From Beijing to London 2012: Where are Britain's gold medal winners? | Sport | The Guardian From Beijing to London 2012: Where are Britain's gold medal winners? How the past four years have unfolded for Britain's 27 champions from the last Olympic Games From left, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Tom James, Steve Williams and Pete Reed celebrate gold at the Beijing Olympics. Photograph: Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images Tuesday 24 July 2012 18.02 EDT First published on Tuesday 24 July 2012 18.02 EDT Tom James Rowing Coxless four The Cambridge engineering graduate took a year off after the 2008 Games to run the London marathon, coach and do charity work. In 2010 he missed most of the season with a back injury as well as discovering he suffers from an abnormal heart rhythm. Things improved and in 2011, the four, comprising James, Alex Gregory, Ric Egington and Matt Langridge, won world gold. Only James and Gregory have kept their places in the four for London with Pete Reed and Andy Triggs-Hodge coming in.

Iain Percy Sailing Star class Percy had already won Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 when he and Simpson won the Star Class in Beijing. After China he and Simpson joined Team Origin, captained by Ben Ainslie, which aimed to compete in the 2013 America's Cup but Percy and Simpson retrained their sights on defending their Olympic title when Team Origin withdrew. Percy, 36, and the oldest member of the British sailing squad, is now fully fit after missing last year's world championships with a back problem. Bradley Wiggins Cycling Individual pursuit, team pursuit Wiggins will go into London 2012 as favourite to win the time-trial after becoming the first British rider to win the Tour de France. After Beijing he signed for Garmin-Slipstream, finishing fourth in his first Tour before moving to Team Sky and recording back-to-back wins in the Dauphiné. He will also compete in the road race in London. Ben Ainslie Sailing Finn class Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, Ainslie won his third gold in a row in Beijing and will be aiming for No4 at the London Games in the Finn class.

Made a CBE following his success in China, Ainslie was the first person to carry the Olympic torch in the UK this year. The 35-year-old has battled through a difficult period that saw him disqualified from last year's world championships for threatening a photographer. He goes into the Olympics as this year's world champion. Victoria Pendleton Cycling Sprint Pendleton's rivalry with the Australian Anna Meares, whom she beat in the sprint in Beijing, continues into London 2012, with the latest instalment, at the world championships this spring, won by Pendleton. After Beijing the British rider pursued her interest in fashion, appearing for Stella McCartney at London Fashion Week. She struggled in 2011, was told to work harder by the British performance director, Dave Brailsford, and returned to form this year to defend her sprint title and compete in the team sprint and keirin in London. Christine Ohuruogu Athletics 400m Britain's only reigning Olympic champion in track and field, Ohuruogu was British Olympic Association athlete of the year in 2008 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2009 by the University of East London.

Since Beijing she has suffered from injury and a loss of form and was disqualified in her heat at last year's world championships. But a defeat of the world champion Amantle Montsho at the Aviva London Grand Prix this month has raised hope she is back to her best. Ed Clancy Cycling Team pursuit Clancy's success made a star of his mum, Cathy, a primary school teacher, whose pupils covered her classroom with pictures of her cycling son. Clancy admitted he struggled for motivation after Beijing as GB's performances slipped. Along with Geraint Thomas, another surviving member of the 2008 quartet, he will compete in the men's pursuit team – back on track after beating Australia in April – and will also represent Britain in the men's omnium at the Olympics. Andrew Simpson Sailing Star class Since the open-top bus parade that welcomed Simpson and four other sailors back to Weymouth – "We're sailors, we're not like footballers, we never expect anything like this," – Simpson has continued his partnership with Iain Percy, his childhood friend, who was best man at his wedding in 2009.

This year, as they aim to defend their Olympic title, they have traded places at the top of the World Cup circuit standings with the Brazilians Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, who won silver in Bejiing. Sir Chris Hoy Cycling Sprint, team sprint, keirin Having carried the British team flag at the closing ceremony in Beijing, Hoy, the team's most successful athlete in China, was the unanimous choice to bear the flag at the opening ceremony for London 2012. In 2008 he won sports personality of the year while in 2009 he was made a knight. He also secured a deal to promote Kelloggs Bran Flakes. Since Beijing he has won four world championship gold medals. Now 36, he will compete in the keirin and the team sprint but not the individual sprint. Andrew Triggs-Hodge Rowing Coxless fours After the success of Beijing Triggs Hodge, alongside his team-mate Pete Reed, switched to the men's coxless pair, where they came runners-up in the world championship three times in a row from 2009 to 2011, behind the New Zealand pair each time.

Like the rest of the successful men's coxless four Triggs Hodge was awarded an MBE in 2009. He also finished his masters in water science, policy and management. Triggs Hodge and Reed have returned to the four for London 2012. Geraint Thomas Cycling Team pursuit The year after Beijing Thomas left his professional racing team, Barloworld, to join Team Sky. He also appeared alongside other 2008 Olympic cyclists, Clancy, Kenny and Staff, at a concert by German instrumentalists Kraftwerk at the Manchester Velodrome. Skipped this year's Tour de France in preparation for the 2012 Games where he will defend the pursuit title with the British team, who are the current world champions. Currently starring in the ad campaign for the new Fiat Punto. Rebecca Adlington Swimming 400m, 800m freestyle Britain's most successful Olympic swimmer was awarded an OBE and the freedom of Mansfield and had the Sherwood baths, a local pub in her home town and a javelin train named after her at the age of 19.

