BRITAIN’S most decorated Winter Paralympians Menna Fitzpatrick and Jen Kehoe revelled in the chance to give back to the fans that supported their PyeongChang heroics.

Taking part in a junior two-kilometre parkrun at Great Hollands Recreation Ground in Bracknell, the gold medallists were supporting youngsters and showing their gratitude to the public.

Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces was a highlight for Fitzpatrick and she expressed her delight over inspiring future athletes to get active.

“We absolutely love coming to support the kids, they’re the next generation, they’re the athletes of the future,” said the 20-year-old, who also won two silvers and a bronze at the Winter Paralympics earlier this year.

“So, if we can be here to support them and inspire them to follow their dreams in whatever sport they want to do then that’s massively powerful for us.

“The public have supported us when we were at the Paralympic Games, so we want to say a massive thank you to all the support that everyone has given us and hopefully we can inspire anyone.”

Kehoe added, speaking at a #teamparkrun event; a campaign that will see National Lottery-funded Olympic and Paralympic heroes inspire local communities across the UK to get active: “Even if that’s getting off the sofa on a Saturday or Sunday morning to come running, that’s a cool aim to have so it’s a great opportunity to do that.

“We were both inspired by our idols at varying ages, so I think being able to have that opportunity to come and share our gold medal with people whatever their age is an amazing opportunity to hopefully give them the inspiration to go and win their own one day.

“I love seeing people out here being active, there were so many kids getting involved in the parkrun this morning.

“To see the effect that teamparkrun is having on the British population, getting people fit is only going to be a good thing for the nation, so the more that we can encourage and support it, the better.”

The skiing stars showed off their gold medals to the awe-struck crowds at Bracknell, but the pair emphasised how important the help of the public is in contributing to the funding of British athletes by playing the National Lottery.

“Being here is our way of saying thank you to everybody who plays the National Lottery,” said Kehoe, speaking in Bracknell, where the UK's National Lottery funded Olympic and Paralympic athletes are once again teaming up with parkrun to encourage the nation to get active with #teamparkrun.

“Without their support we wouldn’t get the funding to do what we do on the slopes, so a massive thank you to everybody.”

Fitzpatrick added: “Funding is massively important to what we do, we can’t get by without the support from UK Sporty.

“The funding we get supports everything we do, from coaches to buying our skis, to buying the equipment, letting us stay in certain places for our training. Basically, being able to do what we love, it helps us to do our job.”

PLEASE LEAVE IN FINAL PAR To thank the public for their support through playing The National Lottery, Britain’s top athletes will volunteer as tail walkers at parkrun events across the UK from 18 August to 9 September. Everyone is welcome at #teamparkrun - be part of it! www.teamparkrun.com