TWO BMX riders who trained at Rush Skatepark in Brimscombe have won Olympic medals for Great Britain.

Charlotte Worthington won gold in the first Olympic women’s BMX freestyle competition in Tokyo before Declan Brooks followed up with bronze in the men’s event moments later.

Commenting on Facebook, the Rush team said: "Sending a massive congratulations to Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks for absolutely smashing it at the Olympics taking gold and bronze respectively.

"What an incredible result for both you guys and for UK action sports.

"It’s been a pleasure to have had you practice at Rush and we hope to see you very soon.

They added: "A lot of the BMX athletes use Rush Skatepark to train and it has been amazing seeing their performance during practice."

Worthington made history in more ways than one as the 25-year-old Mancunian nailed the first 360 backflip to be performed in women’s competition in a huge second run – having crashed attempting the move in her first.

It was just one of several highlights in a second effort that earned the former chef a monster score of 97.50.

Having made the 360 stick early in her run, a confident-looking Worthington also threw in a front flip and a huge backflip on her way to gold.

“It’s kind of unreal, I’m waiting to wake up,” Worthington said.

“I’ve been dreaming about this for four years, and it still feels like I’m dreaming four years ago, I’m still waiting to wake up.

“I didn’t put any pressure on myself. You go in and out of it, you’re thinking there is some pressure and maybe it’s not going to happen this time.

“But you’ve just got to let that go really quick and refocus. I tried not to have any pressure and I tried to focus on enjoying myself and taking it one trick at a time.”

Rush Skatepark, one of Europe’s biggest indoor facilities located in Brimscombe Port, is to close at the end of this month.

Jerry and Michelle Norman, who opened the skatepark in 2013, said they will cease trading on August 29 in a social media post.

Their tenancy ends as Stroud District Council move on plans for a £2.9m development of the port, which were drawn up before their contract with Rush was signed.