Her form dipped after Beijing and she came fourth in the 800m at the 2009 world championships, admitting: "I let the pressure get to me." But at the 2010 Commonwealth Games she repeated her Beijing success. In 2011 she became Britain's first freestyle world champion. Pete Reed Rowing Coxless four Reed was meant to return to his post as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy after his success in the coxless four in Beijing but after receiving "overwhelming support from the most senior admirals in the service" he was able to continue training for London 2012. Featured with Andy Triggs Hodge in the pair until this summer's World Cup season when they joined the coxless four. They won gold at both the Lucerne and Belgrade World Cup meets but lost to the Australian boat in Munich. Paul Goodison Sailing Laser class Before the 2008 Games were finished a brewer near Sheffield had launched a beer called Goodison's Gold, stocked in 11 local pubs. "When a man born in Sheffield wins gold at the Olympics it has to be something worth celebrating," the brewery said.

A Sheffield United fan, Goodison was invited on to the pitch before a game. He lives in Weymouth, the Olympic sailing venue, with fellow sailor Saskia Clark, and won a battle with his British rival Nick Thompson to defend his title at London 2012. Sarah Ayton Sailing Yngling class Ayton was made an OBE after her second Olympic gold in 2008. She married the Olympic windsurfer Nick Dempsey two months after Beijing and had their first child, Thomas, the following year. She returned to competition in 2010, aiming for London 2012 in the 470 class, but retired a year later, saying she could not commit to the sport and be a full-time mum. She is mentoring young members of Team GB ahead of the London Olympics, works as a motivational speaker and is a patron of Meningitis UK. Tim Brabants Canoe sprint K1 1000m Brabants won Britain's first ever gold in canoeing in Beijing but took an 18-month break after the Games to return to his medical career in A&E at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

He returned to the sport in early 2010 aiming to reach his fourth Olympics. Selection was not easy, however. Paul Wycherley was chosen for Britain at last year's world championships and Brabants had to beat Wycherley in two out of three World Cup meetings this summer to compete in London. Sarah Webb Sailing Yngling class Having won gold alongside Ayton in 2004 and also received an MBE at the time, the pair formed a new Yngling Team with Pippa Wilson for 2008. Webb then received an OBE when the trio won gold in Beijing. After the success Webb decided to retire from sailing to concentrate on her family and a different career. Now Sarah Gosling, she has started her own consulting company and begun work in the media. She also gives corporate motivational talks. Gosling will be a volunteer at London 2012.

Pippa Wilson Sailing Yngling class While the two other two members of her crew have retired from sailing and with the yngling class being replaced by the Elliott 6m for London 2012, the youngest member of the gold-winning trio from Beijing decided to take an indefinite break from sailing from January 2010, spending some time travelling. For the London Games, Wilson, 26, will be taking up a position as a commentator for BBC radio on the sailing alongside Juliette Ferrington. James DeGale Boxing Middleweight DeGale, from Harlesden, London, turned professional in December 2008. Soon after he stripped for a photo shoot, and told Cosmopolitan magazine about the social benefits of winning Olympic gold: "I am not being big-headed. I used to get birds before I went to Beijing, but when I won Olympic gold it went up. And when I turned pro, it went up even more." Current European super-middleweight champion. Jason Kenny Cycling Team sprint The Bolton cyclist was 20 in Beijing when he came away with a gold in the team sprint and a surprise silver in the individual race behind Chris Hoy.

Kenny won the 2011 world sprint crown – after Grégory Baugé lost his title for infringing anti-doping rules – and finished second to the Frenchman the following year having beaten Hoy in the semi-finals. He has been picked ahead of Hoy to contest the sprint at London 2012. Mark Hunter Rowing Lightweight double sculls Hunter took a year off to work as an assistant coach to the women's rowing team at UCLA in California after winning Great Britain's first ever lightweight medal and Olympic gold alongside Zac Purchase. Hunter missed competing while he was in the United States and returned to Britain in 2009 with the aim of reaching London 2012. The duo won the world championship in 2010 and 2011 andon a personal level Hunter was made an MBE and awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of East London. Jamie Staff Cycling Team sprint The former World BMX champion was the third member of the men's sprint team and was made an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list.

He was also part of the team that won silver in the team sprint at the World Track Championships that same year before a back injury made him take the decision to retire from cycling in 2010 at 36 and move to the United States with his American wife. Since then he has become the director of USA cycling's track sprint programme. Zac Purchase Rowing Lightweight double sculls While his rowing partner was in California Purchase spent his year off after winning gold partying and "burning the candle at both ends" in his words. In 2011 he was diagnosed with post-viral fatigue. He returned to training only six weeks before the world championships in Bled that year but he and Hunter still snatched the gold medal. This summer's World Cup series began with gold in Belgrade but fifth- and sixth-place finishes followed in the run-up to London. Paul Manning Cycling Team pursuit Manning, who won team pursuit silver in Athens in 2004, went one better with the British quartet in Beijing as they won gold while breaking the world record and immediately announced his retirement.

He joined ISG – the company building the 2012 velodrome – as an assistant construction manager, before coming back into the sport in 2009 first as endurance coach of the Under-23 squad, and now as endurance coach of the women's senior team. Nicole Cooke Cycling Road race After taking gold in Beijing, Cooke won the World Championship road race in the same year, making her the first woman to hold the two titles simultaneously. Since then, her career has stalled – the professional road race team that she set up, Vision1, collapsed and she has not won a race since 2009. Cooke, who was sixth in this year's British road race championships, will compete at London 2012 but is expected to act as a support rider for current British No1 Lizzie Armitstead. Steve Williams Rowing Coxless four A year and a half after winning gold in China when the four made an epic push to the line to overhaul the Australians, the Leamington Spa-born rower decided to call time on a career in which he had won consecutive Olympic golds and four world championship titles.

