OLYMPIC rower Vicky Thornley's family have told of how proud they are of her performance in Tokyo after her medal hopes were dashed.

Vicky, 33, came fourth by an agonising 67 hundredth of a second in the final of the women's single sculls at Tokyo's Sea Forest Waterway.

She was just pipped to bronze by Austrian rower Magdalena Lobnig, who she had beaten the day before in the gruelling semi final. New Zealander Emma Twigg took gold.

Vicky had been hoping to add another Olympic medal to her collection, having won silver in the double sculls with Dame Katherine Grainger in Rio in 2016 .

Folowing the final, Vicky said that she was proud of her performance but she just didn't have enough momentum for the last push.

She said: "The last five years have been incredible – some of my darkest days and some of my best days. I am proud of the race I put together.

“I thought I had the momentum, but I didn’t have quite enough.”

And the British Rowing association took to Twitter to say: "Vicky Thornley has left everything out on the water there and despite a late charge, it's not quite enough to overcome the Austrian sculler, Magdalena Lobnig, for the final podium spot.

"It's the highest ever finish for a #TeamGB W1x at the Olympics."

St Asaph-born Vicky lived in Colwyn Bay until the age of 11, and attended Rydal Penrhos School, before moving to Holt in Wrexham.

Proud family

Vicky's father Andrew Thornley, who lives in Tattenhall, Cheshire, said that her family were incredibly proud and were looking forward to being reunited with her next week, following her return to the UK tomorrow.

He added: "We are very very proud of Vicky. She did brilliantly. The final was so close, bearing in mind that she beat Magdalena Lobnig the day before.

"On the day, she didn't quite make it, which is an awful shame and we're all a bit gutted.

"Obviously Vicky is quite upset. She put every ounce of effort she had into the race and it wasn't quite enough on the day.

"She's flying back tomorrow and then she's coming up to see us next week for a few days. That'll be super. We can have a nice reunion. We are just so proud of her.

"This last five years she's had some real ups and downs. She worked so hard to get there and in the semi final there was some real strong competition but she came second there, which is fantastic."