Rumyana Neykova beat her long-time rival, Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten, to grab the Olympic gold in women's single sculls final on August 16, Bulgaria's first at the games in Beijing.

Two-time world champion Neykova, who won the Olympic bronze in Athens and silver in Sydney, missing out on the gold in the photofinish, finished the race on Lake Shunyi with a time of seven minutes and 22.34 seconds. American Michelle Guerette took silver ahead of Karsten, double Olympic champion and main favourite for the race, who had to settle for bronze.

Czech Republic's Miroslava Knapkova led for the first km of the race, when Neykova began her attack. "My goal was to hold back at the beginning and attack half-way through. After than, I had to keep a high tempo and make a strong final sprint," Neykova said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

Despite Guerette strong's strong finish, the main concern was Karsten, Neykova's husband and trainer Svilen Neykov said. "[Guerette] did not worry us, because we knew her previous results," he said.

The win comes after four years of preparations for one race. "[After Athens], we saw that it was not working. That is why she became a mother and then we wanted her to be in the mix, but never going for the win at any cost. The goal was to reach the maximum at the Olympics," Neykov said.

Neykova's win is the first golden medal won by Bulgaria in rowing since 1976, when it took the women's double sculls and coxless pairs golds. It was also only the third time Neykova beat Karsten over 18 years.

It could also be her last competitive race, as hinted Neykov, although Neykova herself said she planned to continue racing.

The medal is only Bulgaria's second at the Beijing games, with wrestler Yavor Yanakiev grabbing bronze in the 74kg Greco-Roman category earlier this week.