Houvenaghel's Olympic homecoming

When Wendy Houvenaghel arrived in London with her Olympic silver medal, there was no welcoming committee and no cheering fans.

Instead, her husband met her and drove her home.

The celebrations were saved for last night, when she returned to an open-topped bus parade and a hero's welcome in her native village of Upperlands in south County Derry.

She was also named BBC Radio Foyle/Bank of Ireland North West Sports Personality of the Month for her achievement.

"It's fantastic to be home," said Wendy. "I've really been looking forward to this moment since my competition finished.

"I live in England now, and I came back on an earlier flight in comparison to the majority of the athletes, so my homecoming was quite reserved.

"I'm just overwhelmed by the reception, and very thankful that a committee has come together to arrange this for me with the help of the wider community," she said.

"I'm so pleased to have won a medal at the Olympic Games and to be able to share that with the people here in Northern Ireland is a great achievement and it really pleases me that they're happy."

Wendy took the silver in cycling's 3000m individual pursuit, narrowly losing out to her British team-mate Rebecca Romero.

"It was a very close run race.

"No-one could call who was going to be the winner on the final day, but I think my legs just felt a little bit jaded from my efforts on the days before, so it just meant that I came away with the silver," she said.

It was a remarkable achievement for a woman who left her job as a dentist to take up cycling full-time only two years ago.

"I came to track cycling at the age of 31, so I'm really pleased to have achieved a silver medal in such a short space of time.

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"I was previously involved with cross-country running and road-running, but my husband introduced me to cycling.

"I really just kept him company on some of his training rides, and he noticed I had a talent and wanted to develop it further," she explained.

But Wendy said her sights are already set on the London Games in 2012.

"I'd like to go one better in London in four years time.

"That's my aim and my ambition."