Olympic medal-winning siblings revel in success

Rowers Emily (left) and Tom Ford showed off their bronze and gold medals at the homecoming ceremony

The first brother and sister to win medals at the same Olympics for 116 years trained for their success in Henley-on-Thames with a punishing schedule.

Rowers Tom and Emily Ford, who are originally from Cheshire, are members of the Leander Club in the town and trained three times a day, six days a week.

Tom won a gold medal as part of the the men's eight, shortly after Emily won a bronze in the women's eight.

They were the first brother and sister to win medals at the same games since British archers William and Lottie Dod, who won gold and silver respectively in London in 1908.

Emily was able to watch the end of Tom’s race, hers having finished minutes before.

"I’m immensely proud of what Tom has achieved. I managed to get the last 10 strokes of Tom’s race and to be able to watch that was just phenomenal," Emily told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"We had our family out there so we were able to share it with them, which was just amazing."

The brother and sister were featured in the National Lottery's Team GB Homecoming in Manchester on 17 August.

Their older twin brothers, who inspired them to take up rowing, were "over the moon" following their success, they said.

"The days of the brotherly rivalry have sort of gone and they are proud of what we have achieved. They take a bit of pride knowing they were the guys who inspired both myself and Em into the sport," Tom said.

"They were joking: 'what you’re trying to say is the medals are because of us?!'"