Now for the world!

Julie, who lives in Prenton, finished second in the 500-metre time trial at the Games and is now in training for next month's World Track Cycling Championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.

But Julie's run of success may never have come about, had she not acted on advice given to her by the man who later became her husband. Julie married Steve Paulding, a professional cyclist and team manager for the Olympic Games, in October last year and the couple live in Piccadilly Village, Manchester, next to the Velodrome, scene of her silver medal success.

Julie says she was an athlete, but took up cycling in 1997 on Steve's advice. She told the Globe: "I went to college with him and he said I would make a better cyclist than runner. In many ways, I wished I had taken up cycling earlier."

The advice paid off and Julie has enjoyed an incredible run of success over the last four years. In the Summer of 1998, she was the fastest woman over 500 metres, then became best in the 200 metres sprint. At the national championship at the Velodrome, later that year, she came second in both sprint events by the narrowest margins.

In 1999, Julie broke the British 500 metres record, again, at the World Cup meeting in Columbia, with a time of 36.2 seconds, and represented Great Britain in the World Cycling Championships in Berlin, Germany, later that year.

Last year, she recorded a winning time of 36.001 seconds, scoring a hat-trick, in the 500-metres time trial at the Manchester Velodrome. She broke the British national record for the event with a new best of 35.78 seconds. Later that year, she flew to Mexico to compete with the Great British team in the World Cup and rode with the St Raphael team at the World Championships in Antwerp.

So what are Julie's hopes for the future? "I'm looking to the World Championships and hoping to do well. If that happens, it would make me very happy. After that, I will have a review and see what's next."