Since then he has walked to the North Pole and climbed Mount Everest with the former Wales rugby union international Richard Parks and earlier this month the 36-year-old was appointed a fitness consultant to Ipswich Town FC. Rebecca Romero Cycling Individual pursuit Romero's track gold meant she became the first Briton to win Olympic medals in different events, having won rowing silver in 2004. Her event was dropped from the 2012 Games and while she tried the time-trial, she withdrew from British cycling's programme in October last year. Tried to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats on a tandem with rower James Cracknell in 2009, but abandoned the journey after 505 miles on medical advice. Romero has now turned to triathlon and is creating a "high performance sports consultancy service". Champion swimmer Henry Taylor and Chadderton's Olympic history - Manchester Evening News News Champion swimmer Henry Taylor and Chadderton's Olympic history It may take its name from ancient Greece, but the modern Olympic Games are British through and through, with a heritage which can be traced back 400 years. He was one of Britain's greatest ever Olympians.

Yet swimmer Henry Taylor was so poor he could only afford to swim in Chadderton Baths on “dirty water day”, when the entrance fee was reduced. Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe View gallery He was one of Britain's greatest ever Olympians. Yet swimmer Henry Taylor was so poor he could only afford to swim in Chadderton Baths on “dirty water day”, when the entrance fee was reduced. And, far from the full-time dedicated sportsmen and women of today, the man who won three gold medals at the 1908 London Olympics trained in his lunch break, swimming in the reservoir near the Oldham mill where he worked full-time as a piecer. In the evenings, Taylor could be seen dodging the pleasure boats, ploughing up and down the Alexandra Park boating lake. Taylor won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 1906 Interim Olympic Games in Athens in 1906, a bronze at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, and a bronze at Antwerp in 1920.

But it was at London in 1908 that he fixed his place in sporting posterity, his tally of three golds in one games going unmatched by any Briton for a century until Chris Hoy in Beijing. As a gifted and diligent amateur, Taylor summed up the founding principles of the modern Olympics. And he merits special mention in a new book The British Olympics: Britain's Olympic heritage 1612-2012 by Martin Polley. Polley, a senior lecturer in sport at Southampton University, argues that Britain above all other nations shaped the Olympic ideal of which Henry Taylor became a prime example. He describes a series of British “olympics” down the centuries, and recounts how the founder of the modern Olympics Baron Pierre de Coubertin came to Britain seeking ideas to be applied to the French education system, but came away persuaded of the need for an international revival of the Olympic games (see panel). “Nowhere else have you got the length of interest, the variety of things calling themselves 'olympics', and Coubertin coming and getting all his ideas,” says Polley. “Without being jingoistic, Britain brought an awful lot to the party.

“A lot of play activity has got roots all over the world. But it's really in the 18th and 19th century Britain that they get organised, regulated, codified and governing bodies looking after them. There is a strong sense, to use the Edwardian phrase, that we taught the world how to play.” Having taught the world to play, it was Britain's fate to be beaten by upstart pupils in virtually everything. So keen was Britain's sense of sporting entitlement that by the 1920s there were articles in the Times suggesting that if we could could not guarantee to win, perhaps Britain should not even bother to compete. But we did carry on competing. And the Olympics evolved, its strict amateur principles gradually relaxed, because of the dominance of competitors fostered by the Soviet military and the US college system from the 1950s onwards, to the point that many competitors now are full-time sportsmen and women. It is unthinkable that Chris Hoy could have won his three golds by training in his lunch hour while holding down a factory job, as Henry Taylor did.

And our Olympians are held in far higher regard today, as the honours attached to the names of Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Kelly Holmes, Sir Steve Redgrave and Rebecca Adlington OBE demonstrate. There was no knighthood for Henry Taylor. He was a feted local hero, but did not enjoy the enduring national admiration and lucrative career a triple-gold Olympian would today. He did service in the Royal Navy during the First World War, did exhibition swims in the Seine and Thames, beating the French champion on both occasions, and tried to swim the English Channel, but was defeated by bad weather. Taylor took over a pub, the Nudger at Dobcross in Saddleworth, but could not make a success of it. The Olympic hero ended up back at Chadderton baths as an attendant. Many of his medals and trophies had to be sold off to make ends meet, and when Taylor died in 1951, he was penniless and alone. It was another 51 years before a blue plaque was unveiled at Chadderton Baths to celebrate its illustrious former employee. “They were different times,” says Polley.

