Alf in the

final, was it like having a knock around? Definitely not. It was

difficult because we played doubles the night before and memory had to

come in the day after, but as soon as we got out on court there was no

mercy. How difficult is it taking on someone, you know his game well but

he knows yours well? It's tough, we've trained a lot together in the

last couple of years to form a good partnership in doubles, so it was

difficult, but at the end of the day, you just have to go out there

and treat it like any other match. It's been a massive year, not just a

gold and silver at the Paralympics but double grand slam winner and

Wimbledon winner as well. CHEERING APPLAUSE. How do you pick

a highlight? It's tough, it sounds good when you

say about that. It's been an amazing you. Thank you to everyone for the

support and thank you for coming out today in this lovely weather!

Listen... The weather is great! I'm hugely inspired by wheelchair

tennis. It is a brilliant event. My co-host wants to take up the sport.

What do you want to say to people about getting involved in it?

Anyone who is in -- inspired by any of the sport in Rio, go and try

them, it doesn't need to be tennis, anything, go and try them and see

which one you like the most. You have a big rivalry with the

French pairing as well. It is a shame that Alfie Doumbia. Will it go

on a long time because you're so young? One of the French guys is 45

so I don't know how long it will go on for! We have a few years left, me

and Alfie. This isn't the end, this is probably the beginning of our

journey as a doubles team. We will see what we can do in four years'

time. It wasn't just you who were successful, the rest of the team had

great success as well. A great venue to play in. How was the Rio

experience, beyond your expectations? We didn't really know

what it was going to be like. There was a lot of negativity before we

went out in the press, Zika virus, ticket sales and all that, but when

we got out there it was incredible. Playing in front of 8000-10,000

people. The atmosphere was incredible, loved it. All of that

negativity has been forgotten today. What does this crowd, the country's

support mean to you? CHEERING APPLAUSE.

It's incredible. It makes it all worthwhile to stop I'm sure I can

speak on behalf of all the athletes today to say a massive thanks and

we'd loved seeing you all out here today. See you in four years again.

You heard it here, see you in four years. See you at Wimbledon next

year as well. One more massive round of applause that Gordon Reed and the

Paralympic wheelchair tennis team. We have do mention plenty more to

come because it is Alfie's first year as a senior so plenty to look

forward to. A great first year. Please put your

hands together for the Paralympic table tennis team.

CHEERING APPLAUSE. I'm sure you all remember some

phenomenal moments delivered by the Paralympic table tennis team. Will

Bailey jumping up on that table! Getting disciplined for jumping on

the table after winning a gold medal at an Olympic Games but I think we

can let him off, right? Three medals from our Paralympic table tennis

team and that they are. Thank you very much, guys.

Next we are going to bring on the Paralympic swimming team!

CHEERING APPLAUSE. They have got an awful lot of medals

to carry on. The Paralympic swimming team, as that two Ellies join us.

Huge congratulations, Ellie Simmonds, your third aims, how was

this one? It was great to come from the home games which was outstanding

and go to this one in Rio, it was incredible. I'm so shocked by all

the people who have come out today and supported us. It is fantastic,

so thank you! I have had the privilege of watching you and

getting to know you over the years and I think the thing I'm not alone

in loving about you is you are so flipping humble, isn't she? It's

unbelievable. You've won medals at Beijing, London, Rio. Take us back

to first Games, you were 13 years old. Did you appreciate what was

happening? I think not, I think at the age of 13 you're on a whirlwind.

You're just a 13-year-old. I'm lucky that I've grown each games and

maturing and now I'm 21 so yeah, hopefully going to a few more Games.

You're going to Tokyo? My aim is to see, each year as it comes. Having a

bit of a break now, go travelling and see some of the world and then

hopefully represent my country again in Tokyo. Does it change as the

years go by? Do you feel there is more expectation pressure? No, not

really. The pressure that we had in London was huge. So Rio was quite

relaxed. I've achieved my dream of getting a gold medal, and now I've

got five, so I'm really happy. LAUGHTER

All right, see you! I've got five! Talk to me about that relay, that

was one of the moments of the Games, how did it feel to do it in under

three minutes? It was phenomenal to get under the three minute mark and

break a world record. I was so happy to come away with a personal best,

so really happy. I've met so many people who say Ellie Simmonds is my

favourite athlete, she is the person I want to be like. What advice would

you take to budding young swimmers? To love what you do. I think I'm

really fortunate I love swimming and the opportunities it has given me.

Just believe in yourself, as well. You seem to be very chilled. Is that

key to your success, do you think? It's just to enjoy it. I'm really

lucky the things I've got to do. You've got to go out there and have

fun and enjoy your every opportunity. You said the plan for

the immediate future is travelling, where is first on the list? Next

month I'm going to San Francisco, Mexico and San Diego. Seeing the

world that. Me my own with my little backpack. Looking forward to it.

