PARALYMPIAN gold medalist Andy Lewis was given a hero’s homecoming welcome by thousands of his fellow Lydneyites on Saturday.

Triathlon gold medalist Andy was cheered on by crowds lining the streets as he made a triumphal tour of his home town by open top bus.

Andy won the first ever Paralympic triathlon championship in Rio, only two years after taking up the sport.

He told the crowd at Bathurst Park to never let anything or anybody get in the way in achieving their goals.

The celebrations began with Andy taking part in the Park Run at Bathurst Park before attending a pre-match lunch at Lydney Rugby Club which was followed by a run out on the pitch prior to the club’s game with Bournemouth.

After touring Lydney on an open top bus he was escorted to Bathurst Park by the town’s mayor, Councillor Bob Berryman. Andy remarked that the whole town had turned out to honour him as he walked through the memorial gates.

From the recently refurbished bandstand Andy shouted out: "I would like to thank every single one of you for coming today. This means absolutely everything to me.”

And as he showed off his gold medal he added: "Every single one of you here today played a part in this and I hope this has inspired you,” and encouraged the crowd to cheer for him as he snapped this selfie on his mobile phone.