“If we take the first footballer to be knighted, as an example of a working class sportsman honoured, Stanley Matthews was knighted in 1965 – 14 years on from Taylor's death. It's not until then that the government gets wise to giving honours to sportsmen and women from working class backgrounds. “ The British Olympics: Britain's Olympic Heritage 1612-2012 by Martin Polley is published by English Heritage at £17.99 Those other British “Olympics”. Cotswold Olympick Games As early as 1612 – a neat 400 years before London hosts the Olympics – a picturesque ridge near Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire began to play host to the Cotswold Olympicks. It was a festival which brought rich and poor together to have fun, defying the puritanism of the age. The events – including shin-kicking, single stick fighting, hammer-throwing and tug-of-war – bore little resemblance to the noble contests of ancient Greece. But the philosophy of the games sowed the seeds of a wider English movement that helped towards the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

The games ended in 1852 when the land used for them was enclosed, but were revived in 1951 and run to this day as Robert Dover's Cotswold Olympicks. Wenlock Olympian Games Begun in 1850 in the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock by doctor and magistrate William Penny Brookes, the Wenlock Olympian Games were merely a sports day for the locals. By this time, sports such as cricket, golf and horse racing had established rules. Alongside events we would recognise today – a 100 yard sprint, for instance - Wenlock also had blindfold wheelbarrow racing and an old ladies race. But this all played a pivotal role in the Olympic story. It was only after a visit to Much Wenlock in 1890 that Pierre de Coubertin was inspired to campaign for a modern revival of the Olympic Games. One of the London 2012 mascots is named Wenlock in recognition of that fact.

Liverpool Olympic Festivals Cotton merchant Charles Pierre Melly and gymnasium boss John Hulley instigated a games featuring athletics, gymnastics and swordmanship which was held six times in the 1860s – four times in Liverpool and twice in Llandudno. Its crucial influence on the modern Olympic ideal was in its reverence for the concept of amateurism. Before this, much competitive sport – such as the “pedestrianism” which was all the rage in Manchester pubs – was done for done for cash prizes. The Liverpool Olympics were open only to “gentleman amateurs”, a rather snobbish recognition that the gentleman would not want to mix with the lower orders, and certainly would not want to be bested by them. Morpeth Olympic Games From 1870 to 1958, a Northumberland county town held its own grandly-titled sporting event, featuring athletics and wrestling. Unlike the grand ideals behind the Liverpool games, the Morpeth contestants were working men, in it for the cash, both from prize money and from side bets.

Like us on Facebook Olympics 2008: Golden shoes and Adlington mania greet returning Olympic double medal winner | Sport | The Guardian 2008 British Olympic medals Golden shoes and Adlington mania greet returning Olympic double medal winner Double Olympic swimming gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington smiles next to her gold Jimmy Choo shoes. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Tuesday 26 August 2008 19.01 EDT First published on Tuesday 26 August 2008 19.01 EDT Close This article is 8 years old Becky Adlington had only just put Mansfield on the map, and here she was trying to stop her ecstatic home town disappearing again. "No, no, that wouldn't do at all," she cried, as plans to rename the whole place Adlington for the night were revealed before she jumped on an open-top bus to deafening cheers. Two pubs and her own street already have temporary new signs and a £4.5m swimming pool is going to be the Rebecca Adlington Centre for ever. Why not go the whole hog, the Dickson family, festooned with union flags in Market Square, wanted to know? And they weren't the only ones.

Adlington's eyebrows arched and her mouth dropped - but then, typically for an Olympian whose homely background has made her a national favourite, her formidable family weighed in. "There already is an Adlington," her mother, Kay, told a welcoming reception at Mansfield civic centre firmly. "In fact two," she added. "And this is Mansfield." Rebecca nodded vigorously. "It is," she said. "This is where I grew up and I love it. I just feel proud to come from here, let alone having anything named after me." The tone was exactly right for at least 5,000 people who watched the double-decker trundle past in evening sunshine, with Adlington still marvelling at her gift from the town council. "I made a promise before the Olympics, and here it is," said Mansfield's elected mayor, Tony Egginton, before disappearing into a huge cardboard box filled with tissue paper. A tug on the pale blue ribbon and the sides collapsed. Out of the confusion emerged the mayor and a maroon velvet cushion, embroidered with a gold inscription and topped by a pair of gold Jimmy Choo shoes.

"Ooh, can I try them on?" said Adlington, unfazed by heels which looked as high as one of her fellow-Olympian Tom Daley's diving platforms. But the mayor wasn't having that. There was a bus to catch and hundreds of children jumping up and down shouting "Sign my flag!" She did - and she made a point of promising to encourage the next generation to follow in her footsteps. Still wearing her Team GB tracksuit, Adlington, who won gold in the 400m and 800m freestyle and set a world record in the 800m, said: "I just hope that loads of young people get involved in sport. It needn't be to win, it can just be for fun. But get involved." The rallying cry drew loud applause from one woman in the crowd who remembered the 19-year-old as a tot who almost seemed to have fins. Glenda Hinde, shepherding a posse of primary school pupils, said: "I lived next door to her swimming teacher, Maureen Pitchfork. She was a very special person - she got into the final of the 1954 Commonwealth games.

She inspired the kids and I'm sure Rebecca will do the same." The children were equally eager. What did Leshane Aldridge, nine, think of Mansfield's heroine? "She's a very good swimmer and the whole of our family's very proud of her," she said solemnly. Back at Berry Hill, where every house in Adlington's road was draped with flags, Karen Wall, who lives near the Adlingtons, looked across at her street's newly adapted sign. Looping pink letters have renamed Ryedale Avenue after the swimmer. "I don't know who did that, but no one's disagreeing round here," she said, before going to wave more flags in Market Square. "She's such a genuine person, is Rebecca. All us neighbours went round last night and she stayed on the street for ages, signing autographs for the children. "She'd only just flown from Beijing and she'd had all the interviews at London airport and met Gordon Brown. But she stayed out there until everyone had got what they wanted. She didn't get tired or say stop, I've had enough.

