Ellesse Andrews celebrates winning her second gold medal of the Games. Photo: AFP/SEBASTIEN BOZON
Ellesse Andrews has bagged her third medal of the Paris Olympics - a gold in the women's sprint cycling, her 'bonus' event.
It was Andrews' second gold medal of the Games and New Zealand's 10th.
The 24-year-old said she felt like she was "living in a dream" following her gold medal ride, and was "so proud" of what she had achieved.
Andrews faced off against German rider Lea Friedrich in the medal races late Saturday night NZT after twice beating Great Britain's Emma Finucane - the reigning world champion - in the semifinals.
Friedrich and Andrews were closely matched. The German set a new world record of 10.029 seconds for the 200m flying lap during sprint qualifiers on Friday, while Andrews was not far behind, with 10.108 seconds.
The gold medal race was a best-of-three format. Andrews took the lead in the first race and never relinquished it, slicing home to beat Friedrich by 0.095 seconds.
She then started her second medal race sitting behind Friedrich, but raised the pace with two laps to go and blasted past the German for the win.
Going into the sprints, Andrews already held two medals from the Paris Games - a silver in the women's team sprint relay and a gold in the women's keirin.
Getting through to the gold medal race was a huge result for Andrews. Speaking earlier in the week, her coach and father Jon said the sprint was considered her "work-on" event for the Olympics.
"Ellesse is a really determined athlete, so she'll want to do well in the sprints. She's not quite as strong in the sprints," he said.
"She's still learning a lot in that space, and she loves the kierin. Like she actually loves the chaos of the kierin, which is kind of crazy because if you got two riders on the track, it's a lot simpler in terms of execution, but Ellesse finds that harder."
Finucane took the bronze medal after winning two straight races against Hetty van de Wouw of the Netherlands.
Andrews celebrates her win alongside team-mate Ally Wollaston, left, who won bronze in the women's omnium. Photo: AFP/EMMANUEL DUNAND
Andrews said it had been a "massive week" at the Olympics.
"I'm just so proud of how I've managed to carry myself to the end of the competition."
She said Freidrich was an "amazing" opponent.
"I'm just telling myself, 'It's just one more race and leave it out on the track'. I wanted to finish that race knowing I had absolutely emptied the tank, which I did."
Andrews has been sprinting since she was 19, and riding a track bike since she was 13 or 14.
"It's been a 10-year dream to be here and not one that I always thought was possible.
"In your younger years, you never know where you're going to end up in your career - but I really started chasing that, probably around 16 years old, and here we are today."
She said it was a "real surprise" to end up in the medal race for the sprints, as it was not her strongest discipline.
"I do enjoy this event, but it is really tough. It is over three days and then having raced the keirin beforehand, a few little restless nights of sleep it is really tough to come out and perform mentally and physically."
She said she "never would have expected" to win three medals - two of them gold - in Paris.
"It's very overwhelming, but I'm very proud to have walked away with such results."
Shortly after Andrews won gold, fellow cyclist Ally Wollaston claimed the bronze in the women's omnium - the final event of the Paris Games.
