Huge crowds for Olympians' homecoming celebration
Large crowds have turned out for a homecoming event to celebrate a town's Olympic medallists.
Silver medal-winners Adam Burgess and Joe Clarke opened Stone's summer street party in Staffordshire and got back on the water with some of the town's children at the Stafford and Stone Canoe Club.
They were greeted with bunting, cakes and had plenty of autographs to sign as the sun shone on Saturday.
"It's really about celebrating our heroes," said Robert Holdway, the club's president and organiser of the event.
"We’ve got half of Great Britain's Olympic team coming from our little club which is just utterly astonishing."
Burgess clinched silver in the men’s canoe slalom while Clarke won his medal in the men’s kayak cross event.
Burgess said it was good to bring the silverware back and spend time with club members on the water.
"The raw speed that I have on the water, that is what separates me out from the competition," he said.
"That was kind of honed on the River Trent here because it is like treacle.
"I’m pretty sure we’ve got some Olympians of the future that are on the waters with us today."
Clarke added he was grateful to his hometown: "Stafford and Stone Canoe Club, I owe an awful lot to and Walton Priory Middle School, where I first started canoeing.
"For me, it's about doing it for yourself and the next thing is inspiring the next generation."
Despite the Games only finishing earlier this summer and further competitions to come this year, the pair said they were already thinking about the next Olympics.
“It’s bonkers actually, with a little bit of success, how quickly it kind of fades and you want more," said Burgess.
Clarke said seeing the baton handed over to Los Angeles for 2028 had given him an extra push.
"That just kind of added a few more coals on to that fire," he said.
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