Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger believes the success of Great Britain's female rowers at the London Olympics has finally pulled them out of the shadow of their male counterparts.

The Scot had collected silver medals at the previous three Games but finally reached the top step of the podium alongside Anna Watkins as the pair claimed gold in the women's double sculls event.

Before London, British women had never won Olympic gold in rowing, whereas the men's teams were consistently medalling in Olympic competition. However, following Grainger and Watkins' success, as well as golds for Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hoskins in the lightweight double sculls and the coxless pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, the six-time world champion believes the women have started to make their mark on the sport.

"I think to date, when I arrived in the team a few years ago, it was the men who were performing," said the Scot. "It was when Steve Redgrave was still around and Matthew Pinsent and they got far more attention because they were far more [successful] so rightly so.

"We had never had a women's Olympic gold medal in rowing up until 2012 and then we got three, so it really was time for the women to step up and claim their right as at least equal with the men. And it was great to see that happen across the squad.

"We knew through training camps and day-in day-out training together that the women had a great chance to perform at these Games, and people just stepped up to the plate when they were asked," said the Scot.

Grainger, talking in her role as a partner of clothing brand Long Tall Sally, finished second in Beijing, Athens and Sydney but revealed it was joy, and not relief, that sparked her celebrations upon finally winning the top prize this summer. "To some extent I felt a little bit of relief but I thought there would be more," she said. "It was overwhelming joy and happiness it was such a special achievement.

"Olympic gold is massive but in front of a home crowd and with the nation behind you it was always going to be the most incredible moment for any athlete, so the whole thing was more enjoyment and relishing that moment rather than 'thank goodness'. It has honestly not sunk in yet."

The duo set a new Olympic record in their heat as they succeeded in letting the competition know they meant business, and Grainger felt it was a perfect way to set themselves up for their final push for gold.

"The biggest race you want to have your best performance in is obviously the Olympic final, but the first race we had on that course we wanted to make an impact," she said. "We knew how good we had been in training but we had to see how good we were going to be against our competitors and the opening race was when we were going to test it. To set the Olympic record in that first race made us think we were on track and where we needed to be."

Grainger's previous silver medals had come in the quadruple sculls in Sydney and Beijing and the coxless pair in Athens, but her partnership with Watkins – which led to an incredible unbeaten run – was a key ingredient to her latest success.

"We have been together three years and for the first year everything just went right, every race was brilliant we had no setbacks, no injuries, no illness, we had nothing between us," she said.

"We kept saying we were going to have challenges and we were going to fight, and we were spending so much time together under intense pressure that we were going to crack at some point and we need to be okay with that.

"But honestly three years on it hasn't happened yet and there is no way we could have got that result without the chemistry and trust and the relationship we have between us.

"It was an incredible goal for both of us and an achievement for both of us, and we wanted to do it for each other as well as for ourselves and it was so special to enjoy that moment with someone else."