Record-breaking Scots stars enjoy homecoming event after Rio success
THEY were performing heroics in the Rio sunshine just a few weeks ago.
But yesterday, Scotland’s record-breaking Olympic and Paralympic heroes swapped the sun-kissed Copacabana for the Edinburgh rain as they were rewarded with a homecoming event to celebrate their success.
Dozens of athletes were cheered by children and mobbed for selfies as they arrived at Oriam, the new sports performance centre at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
The event included a Q&A and a chance for people to try sports such as rowing, judo and tennis, aided by tips from the athletes.
Wheelchair tennis star Gordon Reid proudly showed off his gold and silver medals from Rio.
He said: “It’s been pretty crazy since I got back, the reception has been incredible. To be able to come back and share the success is nice and to see so many kids here is great.
“Hopefully the chance to see a gold or silver medal and maybe try it on will inspire them to go and do the same in the future.”
Rio 2016 was Scotland’s most successful overseas Olympics, with Scottish competitors securing 13 medals – four gold, seven silver and two bronze.
Scots athletes on the Paralympics GB team won 17 medals, surpassing their London 2012 total of 11.
Most of the athletes wore their medals round their neck at the event as they posed for pictures, but swimmer Duncan Scott, who won two silvers in Brazil, had his in his pocket.
He said: “I’m needing to take them to get tidied up, if I wear them they hit off each other and they are pretty scratched.
“A wee kid also dropped one of them in a puddle, but I suppose I can say they’ve got character.”
Most of the Scottish Olympic and Paralympic medallists were there, including rower Heather Stanning, cyclists Callum Skinner and Katie Archibald, and Edinburgh swimmers Scott Quin and Dan Wallace.
The event was followed by a public celebration in Festival Square, before the athletes attend the Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Double Wimbledon and Olympic champion Andy Murray was named 2016 Scottish Sportsperson of the Year.
He said: “I am delighted to be awarded the Scottish Sportsperson of the Year Award for the third time, particularly given all the incredible performances by other Scots this year.”
Stanning’s five-year winning streak in the coxless pairs, culminating in a second Olympic gold in Rio with Helen Glover, gave her the nod for Female Athlete of the Year.