Brittney Reese became the first gold medal winner in the long jump for the U.S. since Jackie Joyner-Kersey in 1988, and the 26-year-old was thrilled to bits.
"It's a surreal moment," the 25-year-old said. "I got very emotional -- you do when you're representing your country.
"My mom and aunt are here, so this is a great moment for me and my family."
The two-time defending world champion won with a mark of 23 feet, 4 1-2 inches (7.12 meters) on her second attempt. Russia's Elena Sokolova took silver at 23-2 1-2 (7.07) with American Janay Deloach winning bronze at 22-7 1-4 (6.89).
"I feel like this is just the beginning," Reese said. "I am going to train four more years and come back and hopefully defend my title."
Reese almost made a switch to basketball, after receiving several scholarships; but her mother, Carla Young, stepped in and told her daughter to stay with track and field at the University of Mississippi.
"My mom fell in love with Ole Miss and they were still in contact with me while I was in my community college," Reese is quoted as saying by the Associated Press. "I sat down with her and she told me track is what I needed to do -- and Mamma knows best, so that's what I did."
Reese dedicated her title to the people of Mississippi who are still rebuilding their lives after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"In '08 my goal was to come out there and get a medal. And when I placed fifth, I was devastated and cried the whole way back to the (athletes) village," she said.
"I had the whole Gulf coast behind me. I got a lot of emails, a lot of Facebook and Twitter about my Gulf coast family representing me, being there for me, and I wanted to come out here and do that for them."
Reese and her family were also forced to move out of their home, after their roof collapsed. "We were out of the house for like two months because we had mould and we were living out of mobile homes and trailers," she said. "It was a tough time and makes you realize how blessed you are to have necessities.
"It was a real true eye-opener and my city is now rebuilt and we have most of the stuff back. But we don't have a lot of the homes back.
"This was a great way for me to bring something home to them to show that we can all do this together."
