OLYMPIC silver-medallist Zoe Lee has returned to her former secondary school to inspire pupils to reach for their dreams.

The former St Francis Xavier School in Richmond student returned to celebrate a rewarding year – notably winning silver as part of the women's eights at the Rio Olympics this summer.

Dr Zoe Lee, who also has a PhD in geography, addressed an audience of students, staff, friends and family to celebrate the excellent individual performances of last year’s GCSE students.

She said: “As individuals you have worked hard and performed well and, together you have achieved the best set of GCSE results the school has ever seen.”

Dr Lee is no stranger to hard work herself, and on August 8, as she was warming up to compete in the Olympic race at Rio, she found out she had passed her PhD.

This was no mean feat, combining gruelling training with the demands of studying for the doctorate.

Headteacher Sharon Keelan-Beardsley said: "The same positive and determined approach to study enabled the students at St Francis Xavier School to achieve some of the best results in the country last summer, coming 76th out of 6402 schools, which places us in the top one per cent of schools nationally. It was a wonderful evening where the school was able to celebrate the double achievement of Dr Zoe Lee and the class of 2016."