THORNBURY Olympian Sally Conway has spoken of the “overwhelming” support that she received after winning a judo bronze medal in Rio last month.

The 29-year-old former Marlwood student who now trains in Edinburgh, spoke about how thankful she was for the amazing level of support she received back in Britain after battling hard to walk away with her first Olympic medal, and described the whirlwind experience of life after Rio and her plans for the future.

Speaking to the Gazette, she said: “We as athletes thank so many people for their support, the National Lottery, Sport Scotland and Judo Scotland, friends and family – but it is always amazing how much the local community gets behind you.

“You don’t realise when you are in the athletes' village just how much support you have. You know your friends and family are behind you but you never quite get how much it spreads out.

“I have spoken to so many people who said they watched me or have been inspired by me, and all the messages from people I don’t even know has been overwhelming. Something I couldn’t have possibly imagined.

“Coming back to Thornbury has been surreal, it’s funny to think that I am walking down the street and people have been looking at me as if to say ‘is that the girl from the TV?’

“So many people who I had never met before have come up and been really nice, saying they were so excited about watching someone from their town compete.”

After her final, medal-winning fight in Rio, and the subsequent media frenzy, Sally’s Olympic experience went on as she was able to enjoy watching Team GB in the women’s hockey and Usain Bolt’s final race in the 4x100m, as well as celebrating with fans and fellow athletes at the closing ceremony.

She said: “It was amazing to be on the other side, and watch some of the best moments of the games as a spectator.

“But even though it was raining so hard for the closing ceremony and we couldn’t see much as we were sat outside, we were in the middle of the action and it was an incredible atmosphere. A great end to the games.

“After the games, we got to fly back in style on the Team GB flight. The whole plane was buzzing, singing the national anthem, toasting with champagne. It was clear that British Airways wanted to make it our best experience on a plane ever and I would say they definitely pulled that off!

“And while I transferred to head back to Edinburgh, missing out on the media frenzy in London and the problems with everyone having identical luggage, my friends came to meet me at the airport with Union Flags and cheer me out which was great!

“Since I have been back, the medal has been in a sock in my bag because I am having to take it around everywhere, but I can see it being on display in the flat when I finally get back to Edinburgh.”

The sudden attention that comes with being a new Olympic medallist has seen Sally also receive invites to a number of events, including last week’s GQ Awards and the British premiere of Bridget Jones’ Baby.

But the event which has arguably meant the most to Sally was a party for family and friends at the Black Horse in Thornbury, with more than 100 people turning out to celebrate her success.

She said: “It was so cool, there were people who I haven’t seen for years there, family, friends, even my old head of year and PE teacher were there.

“I messaged my old friends from school quite last minute to see if they wanted to join the celebration, and all of them were able to make it.

“It was such an enjoyable night, with everyone being able to have a bit of fun – of course most wanted a picture with the medal.

“I lost my voice through the night talking to so many people, but it was worth it to see everyone had taken the time to come and say hi!”

Talking about her future plans, Sally said: “I have already decided to take the rest of the year off as holiday. I will still doing some training but am taking the chance to enjoy myself, before talking to British Judo about what my next move will be.

“I would love to go and compete in Tokyo in 2020, having that as my last Olympics in the birthplace of Judo would be amazing because I know they would put on an awesome show.

“It would also be incredible if I could go there and take another medal, but right now I am going to take it year-by-year and get the results I want to get from the Europeans, Worlds and Masters competitions.

“If I can go the distance, and if my body holds up, I will be going there for gold!”