A former dancer who only took up the hammer throw because her athletics club needed points for participating in local competitions won Britain’s first Olympic medal in the event for 92 years on Monday.

Sophie Hitchon spun round the throwing circle with the grace of a prima ballerina, then launched the 4kg metal ball high into the air with immense power and precision to win bronze with a British record of 74.54m.

The 25-year-old had only qualified for the final in 11th place but shone from the start on a warm morning in the Joao Havelange stadium, recording a season’s best of 73.29m in the second round. At the halfway stage, she was in third but slipped out of the medal positions before launching her final assault, adding 70cm to her own previous British best.

Sophie Hitchon proudly displays her bronze medal after her hammer throw heroics

Hitchon cuts a delighted figure after clinching a bronze medal in the hammer throw

The women's hammer throw athlete reacts in joy after winning an historic medal for GB

The Great British athlete proudly poses with the Union Jack flag after finishing third

FIRST HAMMER STAR WAS A WAR HERO Sophie Hitchon is the first British athlete to win an Olympic hammer medal since Malcolm Cuthbert Nokes, who won bronze in the event at the 1924 Games in Paris. Four years later he finished 11th at the hammer throw at the Amsterdam Games. An Oxford chemistry graduate, Nokes served in the the first First World War in the trenches with the Royal Artillery and then as an observer in the Royal Flying Corps. He was awarded a Military Cross. Nokes later became a chemistry teacher at Malvern College and Harrow School, and in the late 1960s was head of laboratories at the Institute of Nuclear and Applied Science in Tehran, Iran. Advertisement

Almost as soon as the hammer left her, Hitchon raised both hands to her head, an expression of utter disbelief etched on her face. ‘I knew straight away when I let go,’ she said. ‘I turned around and my coach was like: “Yeah!” I know if he likes it, it’s going far.’

Her parents, Wendy and Michael, and sister Emma were watching from home in Burnley.

‘To say we were watching is a bit stretched,’ Wendy told Sportsmail. ‘It was on TV but I ended up going to hang my washing out because I couldn’t bear to watch and Michael was doing his usual pacing up and down while Emma was trying to keep us in check. It would have been nice to be there and I know it might sound strange when your daughter is in the Olympics but I got made redundant a couple of months ago and we couldn’t really justify the cost.’

Draped in the Union flag, Hitchon completed a lap of honour with Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk, who improved on her own world record by more than a metre to win gold with a throw of 82.29m. China’s Zhang Wenxiu took silver with 76.75m.

The hammer is by reputation one of the least glamorous events on the athletics programme and, in the past, Hitchon has bemoaned the fact it is not even included on the Diamond League circuit. But she rightly points out that you do not need to be huge and hairy to be a success and she certainly challenges the stereotype.

‘She’s fit and healthy, 5ft 7in and weighs 11 stone so she’s not the big bulky athlete, she’s athletic and technically good,’ said Wendy. ‘A lot of them throw on brute force but she perfects what she does.’

Hitchon of Great Britain celebrates placing third in the women's hammer throw final

She completed a lap of honour draped in the Union Flag, delight surely mixed with disbelief

HAMMER THROW RESULT Gold: Anita Wlodarczyk (Poland) Silver: Zhang Wenxiu (China) Bronze: Sophie Hitchon (Great Britain) Advertisement

Wendy signed her daughter up for ballet classes at nursery at the age of three and dancing occupied most of her free time outside school. She performed in showcases at the Mechanics Theatre in her home town of Burnley.

‘It wasn’t just ballet,’ said Wendy. ‘It was tap dancing, modern and gymnastics. It has all helped with hammer in terms of balance, agility, co-ordination and core strength. She was a bit of a chunky monkey, not the typical ballet dancer shape, but she persisted and practised until she decided to take up the hammer and give it more time.’

Hitchon stumbled across hammer as a 14-year-old. Her father is a former English Schools champion in the 100 metres and coached Hitchon when she began at Pendle Athletics Club. She was a useful sprinter and did the shot put but the team never had anyone to throw the hammer and they needed points so Hitchon stepped up, launching it a modest 28m at her debut competition.

(L-R) Hitchon, silver medalist Zhang Wenxiu of China and Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk

The 25-year-old British athlete jumps for joy following her Olympic Games heroics

But in her first year, Hitchon broke the British Under 17 record. Over the next two seasons she smashed 14 junior and Under 23 marks.

At the 2015 World Championships in Beijing she came within a whisker of her first major medal, finishing fourth. At the European Championships in Amsterdam earlier this summer she was fourth again.

‘To finish so close to the medals was frustrating,’ she said. ‘But to do it in an Olympics trumps that.’

Hitchon, the 25-year-old from Burnley, is stunned after clinching an historic bronze medal

The bronze Olympic medalist is delighted after producing a spectacular final throw in Rio

Tessa Sanderson was the last thrower to win an Olympic medal, javelin gold at Los Angeles in 1984. Throwers generally reach their peak later than track athletes, so Hitchon’s best chance of gold might be at Tokyo in 2020 or even the Olympics after that.

‘We’re just so proud,’ said Wendy. ‘She works phenomenally hard and has had to sacrifice such a lot. She has a boyfriend in California but it can be a bit of a lonely life, you don’t have much time to see friends or go on holiday. She goes to all these exotic places then only sees the inside of a hotel room and the stadium. But to win an Olympic medal is fabulous, it really is what dreams are made of.’

Hitchon launched the hammer out to 74.54 metres to move from sixth place to third

Hitchon, the 25-year-old from Burnley, only squeezed into the final as the 11th of 12 qualifiers