Kristen Faulkner, nicknamed "Fox", is the women's Olympic road race champion after beating better-credentialled riders with a cunning and brave solo attack.
The American cyclist won at the Trocadero on Sunday ahead of Dutch icon Marianne Vos and reigning Belgian world champion Lotte Kopecky.
Along with Hungarian Blanka Vas, those four were set to decide the medals with 3.5km left when Faulkner did the only thing that would give her the gold - go solo.
As Kopecky and Vos in particular looked at each other, Faulkner went clear and powered to the finish at the Trocadero, under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
Asked if the three of them marked each other too much once Faulkner had gone clear, Kopecky replied at the finish "probably, yes".
Well aware of the quality of her fellow medal contenders, Faulkner did not raise an arm in celebration until she was well across the line.
"I had to double-check, triple-check - did I just win gold," Faulkner said
Vos, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, won the sprint for the silver medal 58 seconds later in the 158km race, outpacing Kopecky, with Vas taking fourth.
Lauretta Hanson was the first Australian in 22nd, one ahead of road time trial gold medallist Grace Brown, and they were in a group that finished at five minutes. Compatriot Ruby Roseman-Gannon was 39th at seven minutes 49 seconds.
"We did everything we planned to do. We were in the right places at the right times. But when we entered Montmartre for the first time ... I didn't have the legs to follow the attack," Brown said.
"You have to race with the legs you've got and my training was really focused on the time trial."
Faulkner, a former rower, will also ride on the track in the team pursuit at the Paris Games, with the qualifying round on Tuesday.
"I said I would only do the road race if I felt strong and I felt like I had a chance at the medal. That was the promise I made to my team pursuit teammates," she said.
A breakaway group of six low-profile riders built an early lead of more than six minutes. They included Afghan duo Fariba Hashimi and her older sister Yulduz.
As expected, attacks from the peloton animated the race when it returned to Paris for three draining laps of the finish circuit.
The key element of the circuit was the punchy Montmartre climb, where Belgian Remco Evenepoel blew his rivals away on Saturday to claim the men's road race gold.
Inside the last 50km, with the breakaway riders caught, American star Chloe Dygert was involved in a crash on a narrow section of the course.
That held up much of the peloton and sparked the crucial attack.
The group of 12 that formed at the front featured many of the heads of state in women's road cycling, including Faulkner, Vos, Kopecky and Italian ace Elisa Longo Borghini.
No Australians managed to make the decisive move.
Inside 22km to go, Vos and Blanka broke clear and worked together to build an advantage.
On the last climb up Montmartre with less than 10km left, Faulkner and Kopecky attacked from the first chase group.
As soon as they caught the two leaders, Faulkner made her gold medal-winning move.