Just like she didn't in the races she won." Rebecca Adlington: Olympian ready for life after swimming - BBC Sport BBC Sport Rebecca Adlington: Olympian ready for life after swimming By Nick Hope Read more about sharing. With four Olympic medals, two gold and two bronze, Rebecca Adlington retires from competition as Britain's most decorated swimmer. Her career may have ended in tears of sadness rather than joy after she finished third in the Olympic 800m freestyle final, but Adlington's status and legacy was secured long before she touched the wall for the final time at London 2012. Her place among the world's elite was secured at the tender age of 19, shooting into the public consciousness after a hugely surprising victory in the 400m freestyle final at the 2008 Beijing Games. Thorpe on Adlington "I think she has done an incredible job for British Swimming.

Becky is similar to the great distance freestyle swimmer [four-time US Olympic champion] Janet Evans and when we speak of an athlete in the same breath as Evans, we're speaking of one in the highest regard." Ian Thorpe, five-time Olympic champion Just five days later she returned for her favoured 800m event and swam the race of her life - not only winning, but breaking legendary Olympian Janet Evans's world record, which had stood for 19 years. The double gold predictably saw her described as British Swimming's "golden girl" and she was also regarded as the sport's saviour after years of under-performance. However, Adlington's achievements brought with them greater expectation and scrutiny, and the Mansfield-born star admitted she struggled to cope with the pressure at times. Critics attacked her after she failed to win an 800m medal at the 2009 World Championships, while at the 2010 Europeans the swimmer admitted to "choking" for the first time in her career. She still took double Commonwealth gold later that year and was back in prime form in 2011 where she claimed a maiden senior world title - completing her collecting of major international medals.

As she announces her retirement at the age of 23, BBC Sport talks to some of the fellow swimmers and pundits who have watched her career. Why retire at 23? In most walks of life, and even in many sports, at 23 you are considered to be very much at the beginning of your career.

Adlington's career highlights: 2004 - wins 800m gold at European Junior Championships 2006 - wins silver in senior international debut at European Championships in Budapest 11 August, 2008 - wins 400m freestyle Olympic gold in Beijing 16 August, 2008 - wins 800m freestyle Olympic gold in a world record of 8:14:10 October 2010 - wins double Commonwealth Games gold in Delhi July 2011 - wins 800m gold and 400m silver at World Championships in Shanghai 29 July 2012 - wins 400m bronze at London Olympics 3 August 2012 - wins 800m bronze at London Olympics 5 February 2013 - retires from swimming While it is not unusual for swimming's sprinters to remain at the top into their thirties - British 50m specialist Mark Foster competed in Beijing at the age of 38, for example - for distance swimmers like Adlington, the years of 70,000m per week training take their

 toll.

US distance swimming great Evans, whose 800m record Adlington broke, won the first of her Olympic titles in 1988 at the age 16 and her last Olympic medal just four years later. She quit shortly after the 1996 Games in Atlanta at the age of 25. An attempted comeback in 2011 at age 39 saw her fail to qualify for the London Games. Adlington was given a stark reminder of the power of youth at London 2012 when 15-year-old American Katie Ledecky took her 800m title and soon after the Games the Briton admitted Rio 2016 would be a step too far. "All elite athletes at some stage have to ask themselves, 'can it get any better than it is now?'" says 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Steve Parry. "She's won everything there is to win in our sport so what will she gain by going to Rio at 27?

"She is being true to herself by saying getting up every day to train, when it won't improve her legacy, isn't something she wants to do." Media playback is not supported on this device Superb Adlington wins gold However, Great Britain's first Olympic swimming champion since 1988 did initially suggest the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealths might still have been a realistic goal. "I think if I'd been Becky, I might have been prepared to say 'I'm going to give it one last go at the Commonwealths' because the level of competition isn't the same as the Olympics," 1980 Olympic silver medallist Sharron Davies told BBC Sport. "It's nice for athletes to go out on the top because you get remembered for competing well - but she's had a fantastic career and I don't believe that two bronze medals [at London 2012] was a failure at all." The legacy When Adlington won her second Beijing gold she not only became the sport's first British double Olympic swimming champion since Henry Taylor in 1908, but was also the first British woman to achieve that honour.

"What Becky did for British women's sport in particular was give them faith they could do it," says Davies. Former team-mate Cassie Patten, who finished eighth in that 800m final and won 10km open water bronze at the same Games, agrees Adlington's achievement was a huge moment for the status of women's swimming in Britain. "I've met a lot of Olympic champions and most are great people, but for me Becky's still the same girl she was before she won her Olympic medals and I think it says a lot about her character that she's been able to stay grounded after such success." "If you look back, swimming had been a male-dominated sport for a long time and then Becky came through and became a household name," said Patten. "Teenage girls thought it's cool to go and swim and it's OK to have big shoulders because you can put a dress on and look just as feminine as the next person. "I think she's had a huge impact on that perception." But if the perception has changed, that has yet to be reflected in grassroots uptake of the sport.

Swimming participation in the UK has actually been on the decline since 2009, according to Sport England statistics, and Adlington now hopes to help change that picture by launching a foundation aimed at encouraging more youngsters to swim - as part of a broader bid to tackle the country's obesity problem. For friend and former team-mate Keri-Anne Payne, a silver medallist in Beijing, Adlington is a figure who can inspire grassroots and elite swimmers alike. "She has already inspired a generation with all she has done and people always stop her for photos which she never turns down, but I think she will be a great mentor and will always be around the sport, supporting us." The challenges ahead "It's not making the decision [to retire] that's the hardest it's living with it," reflects Davies, who originally retired at the age of 18 before returning 10 years later to win two more medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. An end to those 5am alarm calls and constant aching limbs may sound like a welcome change, but switching off will be far from straightforward.

