CYCLING supremo Liam Killeen is set for a hero's welcome when he returns to his home town of Malvern after winning Gold in the Commonwealth Games.
Liam clinched an England one-two in the cross-country event in Melbourne on Thursday with team mate Oli Beckingsale and has since been recovering from his mammoth achievement.
Delighted mum Kay Coombes - founder of Malv-ern-based charity ARCOS - cheered him on from the sidelines and dad Will Killeen - a renowned ac-oustic blues guitarist - called from England to congratulate him.
And the 23-year-old former Malvern's Chase High School pupil was due to take part in a road race at the weekend but pulled out due to illness.
Now Malvern council chiefs are all ready to pull out the stops to ensure he gets a hero's welcome when he arrives back in town.
Town council chairman Ralph Madden is holding a meeting with vice-chairman Michael Selby this week to discuss what they might do.
He added: "We just think it's a fantastic achievement. When you look at it it's not a big spectator sport but in terms of an achievement it's absolutely marvellous.
"Obviously, we'll not have to be over-pretentious in what we do but we'll do something for sure."
Malvern Hills District Council also confirmed it would organise some form of reception for Liam.
And Chase High School headteacher Kevin Peck said the school would invite him to speak about his success. They are also hoping to get a shirt from him to place in the school where they have a variety of items from former pupils who have represented their country. These already include a swimsuit from Ceris Gillfillan, who represented the nation in the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
Mr Peck said: "Of course we'd love him to come in, but he'll be very busy, so we'll have to be patient.
"We're all absolutely delighted for him though, because he has done terrifically well, and it's a really great achievement."
Liam now has his sights set on taking victory in the mountain biking world cup, taking place in the Caribbean this weekend. Days later, he is due to race in another competition in San Francisco.
Liam's recent Gold victory is not the first time he has tasted success, with a bronze at the last games in Manchester four years ago being one of many medals he has picked up to date.
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