Imogen Grant, Emily Craig and the British pair in lightweight sculls were able to wash away the agony they felt after missing the podium in Tokyo by a hundredth of a sec on Friday when they took home the gold in dominant style.

It was a sweet victory, as it happened in the final lightweight race of the Olympics. The discipline will be replaced with coastal rowing in 2028.

Craig stated, "From a selfish perspective I'm not going be sad that we can say forever that we were Olympic champions."

Just over three years ago, the Netherlands' Marieke Keijser & Ilse Paulis narrowly edged them out for the bronze, and that finish has plagued them since.

If you had told me that after crossing that line, the following three years would be as they are now, I'd have laughed at your face. Craig stated, "I am overwhelmed by the fact that we're standing here and have achieved our goal."

The final on Friday was completely different from the one in Tokyo. They controlled the race the entire time, and finished first with Romania more than half a second behind.

I think that we were so focused on the race and dominated every single stroke. Grant revealed her feelings before saying, "We knew that if we raced as we could then we would win gold."

Joy, relief, doubt, fatigue, joy, again. So much happiness, and the feeling that a good job was done.

Craig's gold medal in Paris was the direct result of their work to prevent a repeat of the Tokyo failure.

She said that the plan of the race over the past three years had become a gospel.

It's a testament to our process-driven nature that we followed the process through until its end.

(source: Reuters)