Crowd roars on Zara to silver glory (From Durham Times)

Crowd roars on Zara to silver glory

1:24pm Tuesday 31st July 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Crowds have cheered Zara Phillips as she and her team-mates secured a silver medal in the Olympics eventing competition.

Their brave gold medal challenge ultimately came up short as European champions and Olympic title favourites Germany took gold, with New Zealand clinching bronze.

Tina Cook's showjumping round - she had just one time fault - meant Britain secured second place and gave Britain its 18th Olympic post-war eventing medal alongside Phillips, Nicola Wilson, William Fox-Pitt and Mary King.

The Queen's granddaughter was third up for the British equestrian eventing team as she continued her promising Olympic debut.

Supporters who had braved gloomy skies in Greenwich, south-east London, fell into a hushed silence as she tackled the course, which included jumps featuring a miniature Nelson's column and bright red post boxes. But they erupted into delighted cheers once she had finished, waving Union flags.

Members of the Royal Family turned out again to support her, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry cheering her on.

The golden dream had come true for 15-year-old swimming sensation Ruta Meilutyte after the Lithuanian schoolgirl, who lives and trains in Plymouth, stole the heart of her adopted country with a spectacular win in the women's 100 metres breaststroke final. Her victory and emotional post-race interview instantly secured her status as a darling of the London Games.

After her win in the pool an incredulous Meilutyte, who attends the same school as diver Tom Daley, was left almost lost for words as she tried to absorb what she had done. "I cannot believe it," she told the BBC afterwards. "It's too much for me."

It was a very different story for her fellow pupil at Plymouth College. Daley and Pete Waterfield were left deflated after missing out on a podium place in the synchronised 10m platform final.

Meanwhile, police said a 17-year-old has been arrested after malicious tweets were sent to Daley. Dorset Police said the teenager was held at a guest house in Weymouth hours after 18-year-old Daley received the messages on social networking site Twitter.