Yorkshire Water handed out 7,000 free bottles of tap water, which they dubbed the ‘drink of champions’ to the public of Yorkshire and its Olympic athletes. The occasion was a special homecoming parade which was held in Leeds City Centre on Wednesday 28th September.
In what promised to be a truly memorable occasion, the people of Yorkshire were afforded the opportunity to pick their spot in the Leeds City Centre from around 5.15pm and cheer their ‘Rio Heroes’ as they rode along the parade route on open-top busses and cars between 5.45pm-6.45pm.
Yorkshire Water sponsored the event, stationing a stand outside the Leeds Central Library on the Headrow to give out thousands of free bottles of tap water, which it has dubbed the ‘drink of champions’.
Prior to the event, Richard Sears, Communications Director at Yorkshire Water said: “Once again, the Yorkshire born athletes have performed remarkably well at the Rio Olympics, winning 14 Olympic and 12 Paralympic medals for GB. We wanted to acknowledge their magnificent performance and so will be at the event handing out free bottles of tap water, which – surely – is the drink of champions and the tastiest water in the UK.”
The parade had been jointly organised by Welcome to Yorkshire and Leeds City Council.
The list of Yorkshire athletes who confirmed their attendance to the star-studded event was a rather impressive one, including:
- Triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee who earned gold and silver medals respectively.
- World, European and Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft MBE who has now won two golds in Rio.
- Diver and gold medallist, Jack Laugher.
- Paralympic Cycling Pilot double gold medallist, Adam Duggleby.
- Paralympic swimmer, Jonathan Booth.
- Bronze medal gymnast, Nile Wilson.
- Rowing silver medallist, Zoe Lee.
- Vicky Holland, who won bronze in the triathlon.
- Rowers Andy Triggs Hodge, Tom Ransley and Paul Bennett who all claimed gold.
- Cycling gold medallist Ed Clancy
- Double Paralympic gold medallist, Kadeena Cox
Barnsley-born Gold medal cyclist Ed Clancy, said: “I’m really happy to be involved in the Rio Heroes parade. It’s going to be great catching up with the other Olympians and seeing the huge crowds in Leeds. We’re all massively grateful for the support we receive around the county and it’ll definitely be a fun evening.”
