Rowers Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler admit they are "over the moon" after winning New Zealand's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics earlier today.
The Kiwis were in a hotly-contested race with Canada, but burst ahead in the final 1000m to cross the line in 6:50.19.
Russian Olympic Committee finished second, 1.26 seconds behind Gowler and Prendergast while the Canadians held on for third.
Speaking to 1 NEWS this evening, Gowler said the result was "the icing on the cake" for five years of hard work since Rio, but they were now focussing on a potential second gold when they take to the water as part of the women's eight in tomorrow's final.
"We're really excited to line up again, but fully aware that it's going to be another very tough race and a very close one I'd say, so we'll just have to rest up tonight and hope tomorrow goes well for us," Gowler said.
Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler stayed cool under pressure and the Tokyo heat, surging to a win over the fast-finishing Russians.
The pair were right back into training with the eight following their gold medal victory and told 1 NEWS Olympic reporter Guy Heveldt they were looking forward to putting their feet up after a draining day.
It was like they were pulling on the oars themselves, as they willed Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler over the line.
Heveldt said they had told him they would likely be living off adrenaline and excitement to push through the eight final tomorrow, scheduled at 12.30pm (NZ time).
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