An athlete from north Kent has become Britain’s most successful winter Olympian sparking calls for a statue.

Lizzy Yarnold, from West Kingsdown, won a second successive women's skeleton title in Pyeongchang on Saturday (February 17).

The 29-year-old, who went to school in Maidstone, has surpassed figure skaters Jeannette Altwegg and Dancing on Ice pair Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who have one gold medal and one bronze each, to become Britain's most decorated winter Olympian.

Yarnold, who was awarded an MBE after 2014's Winter Games, may soon be spending more time in north Kent as she has also announced she plans to take a break to consider her future.

She said: "I think I'll take a break. I need to get over my chest infection first. I'll take a break and get back to you.

"As each minute passes it becomes more of a reality, but it still is an unbelievable series of events, of everything just coming together.

"There's a whole dream of if everything goes right... if I do this, if I get this corner, if that transfers, if the speed comes, everything will work magically.

"I guess now it's just relief that everything did go to plan."

Yarnold posted a total time of three minutes 27.28 seconds to finish ahead of Germany's Jacqueline Loelling, as Briton Laura Deas took third spot.

Residents in West Kingsdown have called for a statue or a plaque to mark the villager's Olympic triumphs.

In 2014, a postbox was painted gold in Lizzy's home village after the Royal Mail snubbed the idea of honouring the Winter Olympics champion.

The postbox was unofficially painted in Hever Road to honour Yarnold's skeleton triumph, but Royal Mail has no plans to paint any postboxes this time round.

News Shopper:
Great Britain's Lizzy Yarnold celebrates winning gold in the Women's Skeleton at the Alpensia Sliding Centre during day eight of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday February 17
 

5 things you didn’t know about Lizzy Yarnold

1. Merv the swerve

Yarnold’s sled is called Mervyn, after a former work colleague from the days when she worked in insurance, Mervyn Sugden. He offered to help out Yarnold with sponsorship when she needed money to continue competing.

2. Multi eventer

Yarnold was a keen athlete, competing in javelin and shot put. She then set her heart on becoming a modern pentathlete, before being talented-identified and encouraged to take up skeleton.

3. Dizzee Lizzy

Yarnold often listens to grime music to motivate her before her races. She revealed she had listened to Dizzee Rascal moments before her first Olympic triumph in 2014, and is a big fan of the grime star Wiley.

4. Haberdasher

Yarnold lists her hobbies as knitting and listening to The Archers. During a year out in the wake of her Olympic success, she undertook a course in lampshade-making, wallpapered her house and completed an Open University course in book-keeping and accounting.

5. She-Ra, princess of power

Yarnold is known by other members of the British skeleton squad as ‘She-Ra’. She deliberately avoided an entire run of Downton Abbey so she could watch the whole series whilst waiting for her gold medal run in Sochi.