If there were a gold medal for spirit, Australia's Alisa Camplin should get that, too.
Camplin picked up her gold medal in women's aerials Monday night at the Olympic Medals Plaza in a display of excitement that by far exceeds any medalist so far in the 2002 Winter Games.
The 27-year-old jumped up and down on the medals podium and sang along with her country's national anthem until she broke down in tears and was unable to finish.
"That was the greatest experience of my life," Camplin said later, adding the honor is taking awhile to hit home. "I think it's going to sink in one day when I'm by myself and I'm going to realize that all my work was worth it and I'm an Olympic champion. It's amazing."
Camplin's finish marks two gold medals for Australia, after Steven Bradbury's come-from-behind win in men's speedskating. Always a contender in the Summer Games, the country usually doesn't do as well at the Winter Games, a fact that's not lost on Camplin.
"This will mean an outstanding amount to the children of Australia," she said. "It shows that Australia is a fair dinkum winter sports country."
Also on Monday, Americans Chris Witty and Jennifer Rodriguez picked up the gold and bronze, respectively, in ladies speedskating. Although the 1,000-meter event took place Sunday evening, Rodriguez said it took walking onto the Medals Plaza stage for it to seem real.
"I don't think it sunk in until I went up there," Rodriguez said.
Both women threw their yellow rose bouquets and highly sought-after Team USA berets into the crowd as they left the stage.
All the medals awarded Monday night were:
Speedskating, ladies 1,000m: Gold, Chris Witty, USA; silver, Sabine Voelker, Germany; bronze, Jennifer Rodriguez, USA.
Bobsled, two-man: Gold, Christoph Langen and Markus Zimmerman, Germany; silver, Steve Anderhub and Christian Reich, Switzerland; bronze, Martin Annen and Beat Hefti, Switzerland.
Ski jumping, K120 team: Gold, Germany; silver, Finland; bronze, Slovakia.
Biathlon, women's 4x7.5K relay: Gold, Germany; silver, Norway; bronze, Russia.
Freestyle skiing, women's aerials: Gold, Alisa Camplin, Australia; silver, Veronica Brenner, Canada; bronze, Deidra Dionne, Canada.
Tuesday at the Olympic Medals Plaza
Medals: Freestyle skiing, men's aerials; cross country skiing, women's 1.5K sprint free; cross country skiing, men's 1.5K sprint free; speedskating, men's 1,500m.
Musical Act: Creed
E-MAIL: awelling@desnews.com