Search: Amy Williams Olympics
Self-confessed adrenaline junkie Amy Williams craves a slice of the quiet life after making a mockery of the fastest and most dangerous ice chute in the world to claim an historic Winter Olympic skeleton gold for Great Britain.
Williams can expect to be hailed a national heroine when she returns home at the end of the Games having twice shattered the Whistler track record to claim Britain's first individual Winter Gold in 30 years.
But the 27-year-old Bath athlete, who admits winning the Olympic gold medal took her totally by surprise, says she can't wait to get home and take a break from the sport that now promises to change her life.
Williams said: "I don't know when I'll get my life back, but I can't wait to go horse-riding again and do the things I stopped doing because I had to concentrate so hard this past year. I can't wait to do so-called normal things again."
Williams was presented with her gold medal on stage at the Whistler Medals Plaza on Saturday evening. It was the first time the Union Jack had been raised over a Winter Games podium since Rhona Martin's curlers struck gold in 2002.
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She admitted afterwards she had been more nervous about the ceremony than she ever was about hurling herself head-first down the same sheet of ice which tragically killed Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the first day of the Games.
And she said she was struggling to comprehend the magnitude of her achievement, sifting through congratulatory messages including one from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and shuttled through an endless round of media interviews.
"I never thought I'd win an Olympic medal and it's not going to change me," said Williams. "I'm just happiest watching a film with my friends and that's what's important to me. I'll never lose sight of my normal life.
"A lot of my friends are athletes and we're our own little family. My friends have all got their own achievements which are just as good as mine but in their own worlds. I don't see myself as being any different."
Williams grinned her way to gold after shattering the Whistler track record with a time of 53.83 in her first run on Thursday. Having spent an apparently nerveless night's sleep, she returned to smash her own record with 53.68 in her third of four runs.