Patten admits she struggled with depression after a shoulder injury forced her to quit the sport in the build-up to London 2012 and says finding a new focus quickly is essential. Media playback is not supported on this device Olympians succeed in Zambian ride "It's hard because it's something you love that's not there any more," said the 26-year-old. "As swimmers, all of your friends are in the sport and your life is very regimented so it's very difficult to get used to the change. "You need to fill your life with something else as quickly as possible because the longer you leave it the harder it becomes." After the Olympics, Adlington embarked on one of the toughest challenges of her career by taking on a 450km charity bike ride across Zambia to help African orphans affected by HIV and Aids, and the "Rebecca Adlington Swim Stars" programme, designed to encourage youngsters to take up swimming, will occupy much of her energy in the future. Nevertheless, says Davies, in the short term, retirement can be hard work.

"Whether it was the right decision or not, there's going to be a time in six months when there's a major competition on and she really just misses being there with her mates and experiencing the highs and lows these events bring," she says. But Payne does not expect her friend to be far from the action for long. "It will be odd her not competing but I think she is still a huge asset to British Swimming and will still be around in some capacity," she says. "I think she will do all she can to be at the next Olympics to support us. I'm sure she'll want to be there." Media playback is not supported on this device Rebecca Adlington's Olympic adventures London 2012 Olympics: Rebecca Adlington singles out Twitter abuser - Telegraph Swimming London 2012 Olympics: Rebecca Adlington singles out Twitter abuser Rebecca Adlington, the Olympic champion swimmer, has named and shamed an internet "troll" for abusing her on Twitter.

Miss Adlington shot to fame in 2008 when she won gold in the 400m and 800m freestyle events at the Beijing Olympics Photo: RII SCHROER Follow The double gold medal winner highlighted a message sent to her on the social networking service that described her as a “whale” with a “shark fin nose”. It appeared to have been written by a 19 year-old student who is himself a keen sportsman, but he blamed one of his friends for writing it on a night out. Miss Adlington said it was the “perfect example” of why she has decided to avoid Twitter during the London games this summer because she received so many “nasty” comments about her appearance. However in response she received supportive messages from fellow swimmers and members of the public. Miss Adlington, 23, shot to fame in 2008 when she won gold in the 400m and 800m freestyle events at the Beijing Olympics, breaking a world record in one of the races.

Related Articles Adlington outraged by online abuse 31 May 2012 She was appointed OBE the following year and had the swimming baths in her home town of Mansfield renamed in her honour, but not all of the attention she received was as welcome. The sportswoman was the butt of a crude joke by Frankie Boyle on a BBC panel show, who said she resembled “someone looking at themselves in the back of a spoon”. The following year he ignored a rebuke from the broadcaster’s governing body to liken her to a beagle. Last week Miss Adlington said she no longer reads articles about her and will stay away from the internet during this year’s Olympics to avoid seeing upsetting comments about her looks. She said: “I used to read all the stuff about me. I learned very quickly not to do that. “Most things that I read about myself are not swimming related. They are to do with how I look, which has nothing to do with my performance in the pool. It’s just nasty comments about things I can’t control. “I can’t help the way I look or who I am. People are not always going to like me but that has nothing to do with my swimming.

That really gets me going." She added: “It is awful and I get angry. Even if there are ten nice comments, you get one idiot. I’ve now given up. I won’t be checking Twitter or going on it a lot during the Games. I think I will just tweet when it’s over.” On Sunday, the day after winning gold in an 800m race in Barcelona, she took to the social networking service to highlight a recent example of the abuse she receives. She wrote: “I had a perfect example of what has been said in the papers this week tweeted to me this morning. I apologise for the swearing when I RT [retweet] it!” The swimmer then retweeted the offending message so her 50,000 followers could see it, asking “how lovely is this person”. The tweet, sent from a BlackBerry phone at 11pm on Saturday night, read: “you shark fin nosed derkhead, you belong in that pool you f---ing whale”. It was sent from the account of Callum Aspley, who describes himself as a lord and an “international playboy DJ” who lives in “the hood” on his Twitter profile.

The 19 year-old is a student at Leeds Met University where he plays rugby, and previously played rugby and cricket for King Edward VI school in Lichfield. Contacted by The Daily Telegraph, he insisted he had not sent the tweet to Miss Adlington but declined to name the true author. He said: “I didn't send the tweet myself, I was out with my mates and one of them got hold of my phone and so he must have sent it, it wasn't me. “I don't use Twitter a lot and I don't know how to delete a tweet. “Obviously I don't agree with what was said, I wouldn't say that kind of thing. “I'm definitely going to find out how to delete the tweet and get rid as soon as I can. “If you look on my profile you'll see I've only tweeted a couple of times, I don't really understand Twitter, I use Facebook really.” In recent months several Twitter users have been arrested over abuse directed at celebrities, but Mr Aspley said he had not been contacted by police.

BBC News Online | Town welcomes Olympic gold hero Town welcomes Olympic gold hero 27 August 08 10:46 GMT Double gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington has been given a hero's welcome in her home town. More than 10,000 people lined the streets of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire to see the 19-year-old swimmer touring the town on an open top bus. She arrived at the civic centre in a gold Rolls Royce and received a pair of designer shoes which had been promised to her by the mayor. Adlington won two Olympic golds in the 400m and 800m freestyle in Beijing. The swimmer broke the 800m world record set in 1989 - the year she was born. 'Nicer girl' Crowds with banners, union flags and giant gold medals gathered in the Market Place where the open top bus trip finished. Mayor Tony Eggington said: "To reach the very top of any sport requires years of hard work, focus and complete dedication - all traits which Rebecca has in abundance. "What's more, this success couldn't have happened to a nicer girl.

