Nation swells with pride as crowds hail medal heroes

TENS of thousands of well- wishers thronged the streets of Edinburgh yesterday as Scotland's Olympic heroes returned home in triumph.

Waving from an open-topped bus, the four Scots medallists – Chris Hoy, David Florence, Katherine Grainger and Ross Edgar – appeared shocked by the scale of the celebrations.

With the Royal Mile taken over by a sea of people – estimated to be 50,000 strong by the City of Edinburgh Council – it fell to triple gold winner Hoy to best sum up the experience. "For someone in a minority sport, to go from virtual obscurity to this is amazing," the cyclist said.

As far as their cheerleaders were concerned, however, Scotland's Olympians could not be congratulated enough. Whether crowded in shop doorways, waving from second-floor office windows or sitting high on postboxes, the people of Edinburgh felt compelled to turn up and show their adulation.

"They have made the whole country proud to be Scottish by what they did in China," said Ben Reid, 31, a trainee teacher. "Athletes put in years of training for a single event, so it's only right people get off their backsides and wish them all the best."

A stream of people followed the bus, as it crept slowly down from the castle towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The procession included pupils from Hoy's former school, George Watson's College.

Jennifer Davidson, 28, from Bearsden, near Glasgow, had come to Edinburgh on her day off work to cheer the athletes.

She said: "They really deserve all this. In fact, I think they deserve a lot more. We just can't do enough to show them how much we appreciate their success.

"It's great that this event has been put on so that we can show them just how much it means."

Christine Hellier, 45, from Ottery St Mary, in Devon, said: "I think it's brilliant. It's lovely to see them up there. It's great to be part of their success. It's been amazing this year. We've never done so well. It's been a fantastic success all round, and particularly for Scotland."

The hour-long journey saw the athletes disembark at the edge of Holyrood Park, where they signed autographs for waiting schoolchildren. Among the crowd were dozens of protesters campaigning to save Meadowbank velodrome, where Hoy trained as a teenager.

Kevin Conner, one of the group, complained: "Edinburgh produced Chris Hoy and the council want to knock down the very birthplace of his success."

Yesterday, however, was a day for rejoicing in the achievements in Beijing.

As he became the first British Olympian in 100 years to win three gold medals at a single Games, Hoy knew he would be making headlines back home.

But little did he realise how many of them were on the front pages, not the back.

"It's the most exciting time of my life," he said "It's a welcome unlike anything else. We had no idea out in the (athletes'] village what was going on (back in Britain]. You get the odd text message and e-mail saying, 'It's crazy', but you don't take it in." Hoy is also coming to terms with being looked at in a "funny way" in public as he becomes widely recognised. "It's bizarre, but I've really enjoyed every minute of it, so far. I know it won't last for ever," he said.

Fellow cyclist Edgar, who took silver in the men's keirin behind Hoy, said his Olympic medal was "the biggest thing that's ever happened in my life".

Earlier, the athletes were guests of honour at an official reception at Edinburgh Castle.

Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy first minister, spoke of passing Lothian Road in the capital recently and seeing a giant poster of Hoy, with the words "King of Scotland" beneath. "Nobody in Scotland would disagree with that," she said.

She chose not to repeat the SNP's calls for a separate Scottish Olympic team, instead insisting the entire nation should use the "Beijing bounce" to encourage future generations. She went on: "Their success was achieved in China, a country where Eric Liddell devoted much of his life.

"Each of these athletes are fitting successors. The Scottish Government's overriding priority is to see an increase in sporting participation throughout Scotland. The success of our four medallists can only be a major influence on our young people and help inspire the heroes of tomorrow."

Louise Martin, the Sportscotland chairwoman, said: "The achievements of the four Scottish medallists will hopefully inspire and motivate our young people to take part in sport and physical activity and engender the belief that they, too, can succeed."

George Grubb, Edinburgh's Lord Provost, congratulated Hoy, in particular, and said he could rightly be hailed as an ambassador for his home city. "Everyone in Edinburgh is immensely proud of him," he said.

Top cyclist backpedals on Scottish team

CHRIS Hoy yesterday softened his stance on the idea of a separate Scots Olympic team.

Asked whether he would represent his homeland at a future Games, the 32-year-old said: "I would cross that bridge when I came to it. If it came to Scotland representing itself in the Olympic Games, I would be very proud to do that, obviously.

"My concerns initially were that were Scotland to go it alone, there aren't the facilities in my sport to sustain a team. So I believe before any calls are made for a Scottish team, they need to address the facilities.

"We've got the talent, we've got these athletes, we've got the passion, we just need the opportunities and facilities to make it happen, otherwise you would be banging your head against a brick wall."

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