The double Olympic champion was enjoying her freshly-bbq'd lamb so much, I am sure I could have pinched her medal without her realising.
As high-jumping legend Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth tucked in to the quality British export in front of her, people took turns handling her gold medal - won for a leap of 1.92m in Munich in 1972 - left on the table next to her.
To steal the prized possession of your guest of honour would make me someone you couldn't eat cherries with, as the Germans would say - so instead I just took a couple of pictures (see left) before returning it to its owner.
Now you may be wondering what one of Germany's most famous athletes was doing in the garden of the Consul General's house in Duesseldorf - and why she was there with a selection of trade journalists, food distributors and business leaders from energy companies, banks and hotels.
What she was doing, as were the others, was eating lamb. And beef. And rather enjoying them both.
EBLEX, the organisation responsible for promoting English beef and lamb exports, decided to make the most of a rare dry evening in Western Germany and join up with UKTI and the Consul General to host a bbq.
The 60 or so guests were treated to a marvellous affair, featuring the above-mentioned products as well as English beer, as part of an export campaign we were only to happy to support.
The staging of such an event - and the bringing together of both business contacts and the media - is one of the many ways we in UKTI can help the economy back home.
Music schools, sub-sea robot manufacturers, fashion designers and luxury carmakers have all benefited from the opportunities presented by our Embassies, Consulates and Residences in Germany in the past year.
Our teams really get their teeth into export promotion - although rarely this literally.
More than 11,000 tonnes of lamb are exported to Germany each year - the most important market by volume (although, oddly, the Belgians consume nearly 40% more per head).
Despite these volumes of sales, lamb remains somewhat of a rarity in Germany - with pork very much being the dish of choice - something our friends at EBLEX are working hard to rectify through events like these.
And with the UK currently revelling in the Olympic games, the least we could do was bring along a double gold-medallist (with her medal) to enjoy the lamb and add some sparkle to proceedings.
The Games, and the opening ceremony - and Mr. Bean - in particular, were the main topics of discussion as our guests professed their love for the British sense of humour and the creativity and eccentricity on show in the Olympic Stadium.
And by the end of the evening, many had also professed their love for English lamb.