Elena Dementieva overcame a familiar attack of nerves to snap her Russian compatriot Dinara Safina's 15-match winning streak and claim the Olympic women's singles title.
Despite being hauled back from a break up early in the final set, the notoriously flaky Dementieva recovered her poise to break Safina again then serve out solidly to take the title 3-6 7-5 6-3.
Her win gave Dementieva a second Olympic medal having claimed silver in Sydney in 2000.
Safina had won all three of the pair's previous meetings this year.
Safina looked on course for her third consecutive title when she breezed through the first set but fell behind in the second and despite fighting back well, lost the set by netting a backhand.
Dementieva was always on top in the decider but just when it looked like her nerves would let her down again she rallied, breaking in a marathon game for 5-3 then winning the tie with a clubbing two-handed backhand down the line.