Ref. 28421-32Friends and neighbours of Olympic marathon runner Matt O'Dowd have talked of their pride of watching him complete the gruelling final event.

Neighbours who live near Matt's family home in Rodbourne were glued to their TV screens to catch a glimpse of the Swindon athlete.

Pauline Little, 59, who lives next door to Matt in Watling Close, said: "I was glued to the set watching the race. It's a pity we didn't see more of him on the television, but I am very proud of him.

"It's quite exciting to be living next door to someone famous."

Matt, 28, completed the gruelling 26-mile marathon in two hours, 22 minutes and 37 seconds, coming in 50th place out of 99. He started the race at 6pm Greek time in temperatures of 300C and almost 40 per cent humidity.

Fellow team-mate Jon Browne narrowly missed a medal, coming in fourth place with a time of two hours, five minutes and 56 seconds while other team-mate Dan Robinson came in 22nd place with a time of two hours, 10 minutes and 51 seconds. Taking Gold was the Italian runner Stefano Baldini

Unfortunately, the race was marred by a protester who ran into the Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima, forcing him into the crowd.

Ros Marsh, 55, who lives two doors down from Matt, said: "I don't really watch very much sport but I had to watch this race. I thought it was extremely exciting and I am so pleased he finished.

"On the TV they seemed to concentrate more on the front runners, but I made sure I always looked for his name when they brought up the position board. Everyone in the street has been behind him. We feel a sense of pride in having an Olympic athlete in the street."

Another neighbour, David Sheppard, 60, said: "We've known Matthew for as long as he has been living next door. We are really pleased for him, he's done extremely well this year."

Matt was given a place on the men's marathon team in July this year, despite having had two-injury plagued seasons.

The marathon marked the end of 16 days of the Olympic Games in Athens, which saw British athletes bring home 30 medals including nine gold, nine silver and 12 bronze.

Anthony Osborne