A SPRINTER and business analyst was chosen to star in the Paralympic closing ceremony by accepting a bouquet of thanks from athletes to volunteers.

Hemal Khanderia, of Coles Crescent, South Harrow, had been nominated for the centre stage role by fellow volunteers in the radio team at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.

The 26-year-old was one of six volunteers chosen to step forward and receive a bunch of flowers from a competitor and he was paired with Turkish para-archer Gizem Girismen, with whom he still keeps in touch.

He said: “It was an amazing experience. It was a money-can’t-buy moment.

“All the athletes stood in a line together and when the announcer said our name one by one, we walked across the stage to the biggest cheer I’ve ever heard in my life. We hugged each other and picked up the flowers and a massive roar went up, and then Coldplay started up.

“The girl in front of me had a lot of nerves but the other five of us were fine because we gone through it twice in rehearsal. I was buzzing for hours before and I’m still buzzing right now.”

The former Whitmore High School and Harrow College student is a business analyst for Age UK in the City and worked and volunteered in evenings around his day job for all but three days of the Paralympics.

The sprinter for Ealing, Southall and Middlesex Athletics Club was tasked with checking the walkie talkie radios in and out and teaching security and other staff how to use the handheld devices.

Mr Khanderia said: “I bought lots of tickets for the Olympics and was at the closing ceremony and was a spectator at the Paralympic opening ceremony. I was actually looking for tickets for the Paralympic closing ceremony and that’s when I got a phone call to say I was actually taking part.”