Watching her granddaughter win a second Olympic gold was enough to bring Doreen Carrington to tears.
Lisa Carrington claimed her second consecutive gold in the women's K1 200m, as the kayaker backed up her winning effort in London four years ago.
Doreen, Lisa's grandmother, was up in the middle of the night watching the race at home in Ohope and she found it hard to stay composed when her granddaughter's black boat crossed the line first.
"Your emotions get all mixed up, the excitement of what she's done and the hard work that she's put in, her hard work," she said.
"It's really paid off for her, when I saw her last night I was crying. To see her up there, and how respectful she is and how much respect she has, it's wonderful."
The medal was New Zealand's third gold of the Rio Games, following fellow paddlers Mahe Drysdale and the men's pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.
Doreen said she was especially proud of the humility Lisa showed following her triumph, with the Kiwi paddler quick to defer any of the praise for her achievements to others.
"She always says how people support her and how it's not about her, that it's about everyone else.
"We are all very excited and we admire her really, for what she has done. She's a lovely girl."
A repeat dose of golden glory is hopefully on the cards for early Friday morning, as Lisa will now look to qualify for the K500 final.
"We all went wow and said 'Good girl' when she won, we all clapped and yahooed. We'll be hoping for a repeat of that for sure."