The cake was iced enough for the global village of Rathcoole

IT is the year 2006 and a teacher in a Rathcoole class room asks for Michelle. Twenty hands go up.

After this week chances are if you're a girl and you're from Rathcoole your name will be Michelle.

If every town and village in Ireland is proud of its Olympian, then Rathcoole is the proudest.

Another gold would have been the icing on a well iced cake, but this morning the punters in the Poitin Stil wholeheartedly celebrated the fourth medal, even though it was to be the a bronze for third place.

A cheer that they must have heard in Atlanta went up when Michelle's face finally appeared in the lineup. Another, even louder, when she kissed the winning swimmer.

As she watched the race Brenda Leonard pushed with both hands, as it trying to help her cousin's daughter along.

"Where is she? I can't see her," she shouted as the rest of the watchers tried to spot their star.

"We used to come up here and celebrate even when she didn't win," Brenda said. "Now we're reaping the reward."

It has been a hell of a week for the village that most people only know as a road sign on the Naas Road dual carriageway. They might name a street after her, or just go the whole hog and rename the village Smithville.

For the first time in memory Rathcoole had tourists of its own "foreigners" asking for directions to Michelle Smith's house.

Michael McDonald had the Chicago News in his pub yesterday morning. And after every gold medal the Rathcoole Inn has been getting a call from an Australian radio station.

"The last time she hadn't even come up out of the water after touching the wall and the phone rang."

Eamon and Brenda Cowland joked that they hadn't been home in a week. They deserted their local to go to the Poitin Stil. We're going onto Cobh next week, and after that Hillside."

At Muldowney's pub a benefit barbecue had been turned into an Olympic event. Across the road from the Smith cul-de-sac, dripping with bunting, the beer garden held about 400 people, a band and big screen TV balanced on beer barrels.

Before midnight the Olympians giving it their all on the track were ignored in favour of the free burgers. There was only one event everyone was there to see.

John Howard, from Old Kilcullen in Kildare, seemed to think there might be an inter county tussle for ownership of Rathcoole. "If we can't win a Leinster final we're going to adopt Rathcoole."

By 1 a.m. singer To my Carew on his guitar started up Congratulations.

And as she counted the takings in the till at the end of the night Martina White glanced at the medal ceremony and summed it all up. "At least she got to stand up there again. It didn't matter where."