"They might have to stuff me and leave me standing there in the middle of the main street in a few years time," Hoy laughed.

Australia's oldest Olympian at 62 and now a six-time medallist, Hoy was blown away by the idea proposed by Greater Hume Shire mayor Heather Wilton to have a statue of him on horseback after his heroics at the recent Tokyo Olympics.

Hoy, who has been living in the United Kingdom for almost 30 years, came away with silver in the team eventing and backed it up with individual bronze to win his first Olympics medals since he captured gold and silver on home soil at the 2000 Sydney Games.

But he's never forgotten where he came from.

"That's a very nice thought of hers," he said.

"The last time I was home I drove past the sign and thought it was starting to look a little tired and faded.

"I said at the time 'I hope I put them in a situation where they actually have to upgrade the sign' by adding to the medal count. It would be great for that to happen.

"I always consider myself as a kid who grew up on a farm outside of Culcairn and consider myself to be a Culcairn boy.

"I live in a little village called Somerby and it reminds me very much of Culcairn. I think it would actually be smaller than Culcairn, it's got 500 people.

"I'm the first resident that's ever been an Olympian, let alone bring home some medals. I think it was the same for Culcairn as well.

"I'm probably only realising now that it's a remarkable achievement what I've been able to do with my life."

Culcairn Pony Club wasn't around when Hoy first started riding, so he made a start nearby at Holbrook.

"From there I did camp drafting and a small amount of rodeo riding, along with the pony club scene," he said.

"I very much remember my early days and they were definitely not Olympic performances on those occasions.

"I'm very closely in touch with my mother who is still farming in Culcairn and there's a very close connection to Culcairn and Albury-Wodonga.

"Those days when I was a school boy, none of us, not even myself, had the vision as to where my sporting career would take me."

It's led to three gold, two silver and a bronze medal in a decorated Olympic journey, but Tokyo was by no means the final chapter.

"I believe Paris (2024 Olympics) is very doable for myself. I have world championships next year in Italy as well," he said.

"Vassily De Lassos is quite young and he's still going to be quite strong and healthy I believe in three years time. I've also got a very good team of horses coming along behind."

Being ranked 22nd in the world in your event might not mean a lot to everyone, but Myrtleford's Ben Buckingham couldn't have walked away from his first Olympic Games any happier.

Buckingham ran a four-second personal best to finish seventh in his heat in the men's 3000m steeplechase, but it didn't come without drama.

Less than 24 hours out from the race, the Australian athletics team was told to isolate after fears one if its members had come into contact with an American pole vaulter who had tested positive to COVID-19.

The 29-year-old was able to take the track, but had initially been disqualified upon completion for a lane infringement, meaning his time of 8.20.95, which was enough to net him a spot at next year's world championships and Commonwealth Games, wouldn't stand.

But after a nervous wait in the cool-down, he was given the all-clear.

"There's a great photo of me staring at the board waiting for my name to pop up to see what time I ran," Buckingham said.

"I remember seeing seventh place pop up and it wasn't me, it was someone slower, so I was thinking 'oh God, I've been disqualified'.

"I remembered stepping on the line with maybe three or four laps to go, but it's one of those things that happened in the moment.

"I remember doing the interview after the race and I was super happy with how I ran. I saw the DQ, but I still ran 8.20 and showed I can do that.

"I just tried to focus on that and how happy I was because even if they took it off me, I'd still shown I could run that time. It wasn't like I was disqualified for something that actually got me an advantage.

"After doing all the media, it was a massive walk out of the stadium and I remember getting to the warm-down track and I was looking for my coach but he was in the stadium trying to sort it out.

"It was a weird half an hour after the race thinking you were out of the race and then you're back in, but I was very happy when I got the news.

"The argument was I'd stepped on a line, but it was a straight line so I got no advantage and they accepted it.

"I think also I hadn't made the final, it was a PB and it was a time for next year, so that probably factored into them thinking 'what purpose is there disqualifying this bloke?'

"Thankfully I had good people in my corner and I got to walk away with 22nd in the world and a PB with the performance."

The support he received as a result of the run is something that isn't lost on Buckingham.

"I know everyone has got this but a huge amount of people told me they were watching. Friends, family, people from my old school sent messages, people from the Myrtleford community," he said.

"You wouldn't want to watch the whole build-up and then you come last in your heat and get dropped. I think the fact it was an exciting race also really meant a lot to me."

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However, Mulwala shooter James Willett learnt the harsh reality of being slightly off his game against the world's best in the men's trap.

Willett narrowly missed out on a spot in his second consecutive Olympic final, with a score that would have won him a medal in the previous Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

"It was probably the highest scoring Olympics so far and there was just no room for error over there," Willett admitted.

"I shot 120 out of 125 which is a respectable score, even though I was placed 21st in the end.

"I didn't feel like I shot that bad, it just wasn't good enough with the world class field that was there.

"I didn't leave any stone unturned before going there and I came away knowing that."

Willett hadn't competed internationally since October, 2019, due to the pandemic, and while it was a potential factor in his overall result, the 25-year-old tried not to focus on it.

"You need to be mentally competition-hard when you're competing against the best in the world. It wouldn't matter what sport it is in," he said.

"They were coming off European championships and world cups, so they were all competition-fit.

"We had all the opportunities to shoot domestically and we all shot at the same targets, it's just different circumstances for the Europeans compared to us.

"We've just got to hope the next cycle we'll have a bit more freedom and be able to travel and compete against the best in the world again."

It was a similar experience a couple of days later in the mixed trap event with teammate Laetisha Scanlan.

Willett and Scanlan entered the mixed team trap event as the world's top-ranked pair, but finished seventh overall in qualifying with a combined total of 145 from 150 targets.

That score left them one point away from fourth place and a shot at the bronze medal.

Nonetheless, Willett was thrilled to be part of Australia's most successful Olympic team since the 2004 Athens Games, with a record-equalling 17 gold medals.

"The vibe in the Australian building was really good," he said.

"There was definitely a lot of success right through from the start to the finish. We were strong as a country and it was nice to be part of that.

"The feeling when you walked into the village, there was almost a medal each day which was nice.

"We had Aussie baristas down the bottom making us coffee so we felt at home and there was big TV screens to watch the other Aussies while they were on.

"It was nice to get a lot of messages from back home and a lot of local support as well."

Former North Albury netballer Ellie Pashley also had an Olympic debut to savour after she crossed the line 23rd in the women's marathon in a time of 2:33.39 as all three Australians in the race finished inside the top 30 for the first time.

Albury's Jocelyn Bartram was reserve goalkeeper for the Hockeyroos, but wasn't called upon as the side bowed out in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

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