Rebecca Adlington remains as down-to-earth and level-headed as ever, despite her household fame, OBE, swimming baths and pub named after her, and various awards and honours since she won two gold medals last August in the 400 and 800 metres freestyle finals at the Beijing Olympics, the latter with a stunning new world record. I was with her earlier in the week and she was genuinely delighted that her good friend Joanne Jackson had beaten her in the British Gas championships 400 metres final with a world record, rightly recognising that such a rivalry is great news for her sport. The reason why the world's media fell in love with Beccy in Chinacan be summed up by comparing her reaction to her success to that of eight-time gold medallist Michael Phelps who, when asked to explain his emotions, he retorted with one word, "awesome," before later being caught smoking from a pipe used for marijuana. Beccy, in contrast, rebuked anyone who suggested she was now a superstar. "Don't be silly," she responded. "I'm just a girl from Mansfield who loves shoes and hates the sea. And I go to bed at 9pm on Saturday nights because the training makes me so tired. It's not exactly showbiz, is it?" That's why Rebecca Adlington is the awesome one.
