Before leaving Heathrow for Beijing tomorrow, the Adlingtons of Mansfield had better hide the keys to the Audi and have the joiners in to fit a few extra shoe racks.

Rebecca Adlington, the first British woman to win an Olympic swimming gold medal in nearly half a century, revealed that it was designer shoes that had propelled her victory.

“Well, I was promised some Jimmy Choo shoes if I win, so that's one pair ... and my mum's promised to get me another pair of Christian Louboutin shoes,” said Rebecca, as she held court after her victory at the Water Cube.

Adlington, 19, is at ease with lights, camera, action. Just as well. There could be two more visits to the podium before the week is out, and her best event is yet to come, but never mind the medals, what about the kitten-heel count?

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She said: “I've got two pairs already. I loooove shoes. I want one pair for every outfit. I've got well over 30 pairs but you can never have enough.”

She also revealed that she would like to trade in her clapped-out Vauxhall for “an Audi like mum's”.

Her victory in the 400m freestyle was unexpected: so much so that her parents, Kay, a housewife, and Steve, managing director of a steel manufacturing company, had decided to fly out to Beijing for her next event, the 800m freestyle, for which she is favourite.

The Nottinghamshire couple nearly missed out entirely on their youngest daughter's swimming exploits, however, after falling victim to an online mishap, which has left thousands of fans without tickets they have paid for. In January the couple paid £1,100 to see their daughter compete, only to be informed via e-mail by the website Beijingtickets.com that “our suppliers have not been able to honour their commitments to us in supplying tickets for the summer Olympics”.

Last week the International Olympic Committee began a legal action against the website in its latest lawsuit against an alleged false ticket supplier, though it cautioned that it could not compensate the victims.

So began a desperate hunt for tickets to an event that was quickly selling out.

They were the parents of a competitor who was ranked No 1 in the world in the 800m freestyle, yet they were struggling to obtain tickets to see it.Parents of competitors from Australia and New Zealand were facing a similar battle to see their children compete, after problems with false websites.

Here, the families of the immensely strong British cycling team looked unlikely to gain access to the Olympic velodrome after the Chinese organising committee allocated only six seats for Great Britain, four of which were required by British Cycling's technical team.

On July 27 the Games organisers announced that tickets to every event except football matches outside the Chinese capital had sold out.

Mr and Mrs Adlington did find tickets for a pair of cheap seats at Saturday's 800m final though they were not sure that they would afford a particularly good view.

“We are probably going to be sat on top of the diving board, or somewhere like that,” said Mrs Adlington last week. “This has robbed us of our chance to see Becky hopefully fight for a medal.”

Yesterday, after their daughter's stunning victory, The Times appealed to Fina, swimming's international governing body, on the family's behalf. The organisation has now agreed to supply Mr and Mrs Adlington with front-row seats.

It was yet another reason to celebrate back in Mansfield yesterday, where family, friends and fellow members of Adlington's swimming club, Nova Centurion, were still savouring the unexpected victory.

Adlington took up swimming as a seven-year-old at the local Sherwood swimming pool because she followed where her older sisters Laura and Chloe led. “I just did it for the social side of things but I just got better and better and that's fun. If it's not fun, don't do it,” said Adlington. “And winning's lots of fun.”

Since the age of 13, the teenager has dedicated herself to a gruelling training regime. In the run-up to the Games, she was training from 6am to 8am, swimming about 7,000-8,000m per two-hour session.

She would then go running or circuit training for an hour at least during the day before returning to the pool around 5pm for another two-hour training session. Yesterday she paid tribute to Pierre Doran, 18, her training partner.

“He's really positive and its brilliant training with him,” she said. “He leads some sessions, then I lead others, we support each other well. Secretly we're competitive.”

Her mother said of yesterday's race: “She said she was just going to have fun with it and warm up for the 800m and see what she could do. It's just a bit scary. That's the word her coach uses a lot about Becky - when she is on form what she can do is scary.”

Josie Grange, the chairman of Nova Centurion since 1976, said: “My immediate thought was, 'Where did that come from?' She was so far behind on that last length. We might have expected it in the 800m but we didn't in this race.”

Mrs Adlington recalled the moment that her daughter touched the poolside with her final stroke. “I wasn't sure if she had got it until that moment and then I came from behind my cushion and hit the roof.”

Even Adlington's grandfather, who is 80, was leaping around the living room with delight. Her father, 50, said that “I have never seen him move like that”.

Last night the celebrations were brief, before the focus returned to the 800m freestyle and 4x200m relay still to come. Adlington said: “I can't wait to get back in and race again.”

The swimming baths where she first learnt to swim are set to be renamed in her honour, the council said today.

The Sherwood baths in Mansfield Woodhouse will reopen in September next year as the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre.

Tony Egginton, Mansfield District Council's executive mayor, also announced a proposal to bestow the freedom of Mansfield on the gold medallist - the greatest accolade the district can award an individual or group.He said: “Rebecca is a fantastic ambassador for Mansfield both in and out of the pool and we hope that this is the first of many gold medals.

“The renamed Sherwood baths will be a permanent reminder of Rebecca's Olympic success and we hope it can also serve as an inspiration to other young swimmers to strive to match her incredible achievements.”

Marvels of Mansfield

Alvin Stardust

The singer known as Shane Fenton hit gold in 1973 when he changed into a leather suit and a new persona to croon My Coo Ca Choo

Richard Bacon

The broadcaster was sacked by Blue Peter in drug scandal but made a career comeback and now has a show on Radio 5 Live

Lord Byron

The poet was strong in the water and wrote amusingly of his 1810 swim across the Hellespont

Sir Roger Moore

The actor, who used to live in nearby Ravenshead, displayed a range of Olympian talents as James Bond