Lynsey Sharp was roared to the line by a partisan Hampden Park crowd tonight, as the Scottish sprinter won Commonwealth silver in the 800 metres.
She then revealed, in a dramatic and emotional TV interview after the race, that she had spent last night in the hospital at the Athletes' Village, being sick and unable to sleep.
That followed months of injury problems for Sharp, 24, daughter of former Scotland medallist Cameron and Carol, who both represented their country at the Commonwealth Games.
Sharp also displayed her hand, on which were written the words: Get out strong. Commit.
It had looked like Sharp would miss out on the podium as late as the final bend, only to produce a wonderful surge down the home straight to beat Winnie Nanyondo to silver
Sharp's achievement is made all the more remarkable by the fact that an unspecified illness had not only put her podium hopes in jeopardy, but even the chance to compete in the final.
"This is my everything," she told BBC Sport. "This year has been obstacle after obstacle.
"Even right up to this morning I was in hospital in the village until 5:30. I haven't slept at all. I was throwing up all night. I had a drip in my arm.
"This was my everything and there was no way I was going to go through everything I have been through not to get a medal tonight.
"I know how low the low points can be and yesterday I almost blew it. I had to come out and get it right and do what I have been doing all this season."
It provoked another powerful response from the Hampden crowd, just 24 hours after poster girl Eilidh Child claimed silver for Scotland in the 400m hurdles.
Cameron Sharp, who suffered serious brain injuries in a 1991 car crash which means he has limited mobility, was at Hampden to see his daughter's run, as was mother Carol, a former 800m runner, who gave her daughter a huge hug as she completed her lap of honour.
Sharp only qualified for the final as a fastest loser, whereas England's Jessica Judd won her semi-final impressively.
The 19-year-old ran well again in the final and was on course for bronze until Sharp's move down the outside, which bumped her down to fourth.
"I gave it everything," a tearful Judd said. "It just was not to be. I'm devastated because I really wanted that medal."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article