Simply magnificent.
Otago's Hamish Bond, his men's pair team-mate Eric Murray and single sculler Mahe Drysdale carved out special places in New Zealand sporting folklore last night with dominant performances in their London Olympic finals.
Bond and Murray, unbeaten since 2009, simply smashed their opposition at Eton Dorney.
And then, less than 50 minutes later, five-time world champion Drysdale (33) achieved his long-held quest for Olympic gold by winning the single sculls in a time of 6min 57.82sec.
He beat his friend Ondrej Synek, from the Czech Republic, by about three-quarters of a boat length. Great Britain's Alan Campbell finished third.
Bond and Murray, who as a crew have won three world championships, were lauded as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - crews of their generation immediately after their brilliant display.
Bond - who back in 2003 was given three months' leave of absence from his position as head boy at Otago Boys' High School when he first represented New Zealand at the junior world championships - and Murray (30) thrashed the field again last night.
The pair, who set a world best time in the heat, won the 2000m race in a time of 6min 16.65sec, nearly four and a-half seconds clear of the French pair who led the race to the 500m mark.
Great Britain finished third.
Bond (26) later said he was "so pleased" to have won the gold and added he was confident of victory from the time they took the lead.
"It wasn't our tidiest race ...but it'll do.
"We just want to get over the line as fast as possible.
"No-one can take this away from us."
Bond became the first Otago athlete to win an Olympic gold medal since New Zealand swimming great Danyon Loader's double gold effort at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
Bond is the first rower from Dunedin's North End Rowing Club to win gold.
The pair's achievement was arguably the most dominant New Zealand Olympic performance since cyclist Sarah Ulmer won the women's 3000m pursuit in Athens in 2004 in a world record time, and sits alongside Peter Snell's world record in winning the 800m gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Snell, of course, returned four years later to win gold in both the 800m and 1500m.
Many of Bond's immediate family were glued to the television last night.
Parents Graeme and Shirley watched the action unfold at their home in Twizel.
Older brother Callum watched the race with members of the North End Rowing Club at a bar in Dunedin, and younger brother Alistair is in Bulgaria training for the world championships and planned to watch.
In the women's double sculls final last night, Fiona Paterson, who was brought up on a sheep station in Central Otago and attended Columba College, and Anna Reymer finished fifth.
Paterson came back to elite rowing after being treated for cervical cancer.
The double gold performances meant New Zealand early this morning had three gold and two bronze medals, putting the team 10th overall on the medal table.
Otago's gold medallists
• Yvette Williams (1952) long jump
• Gary Robertson (1972) rowing eight
• Arthur Parkin (1976) hockey
• Russell Coutts (1984) yachting
• Danyon Loader (1996) 200m and 400m freestyle
• Hamish Bond (2012) rowing
Other gold medallists with Otago links include:
• Jack Lovelock (1936) 1500m - studied at the University of Otago
• Jenny Armstrong (2000) yachting - raised in Dunedin
