Wolverhampton and Bilston javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson was the girl with the golden arm today after winning Britain's first athletics gold title at the Los Angeles Olympics.
And in Britain's six-medal haul on the eighth day of the games, Tessa'a clubmate, 24-year-old bank liaison officer Kathy Cook, Fatima Whitbread and Wolverhampton's 22-year-old former British judo champion, Kerrith Brown, collected bronze medals.
There was a second successive silver medal in the 800 metres for Seb Coe, and another bronze in the athletics when Mike McLeod finished third in the 10,000 metres.
But it was 28-year-old Tessa Sanderson who made it Britain's golden day. Four years ago she shed tears of disappointment when she failed to qualify for the javelin final in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Today she crieds tears of joy as she stepped onto the rostrum to receive her gold medal in the Coliseum stadium.
She became the fist British woman to win an athletics gold medal since Mary Peters in 1972 and her country's first-ever javelin medal winner in Olympic history.
In winning the gold she also set a new Olympic record with her first throw which arched its way through the glare of the floodlights to 69.56 metres.
World champion Tiina Lillak, who could only manage two throws because of an ankle injury, was second with 69 metres and Britain's world championship runner-up, Fatima Whitbread, took the bronze with 67.14 metres.
As Tessa's javelin ripped into the turf she turned excitedly and jumped into the air to challenge the rest of the field to "beat that."
No-one could and after her victory was confirmed she and arch-rival Fatima did a celebration lap of honour carrying a huge Union Jack.
"This was the most important day of my life," she said. "It is my last Olympics as a javelin thrower. I was dying to hear the National Anthem played just for me.
"I am going to call my mum and tell her to stop crying. After I have stopped crying I will try to get some sleep. Tomorrow it will probably hit me."
