New Zealand's Emma Twigg has put 13 years of Olympic frustration behind her to claim gold in the women's single sculls final in Tokyo.
The Napier-native finished fourth in London and Rio and briefly quit the sport following the 2016 Games.
But the 34-year-old returned in 2018, with the focus of becoming an Olympic champion, and has had a steely-eyed conviction about her on Tokyo - dominating her heat, quarter-final, and semi-final.
And she continued that trend in the final, leading at every marker and fended off a late challenge from ROC's (Russian Olympic Committee) Hanna Prakasten, to win by 3.42 seconds.
The win justifies Twigg's decision to come out of retirement and pursue her career dream, putting a golden ribbon on the four-time Olympian.
Twigg made the B final in Beijing 2008 before entering the 2012 Games in London as a genuine medal prospect.
Unfortunately, the Kiwi faded late in the gold medal race, finishing fourth, which she repeated as a reigning world champion in Rio five-years-ago.
"I can't believe it," Twigg said post race.
"Crossing the line I was in disbelief and I didn't actually hear the hooter, so I thought for a second I has stopped early.
"All these years with so many disappointments, I just can't thank the people I have surrounded myself around enough.
"This will take some time to sink in, but I feel like this is fate - here we are in this moment - this is an amazing feeling.
"This is a dream come true for me."
Twigg's gold medal row ignited an historic day for New Zealand sport with the women's eight crew winning silver in their final and the men's eight crew rowing to gold in a stunning final.
