Canada’s Olympic athletes return home to cheering fans and relatives
TORONTO — Two plane loads of Canadian Olympians returned home from Rio to a hero’s welcome, as flag-waving fans clamoured for autographs and cheering family members offered up homecoming hugs.
Several members of Team Canada, including star swimmer Penny Oleksiak, landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport around 6 a.m., with another group of athletes scheduled to arrive at around the same time early Wednesday.
When the flights arrived, airport firefighters saluted the returning athletes with giant arcs of water on either side of the airplanes.
Loud cheers went up as the Olympians came through the arrivals gate, some stopping to talk to media, others heading straight to waiting family members.