Corby's BMX star Charlotte Worthington wins historic olympic gold
Watch Matthew Hudson's report here
The Anglia region's BMX brilliance has continued with another gold medal as Charlotte Worthington makes history twice, becoming the first Olympic women's freestyle champion.
The 25-year-old from Manchester, who trains at Adrenaline Alley in Corby, is also the first woman to land a 360 backflip in competition, part of a routine that earned a mark of 97.50 and a gold medal.
Charlotte used to be a cook and worked in a Mexican restaurant while training for this year's Games.
Worthington fell in her first run but landed a front flip and a huge backflip on her way to a first-place finish, with Britain’s most successful female Olympic track cyclist Laura Kenny saying: “I think that’s one of my favourite ever Olympic golds!”
The Briton’s victory comes after Bethany Shriever from Essex secured the Olympic title in the BMX racing.
Stephen Park, British Cycling’s performance director, said people should remember Charlotte's name.
He tweeted: “The route hasn’t been smooth but to nail @Tokyo2020 this after the 1st run fail is huge testimony to her belief & resilience.
“@chazworther A Top @TeamGB @BritishCycling athlete. Remember her name.”
Speaking to Times Radio, Charlott'es mother Sarah said:
“It’s just a bit like a dream, really. I mean, I could sort of tell that yesterday all the riders were keeping their cards close to their chest.
“I knew that she’d got all these things in her but it didn’t really show in yesterday’s run and she looked very serious and everything.
“Then when she did her first run today and she had the fall doing that new trick of that 360 thing I wasn’t sure whether she’d even get a medal really, because I thought how do you come back from having a fall like that and it looked like it might have hurt.
“So I was just absolutely amazed.
“But I could sort of tell when she started off on that second run, she was smiling and everything and somehow she’s just managed to get back and just show everybody what she can do.”
Charlotte's gold was followed by a bronze for Declan Brooks in the men’s freestyle, who also trains at Adrenaline Alley in Corby.
Brooks’ bronze means Team GB finished on the podium in all four BMX competitions in Tokyo.
Adrenaline Alley in Corby, where both Worthington and Brooks train, posted of their pride at the BMX performances on social media, saying: “This is unbelievable!! 2 medals are coming home! We are so proud @chazworther @declanbrooks.