Just you on your own? Yeah. CHEERING Congratulations, huge

congratulations, lovely to see you. Thank you guys, thank you. I'm

disappointed you've come out with your hood down after that entrance

you had in Rio. What was it like coming out of that incredible Rio

crowd? The crowd in Rio were amazing. They knew how to get

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

atmosphere to walk out to Andy got you going for your race. You are 15,

right? When I was 15 I was struggling to remember my swimming

kit for PE. How do you do at such a young age?

I don't know, it's been a whirlwind, to be honest. After London 2012 it

snowballed. It's amazing. I was inspired in 2012 and now I'm

swimming alongside Ellie. That's the amazing thing, you went to 22 up and

watched Ellie. What does it mean to stand on the same stage get in

getting the ball seaming idol? It's amazing, always something I dream

doll. -- getting in the pool. It's not really sunk in yet but I'm sure

it will. Only 15. We've got years of Ellie Robinson to see, don't we?

Hopefully, yes. I don't know, I'm going to take each year as it comes

and just keep going and keep training hard. We are definitely

going to see you in Tokyo, though? I'm going to aim for Tokyo, see if I

get there. Anything can happen in four years but I'm definitely going

to try and go. CHEERING

In a word, you two oh so smiley and you 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! Ellie beat

me in some races, hopefully that will change in Tokyo! I will support

my team-mates all the way, not Ellie Robinson but the whole team. We are

great team and proud to be British. A great team, you did yourself and

the nation proud. Congratulations on a phenomenal games. Well done to

both Ellies! CHEERING APPLAUSE. Next a sport

that we saw for the first time in the Olympics in Rio and the men's

and women's teams did really well. The rugby sevens!

CHEERING APPLAUSE. Four for the women, in a sport that

continues to grow and grow. Silver for the men, as well. After they

lost to Fiji in a pulsating and brutal final.

And after the rugby, the Olympic sailing team. Two gold medals and

one silver medal for our Olympic sailors at this regatta. Chris

Froome and Sophie Ainsworth among others. Next

the and Paralympic sailing team. Next up we have the Olympic tae kwon

do team. Of course tae kwon do did not fail to deliver on the medal

front, on the entertainment front, free medals, one of each colour.

Ecstatic scenes. Gold, silver and bronze. Let's have a little chat.

There might be people in the crowd who don't know that your nickname is

the Head Hunter, why? I just love to kick people in the head really! Glad

we got that cleared up! Tae kwon do has grown as a sport, even from when

you were there in 2012 in London. Yes, people used to say what sport

do you do, and people didn't even know what tae kwon do was, now

everybody knows, shouts Jade Jones. What was the difference between

competing in Rio and London? In London I was just a kid who fought

my heart out and won, but this time it was different. I had the pressure

going into it. I didn't think how much pressure I would actually have

until I got there so it was more relieved than anything. Working the

crowd very differently to everyone else who has come onstage! You keep

going, I will leave you till last. Let's have a quick word with Bianca.

How much do you two bounce off each other? We train together every day,

we live together and we push each other every day to go after our

goals. We are best friends, we live together and we go after our dreams

together. How did you find your Rio experience? I was so close to

getting to the final but I came away with an Olympic medal. I will go to

Tokyo and get gold. And tae kwon do has grown and grown in Manchester,

the centre is here at the Etihad campus, so is there are boys and

girls in this crowd or watching at home, bearing in mind Jade's

nickname, so some parents might say I don't know, but what would you say

to anyone who wants to have a go? Just to go to your local club. Just

go along, go and enjoy it, and hopefully go to the Olympics and

beyond the stage with us one day! Can I talk to you, you keep dancing

with the crowd! It is so nice to see you smiling because your interview

was one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen in sport, never

mind at the Olympics. I hope you are very proud of what is around your

neck. Absolutely, it is a great achievement, and to come home and

get a reception like this... Thank you, Manchester! What was the parade

like for you? It was brilliant, you all came even though it was pouring

with rain but I guess it wouldn't be Manchester if it didn't rain like

that. Strangely it is cracking the flags here, that is the first rain I

can remember in six months. What did you enjoy about being in Rio? I

enjoyed every single contest, walking out of the crowd, the GB

fans inspired me. I enjoyed the competition the most. Are you going

out partying in Manchester tonight? I cannot say that on the microphone!

I got a little wink, he's definitely going out partying in Manchester!

Give them a big round of applause. And we have one final sport. I'm

slightly worried about what he might be doing behind me for the next ten

minutes, but we have one more sport to bring out before we give them one

big round of applause more and the final sport is the Olympic triathlon

team. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. # You are gold, always believe in

your soul... #.

We have our men's competitors here in Alistair and Johnny Brownlee.

We were having a bit of a debate because we were saying will they

come, won't they come, they are not the kind of guys who go yes we are

here, we are fabulous. What do you make of this afternoon? It is