Australian sevens skipper Sharni Williams completed a remarkable journey from oil changes to Olympic Games gold on Tuesday as she swapped her tools for a piece of history in Rio.
Williams is still coming to grips with her golden moment in Brazil as the former Canberra mechanic led the Australian side to the first rugby sevens Olympic medal.
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The party started after Australia beat rival New Zealand 24-17 in a gripping contest that developed into a Bledisloe Cup-style battle.
It confirmed Australia's status as the No. 1 women's team in the world and for Williams it was the realisation of a childhood dream that started when she was eight years old.
"I was at my aunt's house when I was eight years old and she gave me a pair of runners, that started my Olympic dream," Williams told Fairfax Media.
"I'd just been to a cross-country event and I was standing in the living room when she gave me the shoes, now I'm here [in Rio], it's unbelievable.
"For a dream to actually come true ... it's incredible, it's amazing, it's history making. I'm over the moon."
Asked what it felt like to be an Olympic champion, Williams said: "Heavy. Seriously, this gold medal is heavy. But I don't know what words to use to describe it."
![The Australian women's sevens team won gold in Rio.](/web/20160812065507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/o/5/x/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqo1sm.png/1470720951267.jpg)
Williams celebrated with parents Gayle and Shain, who joined the rest of the Australian women's sevens families in kicking off a party of a year of world domination.
For Williams, it put to bed injury demons that kept her out of action for five months this year while she recovered from a knee problem.
![Former Canberra mechanic Sharni Williams is co-captain of the Australian women's sevens team.](/web/20160812065507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/o/1/9/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqo1sm.png/1470715376023.jpg)
But the 28-year-old says she never gave up on her Olympic dream, even when she was struggling to walk and put weight on her leg.
Williams' journey to Rio started when she moved to Canberra to pursue her mechanic and hockey ambitions.
But a trip to watch her friends play for Canberra rugby club Royals changed her Olympic path and she ended up pulling on her boots.
She was picked to play for Australia after just seven games for Royals and was soon the inspirational leader of the sevens team.
Williams left her life as a mechanic to take up a full-time opportunity in the sevens program.
But she still needed her grease monkey fix and Williams started fixing the cars of her teammates in her spare time.
"Everything is definitely worthwhile, I've got a heavy gold medal hanging around my neck," Williams beamed.
"We're celebrating with our families right now, it's an amazing feeling.
"I decided with hockey that I needed to pursue another sport and seven games after I started rugby I made my debut and then I just fell in love with the sport.
"Now I'm in love with the sport. It's been a quick path and it hasn't sunk in yet. But I'll look back when I'm old and in a wheelchair and think about how good these days are."
Williams said the sevens squad had become a tight-knit family after working together to win a world series and Olympic gold this year.
"We're family, so we'll definitely be celebrating this one hard," Williams said.
Australia scored four tries to three to back up their world No. 1 ranking and claim Australia's fourth gold medal of the Rio Games. It's the first time rugby sevens has been included in the Olympics.
New Zealand struck first as they pinned Australia inside their own 22-metre zone for the first five minutes of the final.
Kayla McAlister scored the opener in the corner and it sparked the Australians into action as they launched an attacking raid that led to a controversial try to Emma Tonegato.
Tonegato stretched out for the line two minutes before half-time and appeared to score, but replays showed the ball might have slipped from her grasp as she searched for an equaliser.
The try was awarded to allow Australia to draw level in the corner and get themselves into the contest as a fired up New Zealand had a player sent to the sin bin on the verge of half-time for a deliberate knockdown.
Australia took full advantage and Evania Pelite scored after the siren to open up a 10-5 gap and they streaked ahead when speedster Ellia Green burnt past the defence after the break.
"Unbelievable. But yes [I thought it was possible], I know how hard our girls work," Green said.
"[Family] is the reason why we're here. If it wasn't for our parents and support of friends back home we wouldn't have been able to do it."
The Kiwis started to crumble from there, dropping a kick-off and Charlotte Caslick delivered the nail in New Zealand's coffin with a superb individual effort close to the line.
The Australian side won its first world series title in June and can now add an Olympic Games gold medal to their trophy cabinet to cap off a superb year and cement their place as the No. 1 ranked team in the world.
AT A GLANCE
Rugby sevens gold medal match: AUSTRALIA 24 (Emma Tonegato, Evania Pelite, Ellia Green, Charlotte Caslick tries) bt NEW ZEALAND 17 (Kayla McAlister 2, Portia Woodman tries).