Johnson hails Beijing Games heroes

Published on Thursday 16 October 2008 21:45

THOUGHTS of the credit crunch were banished – for just a moment yesterday – as London's Olympic organisers hailed the British stars of this year's Beijing Games in a Parade of Heroes.

London mayor Boris Johnson, standing in the shadow of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, said: "I think they have brought back the most strong British triumph since Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar."

• Watch a slideshow of pictures from the parade here

But despite the "very good atmosphere" and "true sense of national pride" created by the performances of the British Olympians and Paralympians, he predicted that "Olympo-cynicism" just might set in before the London 2012 Games.

All eyes will be on ensuring that the 9.3 billion budget is not exceeded amid the current economic turmoil.

Johnson said: "There is no doubt that this has brought something of the excitement that people felt in Beijing to British streets. I am not going to pretend for a second that this is going to survive to 2012. This is going to have its up and downs particularly as we get into a downturn – Olympo-cynicism will return."

Meeting the budgets and time deadlines would be both "a challenge and privilege we will meet in the years to come," he predicted.

"When you are talking about 10million here and 10million there, it is all something which adds up but I do not think we should be talking ourselves down in the dumps here.

"We do not want a hair-shirt or austerity Games, we want to show London off to the world."

Lord Coe, chair of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee, said he was not surprised that thousands of people turned out to cheer on the British athletes. The double Olympic 1500m champion from 1980 and 1984 said: "It does not surprise me that people came out to celebrate all our medallists because we are very good at this.

"I do think that the athletes were blown away by it all. They did not realise that all this appreciation was going on while they were in Beijing."

He hoped that a spin-off would be increased participation. Lord Coe said: "I think this will be really helpful. Driving participation is not about having the right level of funding and infrastructure but it is also about having the focus on the greatest Olympians like Chris Hoy.

"There are kids out there who would have watched him and the other athletes with their medals around their necks and think, 'I want to take up sport'."

The staging of London 2012 is "moving on well" with a seventh tier-one sponsor announced this week and we are "on target for bringing in new partners to the table," according to Lord Coe.

He said: "It is no secret that we are in a credit crunch. It will play a part in the construction of the village, " adding that reviewing the progress of the Games, including the staging of events, is a natural process. "We will always look at best value and legacy"

UK Sport, the agency responsible for driving this success, is keen to emphasise why the whole country should feel proud and celebrate what the athletes have achieved.

John Steele, chief executive of UK Sport, said: "The Heroes Parade today is an opportunity for the public to show their appreciation for the fantastic performances of Team GB and Paralympics GB in Beijing, which were the culmination of many, many years of hard work on the part of our athletes. But this is also an opportunity for the athletes to thank the public for their support.

"Government and National Lottery investment in British Olympians and Paralympians via UK Sport over the last decade has meant that everyone in the UK has helped prepare these athletes for the their success. This is one sporting achievement we can all take pride in."