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American rower Justin Best has always had his sights on the top step of the Olympic podium, and on Thursday the 26-year-old from Pennsylvania finally made it as his country won its first gold in the men's four since 1960.
The U.S. victory was a lot more comfortable than the 0.85-second winning margin would suggest as Best and his crew - Nick Mead, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan - cruised through the 2000-metre course with barely a ripple in their wake to finish ahead of New Zealand and Britain.
"In high school, I wanted to see how far I could take this - I had in the back of my head the Olympics, and in the back further, I had gold medallist," he told reporters.
"After years and years of trials and tribulations, ups and downs, I can finally say that I'm on the top of the podium."
Many athletes speak of how they decided early in life that they wanted to be Olympians, but few would have been as vocal about it as Best in his teenage years.
"It was a long-term goal - my long-term girlfriend, my first date, I told her, 'Hey, I want to go to the Olympics and rowing's very important to me, so if you want to go along with that, we can make this work'," he revealed.
"I'm just glad to be able to stand here today and show that dreams can be accomplished. You just have to put your mind to it. You have to have that willingness to go deep, well beyond anyone's expectations of you."
After a thrilling morning of racing in the Olympic regatta, the American triumph was almost an anticlimax as they led at every split, but that did not dilute Best's joy.
"Crossing that finish line, I was just bawling my eyes out. Seeing the flag being raised, I love these guys, I love the United States of America, and I wouldn't want to do it with another group," he said.
