Evergreen-and-gold, veterans Matt Ebden and John Peers have won a delightfully unexpected gold medal, becoming only the second Australian tennis champions at the Olympics.
The two unseeded 36-year-olds, stalwarts of the doubles scene for so long, enjoyed a crowning late-career moment as they beat American fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-1) [10-8] in a nail-biting Roland Garros men's doubles gold medal match on Saturday.
They became the only Australian gold medallists in Olympic tennis after 'The Woodies', Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde lifted the 1996 title in the same event in Atlanta.
Between them, the Aussie pair have won a hatful of titles but never had a moment like this, with their wives and kids on hand at Court Philippe Chatrier, one of the world's great tennis amphitheatres, to cheer their finest hour as they prevailed in three tie-breaks after the most entertaining of showdowns.
The huge sign on Chatrier says "Victory belongs to the most tenacious" and that was definitely the case here as the Aussie duo clawed back from a set and 4-2 down, when all seemed lost with the American Davis Cup pair beginning to dominate.
But the Australians, who'd played a few tournaments together and reached a couple of finals, just wouldn't lie down, with Ebden relighting their fire, playing a brilliant game in the second set to help break Ram for 4-4 before exhorting the crowd, including plenty of compatriots, to get behind them.
Down to a second tiebreak, Perth's Ebden and Melbourne's Peers began to play their best tennis to drop just one point and take the match into a super tiebreak finale, with the gold for the first to 10 points.
It looked plain sailing when Peers and Ebden raced into an 8-3 lead, including one astonishing piece of retrieving from the back of the court by a scrambling Peers that enabled them to prevail in a seemingly unwinnable point.
But nerves kicked in as the Americans hit back and saved three match points. Ebden agonisingly missed the easiest volley of all at 9-7.
With one of his two little daughters in the stand crossing her fingers for dad, Peers then dug his mate out of a potential hole by putting away the winning smash at 9-8 before the two old pals jumped into each other's arms.
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TENNIS MEDAL WINNERS:
Seoul 1988: Elizabeth Smylie/Wendy Turnbull (bronze, women's doubles)
Barcelona 1992: Nicole Bradtke/Rachel McQuillan (bronze, women's doubles)
Atlanta 1996: Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde (gold, men's doubles)
Sydney 2000: Woodbridge/Woodforde (silver, men's doubles)
Athens 2004: Alicia Molik (bronze, women's singles)
Tokyo 2020: Ash Barty/John Peers (bronze, mixed doubles)
Paris 2024: John Peers/Matt Ebden (gold, men's doubles)