GOLD medals can make life freaky. Take Steve Hooker's life, for example. His idol, Hollywood star Will Ferrell, decided to dress up as the pole vaulter on a national talk show on Sunday night.

"That is beyond any of my wildest dreams, that that would happen," Hooker said. "Anyone that knows me knows that a third of my vocabulary is dedicated to quotes from his movies. At any given time, I could be saying Will Ferrell quotes. I could do this whole interview in Will Ferrell quotes if you wanted me to."

Ferrell wore a yellow headband and Australian team jacket, and was joined by the co-star of his latest film, John C. Reilly, in a similar get-up. They spent a good 10 minutes talking about Hooker's feats, with the subject of pole vaulting presenting plenty of opportunities for the pair's nudge-nudge, wink-wink humour.

"To see him and John C. Reilly dressed up as me, that was overwhelming," Hooker said. "To then banter with them and [host] Rove [McManus], it was a spin-out."

As one of Ferrell's most famous characters, Ron Burgundy, said in Anchorman : "I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal."

Olympians such as Hooker, Emma Snowsill, Sally McLellan and Ken Wallace are suddenly a "big deal" thanks to their Beijing success.

Yesterday, they were feted by thousands as the Welcome Home Parade wound its way through the streets of Sydney.

"You guys rock!" shouted McLellan at the masses gathered around Town Hall. "Go Sally, you rock!" yelled a man in the crowd.

McLellan, fresh off the plane from Europe and desperate to sleep in her own bed on the Gold Coast, said she had little idea how fond the nation had become of her, although her boyfriend Kieran had worded her up before she touched down. "My boyfriend said to me, 'Everyone loves you here,"' McLellan said. "I kept thinking, 'Why? I only won silver. People won gold medals and broke world records.' I really don't know what all the fuss is all about."