Double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes may be one of the most sought after sporting stars of the moment, but she hasn’t forgotten her roots – or her local paper.

The Kent and Sussex Courier scooped the nationals when it revealed the athlete’s decision to run both the 800m and 1,500m in Athens, and has been able to keep up the momentum with weekly insights from Kelly in Athens – and a special invitation to her welcome home party.

This week’s edition includes 12 pages of coverage, encompassing Kelly’s second gold medal, her return home and her victory parade, as well as a full-page picture signed by Kelly together with a thank you message for readers to keep as a memento.

Sports editor Jez Durrant said: “The paper has a really good relationship with Kelly.

“She started writing a monthly column for us about a year ago which has kept readers up-to-date and given an insight into the life of a top athlete, which has proved very popular.

“And during the Olympics she wrote weekly columns for us recalling her triumph in her own words, which was a mini coup for the paper.”

After returning to the UK on Monday with the rest of the Olympic team Kelly travelled to her mother’s home in Hildenborough in Kent where a surprise welcome home party was held with family and friends – and the Courier.

Jez said: “The village came together for a surprise party – although I’m sure Kelly suspected!

“There were people there who had known her for years and she went from table to table talking to everyone and we managed to grab a chat with her and some of her family.”

The Courier was also on hand to cover a special victory parade (above) held for Kelly on Wednesday, where she was greeted by thousands of people as she travelled through the streets of Tonbridge on an open-top bus.

And within four hours of the end of the parade, pictures from the event taken by Courier photographers had been uploaded onto a specially-created gallery on the paper’s website thisiskentandeastsussex.co.uk.

Jez said: “The last few weeks have been hectic but it has been good for the paper and everyone has mucked in.

“We knew Kelly had the potential to get two golds and we were keeping our fingers crossed, but it is fantastic that she has actually done it.”

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