11 Sep 2012

London parade held for Olympic and Paralympic athletes

9:24 am on 11 September 2012

London has celebrated the end of both the Olympics and Paralympics with a parade for the British athletes.

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the route as 800 competitors travelled on 21 floats which took two hours to make their way through the city on Monday.

Competitors were also honoured with a flypast over Buckingham Palace.

They were grouped by their sports and travelled in alphabetical order with archers and athletes on the first floats and weightlifters and the water polo team at the rear.

Medallists included Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, Rebecca Adlington, Tom Daley, Zara Phillips

and Jonnie Peacock.

The show also featured the Red Arrows and performances from Amy MacDonald and the Pet Shop Boys.

"You have given us moments that we will never forget,'' said Prime Minister David Cameron. ''The whole country salutes your brilliance."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said the athletes had inspired the whole nation.