Susan Francia and her teammates crossed the finish line where they were supposed to be - in first - but it didn't stop them from celebrating like their achievement was miraculous.
In winning the gold medal with the U.S. boat in the women's eight rowing event Sunday afternoon, Francia became the first Penn alum to win the top prize at the Olympics since 2000.
The U.S. boat took the lead early, and held off challenges from silver medalist the Netherlands and bronze medalist Romania - which had won the gold at the past three Olympics.
As they crossed the finish line, the women in the U.S. boat raised their hands, screamed and splashed the water in celebration. Likewise, the Dutch rowers celebrated by hugging each other and letting out similar shouts. The women in the Romanian boat, however, hung their heads in disappointment.
The win marks the first gold medal in the women's eight event for the U.S. since 1984, and the Americans did it easily. They took the lead early on and held it for the entire duration of the race.
In the end, their gold medal-winning time of 6 minutes, 5.34 seconds topped the Netherlands and Romania by nearly a second and a half.
