She made Kent proud when she won GB’s first gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in February, and today Lizzy Yarnold visited Castle Community College to teach students they too can be proud of themselves.

In a motivational talk at the school’s Salisbury Road site, the bob skeleton champion told Year 11 students: “You never know what you’re good at unless you give yourself a chance.

"Don’t limit yourself in what you’re capable of achieving.”

Showing off her Sochi gold medal, which is the largest Olympic medal ever made, she shared her story of how she made it to the top, saying she was inspired by heptathlon Denise Lewis.

She said: “I remember watching Denise Lewis in 2000, I was quite young. She looked so elegant, confident and perfect.”

But she told the students not to be fooled by how athletes come across on television.

“On the television, it looks glam, but it’s far from that.

“People sometimes think we’re unapproachable, but I like to use the analogy of a swan. They might look elegant across the water, but underneath, their legs are going crazy.”

The 25-year-old from West Kingsdown in Kent said she always wanted to be an athlete and encouraged the students to admit their dreams.

“I always wanted to be a full-time athlete. I had this crazy ambition to get to the Olympics but you have to be quite bold to say that.

“You have to be brave and tell people of your dreams.”

Having fallen into the sport at the age of 19 after a UK Sport talent search ‘Girls for Gold’ in Loughborough, Lizzy admitted she hated the sport for the first two years.

During the talent search, she was assessed on her arm span, height and ability to produce force which picked out the skeleton as her ideal sport.

“I’d never heard of the skeleton, I was trying to get into a different sport.”

Lizzy wanted to a heptathlete.

She added: “I didn’t like the sport for the first two years. It was unnerving but I learnt I could deal with the fear.”

And after her sleek performance at the 2014 games in Russia, she proved to all her friends, family and fans that she could do just that - work with the fear.

Undoubtedly, it is Lizzy’s perseverance that has helped her reach her goals. Although she did not know when she went to the sport talent search with her friend six years ago, that she would one day be Olympic champion, her persistence to not give up, even when she hated what she was doing, or was scared, is the secret to her success.

Her next competition will be the World Championships in Germany in March.

She finished: “I’m World Cup champion and Olympic Champion. I need to be World Champion.”