WHEN Kelly Holmes arrived on Tyneside for last month's Great North Mile, she was given the kind of reception normally reserved for nobility and Newcastle number nines.

Two Olympic gold medals can do wonderful things. But amid the acclaim heaped on Holmes since she returned from Athens, the region has been guilty of overlooking its own Hellenic heroine.

Richmond-born Alison Mowbray was part of the women's quadruple sculls crew that claimed a silver medal in the Olympic rowing regatta. But unlike Holmes she has not been invited to start half-marathons, parade around football grounds or present trophies at celebrity TV awards.

She didn't win double gold, but in a region that prides itself on its worship of its sporting stars, her considerable Olympic achievement has been largely ignored.

Not that you will find Mowbray complaining. Years of unheralded training sessions at the crack of dawn have made her immune to the vagaries of fame.

That is all in the past now - the Olympic final was the final race of her rowing career - but, as Holmes continues to live in the limelight, Mowbray is enjoying her new life as a teacher without a hint of regret.

"Kelly's been the one that everyone's wanted to see because of her two gold medals," said Mowbray, who attended Richmond School before studying at Liverpool University.

"I've been able to slip back into obscurity really, but that's fine by me and I hope Kelly continues to get all the recognition she deserves.

"As a fellow athlete, I think it's amazing the way she's come through so many injury setbacks to do what she's done. She deserves every accolade she gets because she's given up so much for her running in the past.

"She'll be getting my vote for Sports Personality of the Year. She's even overshadowed Matthew Pinsent and, even though what Matthew achieved was incredible, that's got to be good for women's sport.

"I even got her autograph on the plane back from Athens, so that just shows you how much of an impact her achievements have had.

"I'm sure she'll be just as big a success at the next Games, but I said all along that the Olympics was going to be it for me and I've stuck by that.

"People ask me 'How could you leave it there after winning the silver' and 'Do you not want to go one better in Beijing'?

"But I had the most amazing two weeks of my life in Athens and, even if I were to win a gold medal in the future, I still don't think it would top that.

"It's time to do some other stuff in my life. Steve Redgrave said 'If you see me in another boat, shoot me'. I'm not going that far, but the sentiment is the same."

The 33-year-old certainly went out at the top. It seems an eternity ago now, but it is only seven weeks since Mowbray enjoyed the greatest moment of her sporting career just hours before Paula Radcliffe was to experience the lowest point of hers.

Seven days earlier, Mowbray and her three team-mates - Rebecca Romero, Frances Houghton and Debbie Flood - had been the fastest qualifiers en route to the Olympic final.

The quartet thought they were in good shape after winning the final World Cup regatta in Lucerne, and a convincing heat win served to underline their medal-winning potential.

"The heat win was important because it had been a long time since we last raced," said Mowbray. "And we needed that bit of a confidence boost.

"You're never 100 per cent sure that what you've been doing in preparation has worked. That race proved it had, but then we had a full week to wait and prepare for the final.

"It never seemed like we were waiting though because we were training all the time.

"We were staying close to the course and we would get up at 5.30 in the morning to get a training run in before the day's competition started. Then we'd go back to our rooms, watch the live feed from the BBC, and go back down to do another row at night."

Five days came and went, before the middle Saturday of the Games saw all of the other British rowing crews in action.

One by one they came away with medals and, as the British flag continued to be hoisted high, so the nerves inside Mowbray began to develop.

"There was such a buzz about the place when we came back from training on the Saturday night and, if I'm honest, that was the first time in the whole Olympics that I felt nervous and jittery," she admitted.

"All of the other women's crews won medals on that Saturday, so there was absolutely no way that we were going to be the only ones coming away empty-handed.

"I don't think it had totally sunk in before that, but the sight of the other crews with their medals underlined just what it was all about."

That became even more evident the following morning, when Mowbray awoke to tackle the one race that would define her 15-year rowing career.

"I was nervous when I got up on the Sunday," said Mowbray. "But I'm always nervous before I race so that was a good sign.

"I followed the same routine I always do. I try to force a couple of slices of bread down before I'm properly awake because, once I'm up and about, there's no chance of me being able to eat anything at all.

"We were racing at 9.30 so we were down on the water fairly early. You know it's an Olympic final but, by that stage, there's so much going on around you that you've got to focus on your own rowing, otherwise you'd never get anything done.

"To be honest, the whole Olympic final thing didn't really come into it. I know it sounds strange, but that was always going to be our final race together and that was always more important.

"I've avoided the race a bit and I've hardly watched it since I got back. It pretty much confirmed what I thought at the time.

"I remember having a quick look around at halfway and everyone was dead level. That was the first time when I seriously thought about the prospect of finishing with nothing.

"That's why, when we missed out on the gold, it honestly wasn't a case of disappointment. I would have taken silver at the 1,000m metre mark - and I think the rest of the girls would have too."

The silver medal now takes pride of place in her Buckinghamshire home, but it made the journey north with her when she first travelled back to her Richmond roots.

While Holmes takes a well-earned rest in more exotic climes, Mowbray will be back behind the blackboard tomorrow. It is to be hoped her pupils appreciate the sacrifices that have taken her there.