Lydia Ko came out on top of an enthralling final day of the women’s golf to win the gold medal and to book herself into the prestigious LPGA Hall of Fame.
Ko’s gold medal means she now has the full set – she won silver in Rio in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo three years ago.
Though she began her day with a bogey, Ko had three birdies on the back nine and by the turn the destiny of the tournament was largely in her hands.
Going to the 13th hole she was playing relentlessly flawless golf with perfect course management and held a five-stroke lead over a changing cast of characters behind her.
But then things changed.
On the 14th hole she hit her approach shot into the water, then missed a makeable putt and carded a double bogey. The chasing pack began making some birdies and suddenly the huge gap between Ko and the rest was reduced to one stroke.
German Esther Henseleit finished at 8 under par, and soon after Janet Lin of China closed at 7 under.
Several other likely challenges, including from world No 1 Nelly Korda, Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines and Australian Hannah Green came up short.
Finally, there was just the final group, including Ko, left on the course. She just had to negotiate the final hole in par for a one-stroke victory.
Playing cautiously, Ko elected not to use a driver on the par 5, but hit a 3 wood, then she laid up instead of attempting to fly the water to the green. But her pitch shot was so good it left her a makeable birdie putt, which she sank.
Ko carded 72, 67, 68, 71 for a 10 under par 278.
All day the 27-year-old New Zealander had been tremendously generous with her playing partners, offering them every encouragement.
She is among the most popular players on the professional tour, and when she had sealed the gold, she was acclaimed by the crowd, the New Zealand fans and by her fellow pros.
What makes the moment all the sweeter is that the Olympic victory gives Ko the necessary points for entry into the Hall of Fame.
For most of this year she’d needed to win just one more tournament to have enough points for admission. What a sweet way to do it by winning an Olympic gold medal.
Ko said she felt like Cinderella after winning the gold medal. "I tried very hard to focus on my own game. I wanted to be aggressive off the tee and not worry about everyone else. I've been working hard with my coaches and I feel like I hit my peak here."
She described today as "a life peak". "I haven't experienced that sort of adrenalin before. It was very emotional winning in front of my family."
Ko said that when she sank a 40-metre birdie putt on the 7th hole, it changed her day. "We'd been put on the clock, so I lined it up and hit it. It was going pretty fast when it went in the hole! Once that went in, I had a feeling that I was on my way."
She said that over the final few holes anything can happen and she was entirely focused on hitting quality shots. "I was pretty steady with the putter, which helped."
Even though fans were cheering for her and applauding when she reached the final green, she said she took nothing for granted. "I didn't want to celebrate until I saw the ball go in the hole."
As for getting into the Hall of Fame, she said it had obviously been a goal and that "this is the coolest way to do it".