Olympic medal-winner Alex Coomber was given a hero's welcome when she landed back in Britain.

But amid the sea of flash bulbs, she saved the biggest hug for her mother.

Rosemary Hamilton, 62, from Rustington, near Littlehampton, was glued to the TV watching her 28-year-old daughter slide her way to a bronze medal in the skeleton bobsleigh event in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

She was overwhelmed by the reception as Alex, a flight lieutenant with the RAF, touched down at Heathrow on Saturday.

She said: "There was a barrage of photographers and so many other well-wishers - all there for my little Alex.

"It was so exciting. I've been collecting all the cuttings from the newspapers and I've got two boxes full already."

Mrs Hamilton, who has two other daughters, Ursula and Veronica, said Alex had always been a keen sportswoman and played rugby when she was a pupil at Our Lady of Sion Convent School in Worthing.

She said: "She started this when she was in Germany five years ago with the RAF.

"She was so good they put her on the British team and five days later she was British champion."