Proud of London, proud of Londoners

The 2012 Games are over, our Olympic and Paralympic athletes have achieved more than we could have hoped for and deserve the praise that they will receive from the crowds at today's parade.

In addition to them the civil engineers who built the venues, athlete's village and other infrastructure deserve our thanks, as do the members of the organising committee, officials from the sporting bodies, the sponsor companies, members of the emergency services, the army of volunteers, members of the armed forces, transport workers and everyone else who helped make the Games such a huge success.  Many of their contributions will have been behind the scenes and not formally recognised but they will know, in their own hearts, that they played a part in putting on one of the greatest events that the world has seen.

Over the last six weeks London has been shown off to the world and the feedback has been fantastic, international visitors have showered us with unsolicited praise.  Just as the athletes surpassed the high targets that they were set, so London and Londoners have excelled in providing a warm, welcoming and impressive reception to the millions of visitors that we have had.

The years leading up to the games and the last six weeks in particular have reinforced my huge pride in our city and I feel that we have every right to claim that London is the greatest city in the world.