Rebecca is a credit to herself, her family and Mansfield. "Through the success of Rebecca we now have a golden opportunity to inspire even more young people to go on and achieve success, whether it is in sport or other walks of life. This is what hard work can achieve." He presented the shoes - donated by designer Jimmy Choo - to the swimmer on a velvet cushion adorned with red, white and blue ribbons. Adlington said she had been "overwhelmed" by the reaction. "I don't think the world record is going to sink in for quite a while but the races, however, I have watched back enough - mum and dad keep playing them over and over again and he makes me watch the whole thing and I say, 'dad - I've seen it!'." A giant screen was also put up in the Market Place which replayed Adlington's winning races. She is the first British swimmer in 100 years to win two Olympic gold medals. Her intensive training schedule has seen her get up at 0500 every day and spend 30 hours a week in the pool. Coach Bill Furniss said: "Once the competitions have finished she's allowed a few treats.

"I know she's dying for a McDonald's." BBC NEWS | UK | England | Nottinghamshire | Town welcomes Olympic gold hero Town welcomes Olympic gold hero Thousands turned out to cheer Rebecca Adlington Double gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington has been given a hero's welcome in her home town. More than 10,000 people lined the streets of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire to see the 19-year-old swimmer touring the town on an open top bus. She arrived at the civic centre in a gold Rolls Royce and received a pair of designer shoes which had been promised to her by the mayor. Adlington won two Olympic golds in the 400m and 800m freestyle in Beijing. The swimmer broke the 800m world record set in 1989 - the year she was born. 'Nicer girl' Crowds with banners, union flags and giant gold medals gathered in the Market Place where the open top bus trip finished. Mayor Tony Eggington said: "To reach the very top of any sport requires years of hard work, focus and complete dedication - all traits which Rebecca has in abundance.

An open-top bus tours the town "What's more, this success couldn't have happened to a nicer girl. Rebecca is a credit to herself, her family and Mansfield. "Through the success of Rebecca we now have a golden opportunity to inspire even more young people to go on and achieve success, whether it is in sport or other walks of life. This is what hard work can achieve." He presented the shoes - donated by designer Jimmy Choo - to the swimmer on a velvet cushion adorned with red, white and blue ribbons. Adlington said she had been "overwhelmed" by the reaction. "I don't think the world record is going to sink in for quite a while but the races, however, I have watched back enough - mum and dad keep playing them over and over again and he makes me watch the whole thing and I say, 'dad - I've seen it!'." A giant screen was also put up in the Market Place which replayed Adlington's winning races. She is the first British swimmer in 100 years to win two Olympic gold medals. Her intensive training schedule has seen her get up at 0500 every day and spend 30 hours a week in the pool.

Coach Bill Furniss said: "Once the competitions have finished she's allowed a few treats. "I know she's dying for a McDonald's." Advertisement Adlington bears burden - Yahoo Sport All Sports Adlington bears burden Rebecca Adlington has many followers on Twitter but, as the golden girl of British swimming recently revealed, not all of them are fans. By Reuters 19 June 2012 19:09 Eurosport   The double Olympic champion's response to being taunted by one online 'troll' was typically forthright, repeating the offensive message for everyone to read and ridicule the sender. "I can't help the way I look or who I am. People are not always going to like me but that has nothing to do with my swimming," the 23-year-old said in going public with some of the abuse sent her way. The support for her was massive but the incident reflected just how much life has changed for the teenager who left Mansfield, a market and colliery town with a population not much greater than her 53,000 Twitter following, in 2008 to compete in the Beijing pool and returned home as a sporting phenomenon.

Four years ago, the social network was fast-growing but still in its infancy and Adlington, tall and blonde, was a virtual unknown outside national swimming circles when she won Olympic gold medals in the 400 and 800 metres freestyle. She remains refreshingly down to earth, still happy to gush about shoes, food and fashion, but the difference between now and then is that she goes into her home London Games as a celebrity bearing a weighty burden of expectation on her self-admittedly broad shoulders. If there is a downside to her status as a public face of the Games, as she discovered, it is nothing she cannot handle. She has lucrative sponsorships, an aquatics centre named after her in her home town and the media attention will only intensify, but her focus is unwavering and her place in the nation's heart assured. Britain - a country that has more often excelled at Olympic sports that are practised sitting down such as cycling, sailing, rowing and riding - was totally unprepared for her Beijing exploits four years ago.

A 19-year-old sensation, who learnt to swim at the age of four, she arrived in Beijing below the radar - although she had won the 800m freestyle world short-course title - but will not be doing that again. Britain now expects her to deliver. Her titles in Beijing made Adlington the first British swimmer to win two golds at a single Games since 1908 and the country's most successful Olympic swimmer in a century. The last British woman to win an Olympic swimming gold before her was Anita Lonsbrough in 1960 and Adlington won the 800, her favourite distance, in a world-record time of eight minutes 14.10 seconds. The previous record of 8:16.22 had been set by American Janet Evans in 1989, the year Adlington was born. GOLDEN SHOES When the champion returned home from Beijing, she was given a victory parade around Mansfield on an open-topped bus and presented with a pair of golden Jimmy Choo shoes. Adlington also had the five interlocked Olympic rings tattooed on her lower back and a Chinese water symbol on her right ankle.

