30 September 2016

Göran R Buckhorn writes:

On Wednesday, Rio Olympic medallists Heather Stanning and Katherine Grainger were honoured at the 2016 Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards in Edinburgh, British Rowing writes on its website.

Stanning, who took her second Olympic gold medal in Rio with Helen Glover in the pairs, was appointed Female Athlete of the Year, while Grainger was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award after becoming Britain’s most decorated female Olympian. She won her fifth Olympic medal at Rio, a silver in the double sculls with Vicky Thornley.

‘It’s genuinely a massive shock. It’s not something I predicted, I didn’t see it coming, so I’m genuinely lost for words which is unusual. It’s the most incredible thing to cap off the most incredible year,’ Grainger said, according to BritishRowing.org.

Earlier in the day, Scotland’s Olympians had been celebrated in a parade through Edinburgh. Stanning and Grainger were joined by fellow rowers Karen Bennett and Polly Swann, both being members of the British eight that took a silver, and Alan Sinclair, who, together with Stewart Innes, took a fourth place in the pairs.

In Leeds, Andrew Hodge, who took his third Olympic gold, was joined by other Yorkshire rowers Paul Bennett and Tom Ransley, all three members of the British gold eight. Joining them on an open-top bus parade through Leeds were Zoe Lee, silver medallist in the eights, and Paralympic champions Grace Clough and Laurence Whiteley.

Tomorrow, Saturday, 1 October, Matt Langridge, Olympic champion in the eights, will receive the Freedom of Northwich in his hometown.

The same day, five Olympians, Alex Gregory, Chris Bartley, Will Satch, Frances Houghton, Katie Greves, and two Paralympians, James Fox and Rachel Morris, will be sharing their Rio experiences at the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is a ticketed event: £8.50 for adults and £4.50 for children. To book your ticket, please call: 01491-415600.

British Rowing’s website also writes that ‘Grainger will be among the Olympians and Paralympians from the Marlow area taking part in a homecoming party at Higginson Park on Sunday. Also attending will be London 2012 Paralympic champion Naomi Riches, who last week became the first woman to row the length of the Thames’.

Manchester and London are two other spots where Team GB and ParalympicsGB are staging two national celebrations on 17 and 18 October. For more information, click here.