Olympic heroes are hailed as Leeds plans a champion homecoming

Team GB had a Paris 2024 to remember, winning a grand total of 65 medals over the course of 16 days of thrilling sporting action.

And Leeds-based athletes played a major part in that national success story, delivering a series of magical gold, silver and bronze moments as fans cheered them on back in Yorkshire.

Notable performers from the city included Tom Pidcock, who took cross-country mountain biking gold on day three of the Games, and Katy Marchant, one of the cycling trio that won Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic women’s team sprint gold on day 10.

Other standout local participants included rower Georgie Brayshaw, triathletes Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and Beth Potter, gymnast Harry Hepworth and divers Jack Laugher, Anthony Harding and Lois Toulson.

Their medal haul underlined Leeds’s status as a powerhouse of sporting talent, and also provided fitting testament to the dedication of the volunteers who run countless community clubs and teams across the city.

Plans are now in the pipeline for a civic reception in Leeds later this year that will honour all the local athletes – medal winners or otherwise – who helped make the Olympics so special.

The event will also celebrate the achievements of Leeds-based competitors at the Paralympic Games, which take place in Paris from August 28 to September 8.

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung, said:

“Team GB has had a magnificent medal-winning Olympics, and I’m so proud that the city of Leeds made such a glittering contribution to that success.

“Whether they’re from Leeds or use our superb facilities as a base for their training, every single local athlete flew the flag for the city in tremendous fashion throughout the Games.

“Their achievements have further strengthened Leeds’s reputation as a true sporting city, and I look forward to personally congratulating them – along with our equally-impressive Paralympic athletes – at the civic reception later this year.”

Further details about the reception – including a date for the event, which will be timed to fit in with the athletes’ various diaries – will be confirmed by the council in due course.

Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire have an enviable record at recent Games, with the county famously outperforming countries such as Jamaica, Spain and Brazil with its haul of seven gold, two silver and three bronze medals at London 2012.

ENDS