The scorecard won't reflect it, but Bianca Elmir summoned up courage beyond her wildest imagination to take another step towards her Olympic dream.
On a day when four Canberra fighters contested national titles, the 30-year-old was the only one to leave Hobart with the gold around her waist after beating Kelly McGrath 15-7 in yesterday's women's 51-kilogram final.
Elmir will now turn her focus to the world championships in China in May, with a top-eight finish needed to earn a berth at the London Olympic Games.
''Pyschologically I've never been more tested in my life, because the physical extremes that I had to put my body through in the last two days were insane,'' Elmir said.
''That's why this win means so much more to me.
''Yesterday I was taken to levels I'd never been to before, physically and mentally.''
The ease in dismissing the Western Australian belied the ordeal Elmir went through, including:
+Taking nine hours to produce a urine sample for officials from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, who requested she be tested after Saturday's semi-final win;
+Sitting in scolding hot water for two and a half hours on Saturday night - ''It's very similar to a sauna but it's more intense because it's hotter, so it's more shocking ... I went pyscho'' - in order to rid herself of the excess water required to produce the sample so she could get under the weight limit;
+Getting to bed at 3am yesterday morning and returning to the ring with just a couple of hours sleep; and
+Living out of a suitcase for the past seven months having fought all over Europe.
Despite the distractions, Elmir and her corner devised a perfect game plan to take down McGrath, who she beat by a point last year.
''I had a few strategies in my head, one of them was to be as relaxed as possible. Watching Kellie last year - she throws a lot of punches,'' Elmir said. ''I thought I'd let her do all the hard work and I'd be a bit smarter and get in on the inside and counter-punch her.''
It's been a whirlwind seven months for the ACT Greens staffer, competing across Europe and winning the prestigious Adidas tournament in France.
She flew from Ireland into Hobart via Sydney last Wednesday and intends on taking a well-earned rest for a couple weeks.
The ACT's other three finalists didn't fare as well.
Commonwealth Games representative Alexey Mukhin suffered a TKO loss to South Australia's Johan Linde in the men's 91-pluskg division, Adrian Andrews went down on points to Jeremy Van Dieman (81kg), while David Toussaint was beaten by a single point by Jesse Ross (75kg).
The Oceania Championships, which double as a men's selection event for the Olympics, will be held at the AIS from March 21-25.
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