Olympic star Tina Cook celebrated her silver medal by sneaking out with teammate Zara Phillips for a late-night burger.

The Findon girl and her teammates took second place in the three-day eventing in front of 20,500 spectators in Greenwich Park.

Following hours of press appearances and sponsorship engagements, Tina and Zara decided to treat themselves to a McDonald’s.

The 41-year-old said: “Everything had been building to that moment and we had finally done it. We were hungry so we decided to sneak off for a McDonald’s.

Tina’s picturesque yet understated Sussex stables are a far cry from the glamour, drama and grandeur of London’s Olympic Park.

As her black Labrador Biscuit slobbered over her smart GB tracksuit, her seven-yearold daughter Isobel attempted to colour in her hefty medal with a red crayon.

“It has all gone back to normal so very quickly,” a hungover Tina said, who had been celebrating in London the night before.

“It has been quite incredible and the last fewdays have been crazy – the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

Celebrate Daughter of Grand National winning trainer Josh Gifford, Tina has forged her own path in three-day eventing.

She has picked up golds in the World Equestrian Games and European Championships and a bronze at the Beijing Games four years ago. But this was different.

The team had dreamed of winning a medal on home soil but they certainly didn’t go in as favourites. However, following Tina’s faultless round in the showjumping, they secured the silver medal in front of an unprecedented home crowd.

She said: “We went out in London to celebrate on Wednesday night.

“The whole team was there apart from Mary King. I can’t say much about it, but yeah, it was a good night.

“The whole experience was just incredible.”

Apart from Zara, the whole team lived in the Olympic Village in the run up to their event, mingling with the likes of Usain Bolt and Sir Chris Hoy.

Tina said: “I could have spent the whole two weeks there. If you’re into people watching then the Olympic Park is the place to be.

“There are thousands upon thousands of these super-fit men and women.

“Some tall, some short, some muscly, some skinny – it’s good fun to just sit there and try and guess which sport they play.

“Then there’s the 24 hour-a-day canteen. Everyone would be in there wearing their team colours and you could go and have a chat with anyone.

“I had dinner with the lovely Rebecca Adlington and another day sat with Vic Pendleton.

“She was saying congratulations and wanted to have her picture with me and I was like ‘but I want to have my picture with you’.

“There is no other environment like it, just bizarre.”

Tina and her teammates, William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Nicola Wilson and Zara Phillips, took to Greenwich Park last Saturday morning for the dressage, the first of the three disciplines which make up three-day eventing.

After a solid start they impressed on the spectacular cross-country course on day two before cementing their silver medal in the showjumping arena on the final day, only narrowly losing to the favourites Germany.

“Don’t get me wrong – I’m absolutely delighted with silver but I’m a competitive person and I wanted the gold.

“But then when you look at the margins involved we could have quite easily finished outside the medals.

Fantastic “I have to say though, the support was fantastic – I’ve never heard anything like it before.

“The crowd, who perhaps didn’t know us, could have thought that we were just snotty, country bumpkin types but they were amazing, they made us feel so proud to represent them and represent Great Britain.”

Over 20,500 people in Greenwich Park chanted and cheered in a sport which is more accustomed to polite chatter and a smattering of applause.

In comparison the televised Badminton Horse Trials attract just 3,000.

Among the sea of faces was one row more recognisable than most.

Former Olympian Princess Anne, The Duchess of Cornwall, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Prince Harry, the Duke of Edinburgh and the future King and Queen, William and Kate, were all in the stands to cheer on team GB.

Tina said: “To be honest, you don’t even think about it. It’s all about the course and making sure you get round.

“At the end of the day they’re just another family supporting a competitor. I had my family there and so did Zara. They are extremely supportive and very knowledgeable so it’s nice to have them around.

“When I was getting ready in the stables beforehand, Prince Philip and Princess Anne suddenly appeared and it was like, ‘oh, sorry you’re going to have to excuse me I need to get ready.’ “It’s great that they are around but they are just another family.”

Away from the medals, the Royals and hobnobbing with stars, Tina is just the same old Findon girl. In her pretty village just north of Worthing, the windows of the local shops are full of congratulatory messages.

Party Union flags hang from every other window and the landlord of her local, The Gun Inn, is setting up for her party.

She added: “My friends have given me a really fantastic welcome and although it’s good to be back it’s a different world.

“Last week I was an athlete. My children watched and recognised what I achieved but I’m mum again now. I’m back tomulti-tasking, making sure they behave and trying to keep my medal in one piece.”

Next week she gets back in the saddle for the Hartpury Horse Trials in Gloucestershire before heading back to London for the closing ceremony.

But after four years of preparation and a whirlwind week which saw her become a household name, things are back to normal.

The children want feeding, her other horses need exercising and Biscuit wants someone to play ball with. But where next? Rio for the gold?