Family celebrates as Romero rides into the unknown

The 28-year-old became the first British athlete to win Olympic medals in two different sports having taken a rowing silver in the women's quadruple sculls at the Athens Games in 2004.

She ditched the sport in favour of cycling and yesterday took gold in the women's individual pursuit in the Beijing velodrome.

Romero's mother and sister today watched her compete in her second cycling event of the Games, the women's points race, in which she had never competed before at this level. The Briton took a respectable 11th place, saying she had only been briefed on the event hours beforehand.

Romero said: "I'd think carefully about it for next time. It was good, I was pleased, I didn't show myself up, I looked the part. If I was to train for it specifically maybe I could perform better."

Mother Beverley Romero said the family could not afford to fly to Beijing but instead watched yesterday's victory in their terrace home in Twickenham. "It is incredible," she said. "It's history in the making that she is the only woman in this country to do that. It is brilliant she is a part of it.

"I was really nervous. I was thinking 'how can she put herself up there in front of so many people like that?' We were all sitting there holding hands screaming at the TV - the neighbours must have wondered what was going on."

Mrs Romero, a 48-year-old social worker, said they knew Rebecca would do well. "With something she really wants to achieve she works hard and is highly motivated. We are so chuffed for Rebecca because this is what she has been working for.

"We are fantastically proud of her. The gold is what she wanted and that's what she's achieved."

Romero, educated at Wallington High School for Girls, began her path to Olympic glory when she enrolled at Kingston Rowing Club at the age of 17. Within eight months she had progressed to selection for Great Britain at the 1998 Junior World Championships.

Retiring from the sport after Athens because of a persistent back injury, she moved to Manchester to devote her time to cycling, believing it would give her the best chance of Olympic gold.

"I think she wanted to try something new, to see if it would be possible. Her aim was to make another Olympics," Mrs Romero said.

The athlete has told how she learned to "do without" some of the luxuries in life in order to be able to carry out her chosen sports.

Mrs Romero added: "When it came to rowing I would not have been able to support her to do that financially without the help of her coach Ian South."

She and Romero's sister Rachel, a 24-year-old accounts manager, are now looking forward to celebrating with Rebecca when she returns from Beijing at the end of the week. "She's made jokes about trying a third sport but I would not be surprised," her mother added.