Proud mum May McLean said Wendy - who missed out on the gold medal in the 3000 metre individual pursuit in Beijing by just two seconds - is "over the moon."

The 33-year-old came tantalisingly close to becoming Northern Ireland's first gold medallist since Mary Peters 36 years ago.

"She phoned me and she's in great form," said May. "She's over the moon."

Her success is Northern Ireland's first silver medal since Wayne McCullough picked up bantamweight silver in the ring in Barcelona in 1992.

According to May, she was due to arrive in London yesterday (Wednesday) before travelling to Cornwall where she lives with husband Ian.

Wendy plans to come over to Northern Ireland within the next two weeks, providing there are no delays.

The last time she was in Upperlands was after the World Championships in Manchester earlier this year when she won gold in the team pursuit and finished fourth in the individual race.

She told the MAIL then that she desperately wanted a medal in the individual pursuit at the Olympics to make up for her disappointment.

Sadly, she was denied by British team mate Rebecca Romero who proved too strong and led all the way in the pursuit final on Sunday to claim a convincing victory.

But Hovenaghel has not given up her dream of winning Olympic gold.

Her attention has now shifted to London 2012, where she is aiming to go one better.

Wendy's mum and dad, Philip, drove through Saturday's torrential rain from Upperlands to Enniskillen in their Austin 12 to "ease their nerves" as their daughter prepared to qualify for the final in the Laoshan Velodrome.

"We watched her get through to the first round on Friday and decided to go ahead with the vintage rally on Saturday just to get out of the way," explained May.

Her daughter Janice, who travelled to China along with brother Andrew to support their sister, later phoned them to say Wendy was in the final.

Wendy, a qualified dentist, only took up cycling six years ago to keep her husband Ian company.

Mrs McLean, who comes from Sandholes, Cookstown, believes Wendy's cycling ability comes from her grandfather Thomas McIvor, who rode competitively.

"He was a great man for cycling and was always talking about Cyril Henry and the East Tyrone club," recalled May.

Meanwhile, another Olympic competitor with South Derry connections, Alan Campbell, finished fifth in Saturday's Olympic single sculls final.

Campbell, from Coleraine, was considered an outside medal chance after a knee operation, started strongly and led early on.

He was second at the 1000 metres halfway mark, but could not live with the pace of Olympic champion Olaf Tufte who clinched gold for a second time.

It was always going to be a struggle for 25-year-old Campbell whose preparations were disrupted two months ago when he required surgery for a knee infection.