Her coach Bill Furniss, who has been working with her for more than a decade, has called her "honest, hard-working and trusting to a fault". In the pool, she is single-minded and utterly focused. There was a slump in the post-Beijing euphoria of 2009 when she won only bronze in the 400m free and 4x200 relay at the Rome world championships after refusing to wear a bodysuit of type which is now banned. Determined not to be a one-hit wonder, she came through it. "I hadn't done the hard yards and I got found out in Rome. I learned so much more out of losing in 2009 than winning in 2008," she said. In 2010 she collected two Commonwealth Games gold medals as well as two bronzes. Last year, she won world championship gold in the 800 to become Britain's first freestyle world champion as well as silver in the 400.

In March Adlington was again in dominant form in the British trials, despite some pre-event nerves, when she clocked an 800m time nearly four seconds faster than her previous 2012 best. "I think she is in the best shape of her life," British swimming's performance director Michael Scott declared at the time. Adlington will need to be, at least in the 400m where Italy's Federica Pellegrini is both world champion and record holder, but she has maturity and experience in her armoury now. In the 800, she remains very much the favourite. She was a girl four years ago and now she is a woman, matured and forged in top-level competition. "Talent comes in different ways. She has a psychological talent as well, an inner strength. She hates to lose and she's driven," Furniss had said after the Beijing success and his words still ring true. "Some crack under pressure and a few get better. She's one of those.

She's a winner." Adlington bears burden of expectation - Yahoo Sport More Sports Adlington bears burden of expectation Rebecca Adlington has an army of followers on Twitter but, as the golden girl of British swimming recently revealed, not all of them are fans. By Reuters 19 June 2012 19:01 Eurosport   The double Olympic champion's response to being taunted by one online 'troll' was typically forthright, repeating the offensive message for everyone to read and ridicule the sender. "I can't help the way I look or who I am. People are not always going to like me but that has nothing to do with my swimming," the 23-year-old said in going public with some of the abuse sent her way. The support for her was massive but the incident reflected just how much life has changed for the teenager who left Mansfield, a market and colliery town with a population not much greater than her 53,000 Twitter following, in 2008 to compete in the Beijing pool and returned home as a sporting phenomenon.

Four years ago, the social network was fast-growing but still in its infancy and Adlington, tall and blonde, was a virtual unknown outside national swimming circles when she won Olympic gold medals in the 400 and 800 metres freestyle. She remains refreshingly down to earth, still happy to gush about shoes, food and fashion, but the difference between now and then is that she goes into her home London Games as a celebrity bearing a weighty burden of expectation on her self-admittedly broad shoulders. If there is a downside to her status as a public face of the Games, as she discovered, it is nothing she cannot handle. She has lucrative sponsorships, an aquatics centre named after her in her home town and the media attention will only intensify, but her focus is unwavering and her place in the nation's heart assured. Britain - a country that has more often excelled at Olympic sports that are practised sitting down such as cycling, sailing, rowing and riding - was totally unprepared for her Beijing exploits four years ago.

A 19-year-old sensation, who learnt to swim at the age of four, she arrived in Beijing below the radar - although she had won the 800m freestyle world short-course title - but will not be doing that again. Britain now expects her to deliver. Her titles in Beijing made Adlington the first British swimmer to win two golds at a single Games since 1908 and the country's most successful Olympic swimmer in a century. The last British woman to win an Olympic swimming gold before her was Anita Lonsbrough in 1960 and Adlington won the 800, her favourite distance, in a world-record time of eight minutes 14.10 seconds. The previous record of 8:16.22 had been set by American Janet Evans in 1989, the year Adlington was born. GOLDEN SHOES When the champion returned home from Beijing, she was given a victory parade around Mansfield on an open-topped bus and presented with a pair of golden Jimmy Choo shoes. Adlington also had the five interlocked Olympic rings tattooed on her lower back and a Chinese water symbol on her right ankle.

Her coach Bill Furniss, who has been working with her for more than a decade, has called her "honest, hard-working and trusting to a fault". In the pool, she is single-minded and utterly focused. There was a slump in the post-Beijing euphoria of 2009 when she won only bronze in the 400m free and 4x200 relay at the Rome world championships after refusing to wear a bodysuit of type which is now banned. Determined not to be a one-hit wonder, she came through it. "I hadn't done the hard yards and I got found out in Rome. I learned so much more out of losing in 2009 than winning in 2008," she said. In 2010 she collected two Commonwealth Games gold medals as well as two bronzes. Last year, she won world championship gold in the 800 to become Britain's first freestyle world champion as well as silver in the 400.

In March Adlington was again in dominant form in the British trials, despite some pre-event nerves, when she clocked an 800m time nearly four seconds faster than her previous 2012 best. "I think she is in the best shape of her life," British swimming's performance director Michael Scott declared at the time. Adlington will need to be, at least in the 400m where Italy's Federica Pellegrini is both world champion and record holder, but she has maturity and experience in her armoury now. In the 800, she remains very much the favourite. She was a girl four years ago and now she is a woman, matured and forged in top-level competition. "Talent comes in different ways. She has a psychological talent as well, an inner strength. She hates to lose and she's driven," Furniss had said after the Beijing success and his words still ring true. "Some crack under pressure and a few get better. She's one of those. She's a winner."

Question: Which British Olympic swimmer has a pub named after them in the town of Mansfield?
Answer: Rebecca Adlington