Sutcliffe and Ellis had wagered on the final positions of their countries in the medal table in last month's Olympics and, after Britain's fourth-placed finish - with 19 golds ahead of Australia's 14 - the latter accepted the ultimate humiliation for an Australian sports fan.

 

Prior to the Paralympics preliminary round wheelchair basketball match between the nations Sutcliffe made the presentation to Ellis.

 

He said: "Kate's a great sport to honour our bet and wear our Paralympic GB shirt at tonight's Great Britain-Australia basketball match.

 

"But after all, we did win fair and square, with our fantastic athletes proving just how good our elite sport can be.

 

"The bet was a bit of light-hearted fun, but I'm thrilled that we had such unprecedented success at the Olympics, putting us in fourth position ahead of great sporting nations like Australia.

 

"It just shows what we can achieve with proper investment in elite sport, wonderful back-up and support teams, and of course the dedication of our highly-talented athletes."

 

Ellis said: "It's great that there's a healthy rivalry between our two nations and I congratulate Great Britain on their success at the Olympics.

 

"I'll eat a little humble pie along with the Australian team and we'll work a little harder for our future success."

 

Sutcliffe is optimistic the Paralympic team can replicate the feats of their Olympic counterparts, having won seven golds and 15 medals in all to be third in the medal table - one place ahead of Australia - at the end of day two.

 

He said: "We've had a great start at the Paralympics with Great Britain third in the medal table at the moment.

 

"I'm sure we'll go on to do really well and I wish our athletes every success for the rest of the Games."

 

But tonight Ellis had the last laugh.

 

Australia beat Britain 67-48.