While British athletes were winning a bumper crop of medals in Beijing, Claire 'Sparky' Scott, from Marsh Gibbon, helped her team to victory in the four-way female formation skydiving in Maubeuge on August 13.

Mrs Scott, 35, along with team-mates Hannah Betts, Sarah Smith and Kate Stephens, held off close rivals France and the USA to scoop the world title.

She said: "It feels fantastic to win gold, especially when the Olympics are on. It brings the two together.

"We gave up our jobs last year so we've all put an awful lot into it.

"It's just a huge relief to achieve what we set out to achieve two years ago."

The British skydiving team, Bodyflight Storm, had spent a gruelling two years preparing under the expert supervision of six-time world champion Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld.

Mrs Scott and her team had to give up their day jobs last year to accommodate extra practice in the run-up to the world championships. Bodyflight Storm had won a chance at the world title by claiming gold in the 2007 British national finals.

Four-way skydiving teams aim to create as many different formations as possible in 35 seconds of freefall, after leaping from an aircraft at 10,000 ft.

Bodyflight Storm averaged an amazing 20 formations in 35 seconds.

Mrs Scott, who has trained at RAF Weston-on-the-Green, is no stranger to success.

Her previous skydiving achievements include team gold medals in the Four-Way Women's World Cup in 1999, 2002 and 2006, and the British National Championships in 2006.

She also helped set the women's world record for formation skydiving in 2005, creating 30 formations in 35 seconds.

John Smyth, chairman of the British Parachute Association, said:

"Bodyflight Storm have spent two years training, making enormous personal sacrifices with limited sponsorship.

"They are athletes who have won the most important competition in our sport, I would like to congratulate them all."