Victory parade for Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes
Olympic and Paralympic champions including Mo Farah and Jonnie Peacock, are among 700 British athletes taking part in a victory parade to celebrate their achievements at London 2012.
Britain’s athletes are travelling through the capital to celebrate the huge medal hauls of both teams. Thousands are lining the streets of London to celebrate the country’s Olympic and Paralympic achievements one last time.
Team GB finished third in the medal table with 29 golds, 17 silvers and 19 bronzes while ParalympicsGB also finished third with 120 medals, easily surpassing a pre-Games target of 103 medals.
The Greatest Team Parade features athletes travel on 21 open-top floats, grouped in alphabetical order by their sport. The stars of the Olympics’ “Super Saturday” are on the first three floats.
The first includes Farah, the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m winner, followed by heptathlon gold medallist Ennis, with long jump champion Greg Rutherford in the third float.
Team GB’s cycling stars Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Laura Trott and Victoria Pendleton are on float seven, followed by double equestrian gold-medal winner Charlotte Dujardin, rowing champion Katherine Grainger, Ben Ainslie, Britain’s most successful Olympic sailor, and triathlon gold medallist Alistair Brownlee.
Paralympians Hannah Cockcroft, Jody Cundy, Sophie Christiansen and Jonnie Peacock will have little time to recover from Sunday night’s closing ceremony to take part in the parade.
Spectacle of sport
British Airways is leading a flypast with the Red Arrows during the event, after receiving special permission to fly over the Mall.
The flame-coloured Firefly A319 aircraft, which was used to bring the Olympic flame to the UK at the start of the Games, is to display a special “thank you” message on its underbelly.
During its 20-minute journey, it will pass over the Olympic Park at 3.40pm before reaching the Mall a minute later.
London mayor Boris Johnson said: “This summer our great city has hosted an unbelievable spectacle of sport and thousands will want to celebrate the achievements of our athletes by coming to the parade.
“It promises to be an incredible afternoon but I do want to remind people coming that we expect the route to be extremely busy and planning ahead is absolutely crucial if they are going to be able to make the most of their day.
“Everyone coming should take the time to check on their public transport arrangements and make sure they leave plenty of time to find a good spot.
“But don’t forget that there will be continuous television coverage on the main channels that will offer the very best views of the action.”
The parade, which has been organised by the mayor in conjunction with the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association, includes more than 90 per cent of Britain’s medal winners.
Travel warning
Organisers have warned there will be extensive road closures around the route of the parade, which started from Mansion House in the City at 1.30pm.
Members of the public are watching watch the parade as it travels along Queen Victoria Street and Cannon Street, passing St Paul’s Cathedral, continuing along Fleet Street, past Aldwych and into The Strand, before reaching Trafalgar Square.
A big screen at the base of Nelson’s Column, with live commentary, allows spectators to cheer on the athletes as the parade makes its way past Trafalgar Square, a Greater London Authority (GLA) spokesman said.
From Trafalgar Square, the athletes travel through Admiralty Arch into the Mall, travelling down to the Queen Victoria Memorial.
Most roads along the route closed at 11am, with those around Guildhall and Gresham Street in the City shut at 6am.
An area from Admiralty Arch to the Queen Victoria Memorial is ticket-only and reserved for groups who had made “an invaluable contribution to the Games and the success of our athletes,” the GLA said.