Laurens hails amazing Paralympics

Laurens won two medals from his three events at the Paralympics

Dressage rider Simon Laurens, who lives at Birdlip in Gloucestershire, admits that he has been overwhelmed by his first Paralympic Games.

On board Ocean Diamond Laurens won team gold but missed out in the individual competetion, before bouncing back with silver in the freestyle section.

"It's been an amazing experience, something I'll treasure for the rest of my days," he told the BBC.

"It's a little bit like what I imagine coming down off of a high is like."

Being part of the equestrian squad, Laurens and his fellow riders competed in Hong Kong, separating them from the rest of the Paralympics GB team in Beijing.

Laurens admitted it was good to be re-united before the closing ceremony

"It's a little bit strange actually because it was so intense while we were out in Hong Kong," added Laurens.

"We're back here in Beijing now and this is great, this is huge and it's got a huge atmosphere and hopefully we'll manage to keep going until we get home!"