Tokyo Olympics: BMX Essex winner Beth Shriever wants to 'inspire'

The Olympic BMX gold medallist Bethany Shriever has said she wants to inspire more people to take up the sport.

On her return home to Finchingfield, Essex, she said: "It means so much it's just got the sport out there."

Her win at Tokyo 2020 gave the British Olympic team its first ever gold medal in BMX racing.

The 22-year-old took a job as a part-time teaching assistant and launched a crowdfunding appeal to stand a chance of qualifying for the games.

Beth Shriever said it was "absolutely amazing" to win a gold medal

She described bringing a gold medal home as a "very, very proud moment".

"To have this [medal] and to be able to share it with my family, it's absolutely amazing," she said.

"I've dreamt about that moment for so long and to actually have it and it's mine is unbelievable.

"It means so much - it's just got the sport out there."

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She was able to celebrate her win in Tokyo with team-mate Kye Whyte, who won silver in the men's event.

Kye Whyte and Beth Shriever celebrated their medal wins for Great Britain in Tokyo

Ms Shriever said she had dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal "for so long"

"There were statistics of the amount of searches on Google for BMX and for my name and Kye's name and it was going through the roof," Shriever said.

"To see that and to see all these tracks having sell-out training sessions, honestly it's been amazing.

"Both me and Kye wanted to inspire more people to get involved and I think hopefully that's starting to kick start now."

Shriever said it was a "very, very proud moment" to bring home her gold medal