Olympic canoeist Tim Baillie’s grandmother, who lives in Keighley, has spoken with pride of his gold medal success.

Molly Jones, who is in her 90s, has followed Tim’s progress in the pairs canoe slalom on TV from her Utley home.

Former nurse Molly, a health campaigner in Keighley for many years, phoned to congratulate Tim straight after he won a place in the finals.

And she hosted a party with her carers and friends so they could watch 33-year old Tim and canoeing partner Etienne Stott brave surging rapids to win gold for Great Britain.

Molly and her carer cheered Tim and Etienne while wearing the same blue “Baillie-Stott” T-shirts her daughter had made for supporters in London.

Molly said: “I was glad for Tim because he’s very dedicated. He’s grown up canoeing from being a small boy. He’s a lovely boy, he comes to see me occasionally.”

The roots of Tim’s success lie in Keighley where his mother Christine, Molly’s daughter, took up canoeing as a teenager while attending Keighley Girls Grammar School.

Christine joined local canoe clubs and continued with the sport when she went to university in Aberdeen, where she met and married fellow canoe enthusiast Ken Baillie.

Tim’s uncle Mike Jones, who grew up in Keighley, was also a slalom canoeist. He was killed in 1978 – the year before Tim’s birth – while trying to save a companion on a river in Pakistan.

Tim began his canoe career locally, taking his first “paddles” in the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey at a young age.

Christine said: “He first paddled in water with waves near the Cavendish Pavilion when he was seven. When he was 15 he got into the Great Britain squad.”

In his early teens, Tim competed in Canadian solo canoes, then for fun began paddling with a friend in the Canadian double, the same type of canoe used for his Olympic run.

When his first partner retired from competition he sought out Etienne, who did the same degree at his university, to take up the rear paddle.

Christine said the pair took the gold last Thursday despite Tim recently having surgery for a long-standing elbow problem and Etienne dislocating his shoulder while paddling.

Molly Jones was active in health voluntary work in Keighley for many years and at the age of 73 was voted Yorkshire’s Woman of Achievement.

She ran groups for carers and MS and osteoporosis sufferers, and pioneered women’s health care and counselling.