That is how confident he was Ellesse Andrews was headed for gold after the final bend at the Paris Olympics yesterday.
And the proud father’s instincts were proved right, with the world champion cyclist winning gold in the women’s keirin by 0.062sec.
Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw won silver and Great Britain’s Emma Finucane took bronze. Kiwi Rebecca Petch missed out on a place in the final but finished 12th overall.
Andrews, who won silver in the event in Tokyo, became the first Kiwi Olympic cycling champion since Sarah Ulmer in Athens in 2004.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited in my whole life — I didn’t even watch her finish," Andrews’ father told Sky Sport.
"I saw you come through the bend and I was like ‘there’s no way you’re being beaten from there’.
"I just turned and ran for the track."
Andrews, however, knew she needed to put her pedal to the metal as she sat in first spot coming into the bell.
"I remember seeing Finucane right on my hip as we came into the bell and I knew I just needed to accelerate and keep going," Andrews said.
As she crossed the line first, Andrews, who grew up in Wānaka and moved to Christchurch as a teenager, fist-pumped the air and cycled over to hug her coach-father to celebrate the moment.
"I think that’s special.
"Most of the time your parents are on the other side of the fence, so to have one trackside on this side of the fence with me is pretty, I’d say, unusual for this sport, but very special."
Becoming an Olympic champion was unbelievable.
"I tend to take a while to let things soak in, so right now it’s just surreal," Andrews said after the race.
"I’m very sore, I’m very hot and I’m very puffed."
Returning to the Olympic village, Andrews said it was amazing to have her family, and partner, in the crowd at the velodrome, along with the rest of the New Zealand supporters.
"To have them here is just so special and I can feel the energy," she told the New Zealand Team.
"I feel like I draw on that and I use that, not just with my family, but the will of the Kiwi supporters in the crowd. I can feel them and I can see them."
Her No 1 supporter, her father — who rode for New Zealand at the 1992 Olympics and the 1990 Commonwealth Games — was delighted to see their hard work pay off.
"I don’t think I can remember ever being so ecstatic," he said.
"I was just fist-pumping in the middle of the track.
"Just really happy, really proud. Really satisfied from a Dad and a coach perspective."
Andrews, who also won silver in the team sprint in Paris, was straight back on the track this morning in the women’s sprint in a bid for her third medal.
If she qualifies, Andrews will race in the final at 10.45pm tomorrow.
