Sonia says it all: you little beauty!

By PETER JESSUP

Sonia Waddell was over the moon and over the fence with delight when husband Rob won the gold medal the whole country had been waiting for at the Penrith rowing course.

She bounded down the hill from her viewing point as soon as he landed at the winner's podium, hurdled the chain fencing separating the TV crews from the athletes and grabbed her man.

As he lifted her up and the pair hugged she shouted: "You little beauty," to her 2m-tall husband. "You did it."

"I did it," Rob Waddell said. "We did it. Thanks honey." And they kissed.

"How do you feel?" she asked. "All funny. The legs tied up again but I got there."

Straight after getting his gold Waddell sprinted over the fence too, to see his mum and dad in the crowd. Behind the stands the new Olympic champion hung the gold around his father Jim's neck and Jim hung his head as if it was too great an honour.

"I did it," he said to his father and mother Susan. "How are your guys' hearts? Jumping out of your mouths?" Because his was. He repeated over and over how he couldn't believe it as he posed for photos with them, brother David and sister Rebecca.

Jim Waddell said the family had a worrying week, coping with the expectation the two-time world champion was carrying.

They'd kept right out of the preparation - hadn't offered any advice. Rob and Sonia had wanted to prepare alone and it seemed to work.

His mum said she'd always believed he could do it, he'd been incredibly focused and "when he wants something like this, nothing stands in his way."

She was hugely relieved. "I think he might have been calmer than me."

Her last line secured the family ties that helped him up to where he is. "He's been a very good son. He's kind and thoughtful and those are the things that matter."

Waddell pulled out from the start first, aware Sonia had already finished sixth and last in the first race of the day. "It didn't really affect me," he said afterwards.

He was in front at the 500m, level with or just behind his only other threat to gold, Xeno Mueller of Switzerland, to the 1500m.

Then came the accelerator, his stroke lifting too much for Mueller and the rest of the field. He cut out to a boat-length's lead in the space of 100m and finished the last 300m in control, throwing his arms in the air palms up as if to tell New Zealand "There it is, I delivered."

Mueller, who later said he'd been affected by a cold but wasn't making excuses, collapsed on his oars.

The pair had a long talk as they recovered and swapped boats before rowing back to the pontoon for their medal ceremony.

"I'm really, really, really satisfied. I'm really happy, really relieved," Rob Waddell said.

"This proves that the last two years were credible. It was nice in the last 300m to feel I was holding, there's nothing worse than having someone charging at you."

Waddell finished in 6m48.90s, Mueller 6m50.55s and Marcel Hacker from Germany third in 6m50.83s. The German, who did star jumps on the podium, said he couldn't have attacked harder at any stage of the race and was ecstatic with bronze in such revered company.

"I tried my best, I didn't expect it. Let's go and celebrate - I hope the champagne is good."

Mueller said he was very happy with his effort, "so don't ask me questions that will upset me."

He described Waddell as a personable bloke, always graceful no matter where he finishes.

"If anyone was going to beat me, I'm glad it was him. If he sticks around another four years, I hope I will be able to give him more opposition over the last 500m."

Waddell said he would be sticking around for the next Olympics in Athens but there will be no rowing in the next couple of months, more likely a skiing holiday in Queenstown and some catching up with friends and relatives.

Then he'd like to row some invitation regattas like Henley that he'd skipped in the past in order to focus on the world champs and the Games.

"It's been a lifestyle for six or seven years so I'll step out of the bubble for a while, I think that's healthy."

He'd come close to giving the sport away when a heart arrhythmia problem at times lifted his beat rate far higher than it should have been.

"It's an ongoing challenge, I've been bothered by it a bit this year."

Wife Sonia was well over the disappointment of her loss by the time Rob finished.

"The Olympics only come every four years, you might only get two cracks at it. Rob leaves no stone unturned and came so well prepared. I'm so pleased for him, I hope he makes the most of this and he should enjoy every second of it."

She had rowed her hardest.

"It wasn't my best race but I gave it my best shot. I gave myself a chance of a medal and just couldn't do it on the day."

Belarussian Ekaterina Karsten was first in 7m28.14s, Bulgarian Rumyana Neykova second in 7.28.15s, German Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski third in 7m28.99s and Waddell home last in 7m43.71s.

She didn't commit on what's next, saying she would reassess her goals before deciding whether to continue rowing.

A family wasn't in the immediate future - "we've got two cats and we're happy at the moment."

New Zealand coach Steve Gunn was happy with the four and Sonia Waddell's sixth-in-the-world placings and the team's overall return.

"You could say we could have done better but the Olympics are like that. It's important people remember that it doesn't come easy.

"In that kind of race you have to stay with the pace and perhaps she just isn't quick enough. She has a different physique to Rob, she doesn't have the height but she has not been discouraged by a succession of people saying she's too small.

"People should be proud. Three in the top six in the world is a fair result."