After a dramatic return from injury, a season's best score and the "greatest skate" of his life - it's impossible to wipe the smile off Brendan Kerry's face.
The Australian figure skater overcame the most dramatic of returns from injury to succeed in the men's singles event and capped it off with a dominating free skate performance. He earned 160.01 points to smash his previous season's best score.
"I'm ecstatic, I'm over the moon. It hasn't sunk in yet," Brendan said.
"I've never been as strong on my long programs as I have been with the short, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver today, and to do that means the world."
The 27-year-old had intended on performing two quadruple jumps, but only executed one of them – opting to play it safe on the other and made it a triple.
"I'm a little bit disappointed I didn't do the quad salchow and for a while after that my brain was going into overdrive trying to work out if I could add another rotation in a different jump, but in the end I just left it. I reminded myself that this is the Olympics and I've just done the best I could do."
Despite a horror run into these Games – with Brendan battling injuries that almost saw him forced to retire from the sport entirely – the three-time Olympian has managed a dream campaign which he says "couldn't have gone any better."
"To have the honour of being Flag Bearer, to walk out at the Opening Ceremony and represent my country in that way, and then to put down two of my best skates under the most incredible pressure - that's just magical. It's going to take a bit of time for it all to sink in.
"All the attention that came with being Flag Bearer did make me feel more nervous, because I was worried I wouldn't do it justice. I kept saying to people ‘but what if I skate badly and just want to hide in the corner?' And then I realised the answer was that I had no choice, I had to skate well."
As to what comes next, Brendan is most excited about getting back to Australia and spending time with his family.
"I've been away for so long now, I actually can't wait to get on a plane and get back to Sydney and celebrate with everyone back home. I want to get some sunshine and process everything that's happened, and then I can make a decision on my skating future."
Whatever happens, there's no question that he has already left a lasting legacy on the sport. His record includes three Olympics and eight national titles.
"When I'm looking back on my career I'm going to be able to say "I did three of them, and this was the best Olympics by far.
"That's something no one can take away. That's pretty special."
olympics.com.au
Katherine Firkin
The Australian figure skater overcame the most dramatic of returns from injury to succeed in the men's singles event and capped it off with a dominating free skate performance. He earned 160.01 points to smash his previous season's best score.
"I'm ecstatic, I'm over the moon. It hasn't sunk in yet," Brendan said.
"I've never been as strong on my long programs as I have been with the short, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver today, and to do that means the world."
The 27-year-old had intended on performing two quadruple jumps, but only executed one of them – opting to play it safe on the other and made it a triple.
"I'm a little bit disappointed I didn't do the quad salchow and for a while after that my brain was going into overdrive trying to work out if I could add another rotation in a different jump, but in the end I just left it. I reminded myself that this is the Olympics and I've just done the best I could do."
Despite a horror run into these Games – with Brendan battling injuries that almost saw him forced to retire from the sport entirely – the three-time Olympian has managed a dream campaign which he says "couldn't have gone any better."
"To have the honour of being Flag Bearer, to walk out at the Opening Ceremony and represent my country in that way, and then to put down two of my best skates under the most incredible pressure - that's just magical. It's going to take a bit of time for it all to sink in.
"All the attention that came with being Flag Bearer did make me feel more nervous, because I was worried I wouldn't do it justice. I kept saying to people ‘but what if I skate badly and just want to hide in the corner?' And then I realised the answer was that I had no choice, I had to skate well."
As to what comes next, Brendan is most excited about getting back to Australia and spending time with his family.
"I've been away for so long now, I actually can't wait to get on a plane and get back to Sydney and celebrate with everyone back home. I want to get some sunshine and process everything that's happened, and then I can make a decision on my skating future."
Whatever happens, there's no question that he has already left a lasting legacy on the sport. His record includes three Olympics and eight national titles.
"When I'm looking back on my career I'm going to be able to say "I did three of them, and this was the best Olympics by far.
"That's something no one can take away. That's pretty special."
olympics.com.au
Katherine Firkin
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