Freedom of the Borough for Olympian Chelsie Giles

The 28-year-old judo star - who took the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the -52kg class - visited the Mayor's Parlour at the Town Hall to receive the honour from Cllr Barbara Brown.

Chelsie was one of three Olympians to be awarded the Freedom of the Borough by the council following the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Rower Lauren Henry, who struck gold in the women's quadruple sculls, and paddler Kimberley Woods, who won a brace of bronze medals after finishing third in both the women's kayak single (K1) and kayak cross finals, were presented with the borough's highest civic honour in March during a ceremony at the Benn Hall.

But Chelsie missed the ceremony due to training commitments in Japan, so was invited to the Mayor's Parlour earlier this month to receive the Freedom of the Borough.

The Wolston-based judoka was a budding gymnast, swimmer and dancer growing up, stumbling on judo by chance.

Chelsie regularly watched her brother's judo training and, one day, was invited by a coach to give the martial art a go.

Her natural talent led her to rise swiftly through the judo ranks, earning Team GB's first medal of the Tokyo games.

In 2022, Chelsie became world number one, took silver at the World Championships and was crowned European champion.

But despite heading to the Paris games in great form, Chelsie lost on golden score in her opening bout, with her Brazilian opponent, Larissa Pimenta, going on to take the bronze medal.

Cllr Brown said: "Chelsie has reached the pinnacle of her sport and represented Team GB at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, an outstanding achievement which deserves to be rewarded with the Freedom of the Borough, the highest civic honour the council can award.

"Just like Lauren and Kimberley, Chelsie's dedication and drive to succeed should inspire the next generation to aim for the top and dream big."

Following the Paris Olympics, the council also voted in favour of awarding all future Rugby medallists at the Olympics and Paralympics the Freedom of the Borough.