Rochdale Olympians to be honoured at town hall

Nicola White shows her Olympic gold medal

Rochdale’s Olympic athletes will be honoured with a civic thank you at the town hall after their success at this summer’s games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Amongst the Olympic stars set to be greeted by the Mayor of Rochdale and Rochdale Leader of Council is Nicola White from Littleborough. She helped the Great Britain women’s hockey team to win gold after she scored an important equalising goal in the final against the Netherland’s last Friday (19 August).

Cyclist Joanna Rowsell-Shand, who lives in Middleton, is also set to be honoured after she won gold in the women’s team pursuit. Keri-Anne Payne could also be present after the swimmer, who grew up in Heywood, finished seventh in the Olympic 10km marathon swim.

Mayor Ray Dutton said: “I am really pleased that we can show our community links with sport. It is wonderful to be able to do this and I am looking forward to it. We will be receiving the athletes with open arms and thanking them for what they have achieved.

“I was at a sports coaching award ceremony in Middleton Arena recently and some of the people there were struggling to get into work. I think this shows that they can be the future coaches of our Olympians as well, because it’s not just about the athletes, it’s about the infrastructure, too.”

There will also be a parade of Great Britain’s successful Olympians and Paralympians in Manchester, which is expected to be in October later this year.