Hosted by Vice Chancellor Professor Robert Allison and Pro Chancellor Lord Sebastian Coe, the event paid tribute to the 34 medals won by Loughborough athletes at The Games, with many of them there on the evening to share their stories.

Over 80 Loughborough athletes past and present competed in Rio de Janeiro, with 19 year old Geography student and swimmer Tim Shuttleworth the youngest and double gold medallist Richard Whitehead the oldest.

The evening began with an opening speech and welcome from the Vice Chancellor, who congratulated athletes on their successes. This was followed by a welcome from His Excellency Eduardo dos Santos, Ambassador of Brazil to the UK.

Matt Gotrel who was part of the gold medal winning men’s eight rowing crew, Ben Ryan, coach to the first ever Fijian gold medallists in the inaugural men’s rugby sevens event and Crystal Lane, who won Paralympic cycling silver and bronze despite only having her place on Paralympics GB confirmed two weeks prior to flying out to Brazil, were then invited to the stage alongside Lord Coe. Together they took part in a question and answer session led by Loughborough’s Executive Director of Sport John Steele.

On the evening Vice Chancellor Professor Robert Allison said:

“This was a fantastic Games for Loughborough University, if we were a country we would have finished 17^th in the Olympic medal table ahead of Canada and New Zealand, and 10^th in the Paralympic medal table, something I’m extremely proud of.”