It was the sort of homecoming every athlete dreams of.
Walking into the airport terminal, medal around your neck, a crowd waiting to welcome you as a hero.
Six of those heroes, alongside coach Raylene Bates, emerged from the arrivals gate at Dunedin Airport last night.
A crowd of about 200 gathered to welcome home the city’s Paralympians.
The athletes were greeted with a loud cheer as they emerged last from the plane which carried them on the final leg of their trip home from Rio.
Anna Grimaldi, Jessica Hamill, Rory McSweeney, Holly Robinson, Caitlin Dore and Jacob Phillips were swamped by family, friends and fans alike.
There were smiles, hugs, photos and autographs to be had all round, the athletes enthusiastically obliging every last person.
Long jump gold medallist Grimaldi (19) was blown away by the reception.
"It’s amazing. This is bigger than the welcoming the whole team had in Auckland," she said.
"It’s awesome that Dunedin’s getting behind us."
New Zealand’s opening ceremony flag bearer and javelin silver medallist Robinson (21) said it was good to finally be back in Dunedin.‘‘It feels so good to be home. I’ve been looking forward to it the last couple of days.
"We’ve been stuck in Auckland the last couple of days doing some stuff up there, so it feels great to be home, and to come home to this welcoming, it’s pretty cool."
New Zealand won 21 medals at the Games, and Otago athletes accounted for four of them in a highly successful performance.
"It’s great [to be home]. I’ve been looking forward to getting back to Dunedin, I think all of us have," javelin bronze medallist Rory McSweeney (31) said.
"So to finally get here and this sort of reception is pretty unreal, a bit overwhelming to be honest, but pretty cool to have our feet on the ground."
Shot put bronze medallist Jessica Hamill (26) was similarly thrilled with the welcome.
"It’s amazing, it’s really good to be home. I’ve been waiting for this for a few days now. [It’s] awesome support, lots of people here, more than I expected," she said.
The Taieri Athletics Club held a special presentation for the athletes, as five of them compete for the club and Bates is a life member.
Rest and catching up with friends and family was on the agenda for the coming days, as the athletes looked forward to settling back into Dunedin.
