Australian swimmer Leisel Jones cried again. This time, not for failure, but for glory.

With a fast start, Jones led all the way to the finish, snatching the gold of women's 100-meter breaststroke, a goal she has spent eight years reaching for.

Standing on the highest podium, Jones remained composed. But a hug from her mother from the tribune drove her tears down.

Raised by her mother after her parents separated, Jones began swimming when she was a toddler. Her first coach, Ken Wood, recognized in this young girl an immense talent.

As a teenager, Jones began to shine in domestic and international pool. When she finished second in the Olympic 100 breaststroke in Sydney as a 15-year-old, the whole world was watching her crying.

Four years later, after setting an Olympic record in the semifinals, Jones succumbed to nerves in the final and finished the race the third. Her tears started to falling down even before she climbed out of the pool.

Back home, her sullen reaction on missing out on gold aroused huge criticism. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Fraser accused her of having a "swollen head" and being a "spoilt brat".

Despite being deeply hurt by such criticism, Jones started to learn to control her emotion and evolved, in the eyes of the public, into a grown-up girl.

Looking back, Jones said she hated herself in those days of tantrums and brattish behavior and she likes herself now compared with back then.

"Since Athens, a lot has changed. Personally, I have changed as a person. I am extremely thankful to what I went through in Athens. Even not at the times. I didn't seem to be very pleasant," Jones said, shortly after arriving in Beijing.

With a loving fiance and a support team, Jones said her life is very balanced outside the pool and she believed she has completely grown up as a person.

"Athens has made me a much stronger person and much stronger athlete. It has certainly taught a lot about myself."

Before the race started in Beijing, Jones told reporters that an Olympic gold medal to her is like "a cherry on top of the cake".

"I've already got the icing and I've already got the base. So the cherry would just be a nice bit on the top. It doesn't really matter if I am going to have it, because the cake will still be nice," she said.

Luckily, Jones got her cherry. And she deserves it.

<i>Source: Xinhua</i>