Actions speak louder than words, however the words of Olympic torch hero Jin Jing trumpeted louder than her brave deeds. "I would die to protect the torch," she said.

The 27-year-old Shanghai girl, whose name "Jin" means "gold", is now a national hero because of her triumph over adversity. The one-legged fencer put her body on the line for her country. Jin tightly grasped the torch as hysterical protesters tried to snatch it during the Paris leg of the relay on April 7. The wild protesters beat her and one angry man pulled her hair.

She fought back the tears and did not let go.

Jin is now known and loved by more than 1 billion people. The images of her fiercely protecting the flame from attackers and smiling in wheelchair are splashing on front pages all over China. Her story has been told through newspapers, TV shows, and on the Internet.

People marvel at her courage and call her the "smiling angel in the wheelchair".

"I burst into tears when I saw you protect the torch with all your effort. You defend the Olympic spirit," wrote one fan on sohu.com.

"I think you are the most beautiful girl in 2008," wrote another.

Jin arrived at Beijing airport last Thursday, the same time as pop star Jay Chou. The golden girl attracted much more attention than the Taiwan-based singer.

After receiving a hero's welcome, Jin said she did nothing great.

"Any Chinese or Olympics-loving torchbearer would protect the torch under such circumstances," she says.

But the circumstances were not for the faint hearted.

Jin was the third torchbearer during the Paris leg. On the early morning of April 7, she received a text message from a friend, who told her to be extra careful, because in London, some attackers tried to grab the torch.

So she prepared for the worst and insisted on holding the torch with her own two hands instead of following the original plan and placing it on a special support device connected to her wheelchair.

After she received the torch from the second bearer and before the torch was lit, several attackers rushed to her and tried to grab it.