Date announced for Hoy to receive freedom prize

SIR Chris Hoy will be awarded the freedom of his home city later this month when thousands of people are expected to welcome back Edinburgh’s Olympic and Paralympic stars.

The cyclist, Britain’s most successful Olympian, will receive the honour after joining other sportsmen and women on an open-top bus tour through the city on Sunday 16 September.

The ceremony will make him one of the few living recipients of the award which is also held by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Sean Connery, Nelson Mandela and Burmese democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Details of the event, which will celebrate Olympians and Paralympians who have a connection to Edinburgh, were announced by the city council yesterday.

The open-top bus will leave from the City Chambers at 2:15pm on the day, going up the Royal Mile and turning on to the Mound. It will make its way slowly down the hill, past the giant symbol of the Paralympic Games and will cross Princes Street on to Hanover Street where a post-box painted gold in Sir Chris’s honour stands.

The final leg of the journey will see the bus turning right on to George Street, performing a short loop, before heading west along the street.

Sir Chris, who has six Olympic gold medals – two from London 2012 – will then be given the freedom of the city at the Assembly Rooms at around 3pm. It will be followed by a civic reception, hosted by the Lord Provost.