TO win one medal at a World Championships is a remarkable achievement, to win two is a double whammy, to win three is a rare distinction, but when you win four, you're writing your name into the history books.

Which is what exactly what Abergavenny's adrenaline-fueled cycling ace Becky James did at the Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk.

The 21-year-old bagged two golds and two bronzes to rip up the record books and cut herself a well earned slice of cycling history.

By winning four medals in a single World Championship, which incidentally was the same medal haul as fourth-placed France, James has accomplished something that has even eluded such lycra heavyweights as Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton.

A little fact which has not eluded the world's press, who are already hailing James as the new sprint golden girl and natural successor to 'Queen Victoria.'

James won her two Bronze medals in the opening days of the championships, before laying claim to her maiden senior World Championship title in the women's sprint on day four, with victory in the women's Keirin on the fifth and final day.

Cheered on by her grandparents Kathleen and Ioan James, the Abergavenny speedster entered her third senior World Championships aiming for top eight-finishes in each of her four events. Yet what the Welsh rocket actually achieved completely blew her pre-event targets out of the water, and no one was more stunned than James herself who announced after her Keirin triumph, "Two gold medals! I feel like it's a complete dream apart from the pain in my legs."

In a Keirin full of class, James repelled repeated attacks to cross the line ahead of Cuba's Lisandra Guerra Rodriguex and China's Gong Jinjie.

After the grinding slog of four solid days of racing and pushing herself to the limits to win gold in the Women's sprint the night before, the boundary breaking James who only had two hours of fitful sleep before her Keirin glory revealed, "I woke up that morning and I should've been tired but I wasn't tired at all.

"After the second round I was feeling it in my legs and I really struggled getting up from the back, but I just thought if I can get to the front, they're all going to have to come round me.

"It just worked out so well. I was in so much pain, but I just pushed and pushed and I finished in the front."

It's been a rocky road for James to get from where she once was to the acclaim and fame that has now fallen at her feet quite literally overnight. But it has taken a lot of perseverance and disappointment from the young rider who is finally reaping the rewards of her tenacity.

Injuries, illness and possibly a rider called Pendleton denied James a fair crack at London 2012

and when team GB's head cycling head coach Shane Sutton had to break the news to James about her Olympic no show, James admitted, "'It was like the end of the world, the lowest moment in my career. But I had so much support from family and friends. I sometimes think back to the Olympics and wonder, "What if?" but you cannot think that way. You have to put the disappointment behind you and get over it."

And get over it she has, Jame's display of miracles and magic in Minsk has prompted such cycling luminaries as Victoria Pendleton to announce, "Some people revel in wearing the (world champion's) rainbow jersey but I found it a bit challenging at first. Becky is a lot more confident. She's a lot more comfortable in a competition environment and a far better example of what you need to be a world champion than I ever was."

After delivering the goods in Minsk. James has finally put any doubts or disappointment surrounding London 2012 well and truly to bed, and if she can now stay on track, the road to Rio 2016 looks paved in gold for the golden girl of British cycling.

All photos courtesy of Luke Webber/British Cycling