THE family of North Yorkshire Olympic medal winner Alison Mowbray told last night of their pride at her achievement.

Miss Mowbray, 33, who comes from Richmond, won silver with rowing crewmates Debbie Flood, Frances Houghton and Rebecca Romero, in the women's quadruple sculls yesterday.

The Team GB boat fought back from fifth to finish within only half a boat's length of the winning German crew.

Miss Mowbray's mother, Margaret, a former GP, travelled to Greece to watch the race. Mrs Mowbray, 61, said: "I know they would have liked to get the gold, but it was wonderful to watch them take silver.

"It's going to be something we never forget. I'm very proud of her - she has given us such a lot of pleasure."

The rower's younger sister, Catherine, who also watched from the bank, said: "The noise of the crowd was absolutely amazing.

"We spoke to Alison very briefly after the race. I think there was an initial feeling of disappointment, but because the crowd made such a fuss that changed."

Miss Mowbray, a teacher, had been hoping for gold in what will be her last Olympics.

After the race, she said: "It's a real mixture of emotions. We really set our sights on gold, but it's only because of that ambition we've managed to get silver, which is amazing."

The former Richmond School pupil took up rowing while studying microbiology at Liverpool University.