Editorial: A welcome celebration of Northern Ireland's 2024 Olympic heroes

​Last night Northern Ireland’s Olympians were at last celebrated at an event in Belfast.

​The games, which ended in August, led to by far the best results ever for athletes from the province. Six athletes won a stunning seven medals, including two golds.

All of the Olympians and paralympians who qualified for the two competitions did NI proud.

The medal winners did so all the more with their stunning achievement: Rhys McClenaghan of Newtownards (aged 25, gold, pommel horse); Daniel Wiffen of Magheralin, Co Armagh (aged 23, gold in 800m freestyle, bronze in 1500m freestyle); Hannah Scott of Coleraine (aged 25, gold, rower); Jack McMillan of Belfast (aged 24, gold, swimmer; Philip Doyle of Banbridge (aged 31, bronze, double sculls)l andRebecca Shorten of Belfast (aged 30, silver, rower).

There had not been an individual gold winner from the province since Mary Peters in 1972. She of course was there last night to toast the heirs to her record of being best in the world.

NI’s extraordinary medal haul was better pro rata than either Team Ireland or Team GB (some of our heroes competed for one team, some for the others) when you consider the relative populations of either the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

Both the medal winners and the others who qualified are an inspiration to the young people of today as to what can be achieved through years of training and immense dedication.

Sadly Daniel Wiffen was not present last night, being in Bali on a well deserved holiday. But he joined the occasion by video.

The Olympics of 2024 are one of the greatest sporting triumphs for Northern Ireland in the country’s 103-year history.

How fitting it was to see that success celebrated in NI’s largest indoor stadium.