Thousands Line Streets For Athlete Parade
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London yesterday for the victory parade of Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic teams, with 800 competitors – including over 90% of GB medallists – boarding 21 floats and cheered on throughout the route.
A statement from the Mayor’s Office said that while no exact figure for the number of spectators was known, hundreds of thousands had turned up for what it described as one of the largest events London had seen.
The parade climaxed with an event near the Queen Victoria Memorial, which was kicked off with a flypast, led by the British Airways plane that initially brought the Olympic flame to the UK.
The show also featured the Red Arrows, Amy MacDonald, the Pet Shop Boys, as well as speeches from athletes and the prime minister, and was watched by 14,000 ticket-holders who had made an invaluable contribution to the Games, including Games Maker volunteers, members of the emergency services, military personnel, competitors’ coaches, and support staff.
Meanwhile, the rest of the parade – starting from Mansion House, down the Strand and past Trafalgar Square – was open to all.
More than 90% of Britain’s medallists, including Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, and Jonnie Peacock, were paraded on the open-top floats through the city.
The parade marked the end of eight weeks of Olympic and Paralympic events, with the British teams finishing third in the medals table in both the Olympics and Paralympics.
Team GB’s Olympians notched up 29 golds, 17 silvers and 19 bronzes, while their Paralympian counterparts collected 34 golds, 43 silvers and 43 bronzes.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson closed the event, commenting: ‘We should thank the people without whom the last six weeks would not have made sense and not have been possible: the most successful team of athletes this country has ever assembled.’
‘You routed the doubters and you scattered the gloomsters and for the first time in living memory you caused Tube train passengers to break into spontaneous conversation with their neighbours about subjects other than their trod-on toes.’
‘And, speaking as a spectator, you produced such paroxysms of tears and joy on the sofas of Britain that you probably not only inspired a generation, but helped to create one as well.’
