Rebecca Romero pumped her fist and let out a shriek after crossing the finish line to win Olympic gold in the individual pursuit on Monday night. The finishing gesture mimicked that of her compatriot Nicole Cooke, who won last Sunday's women’s road race.

“I’m trying to hold it together,” said Romero, who defeated compatriot Wendy Houvenaghel to take the win. “I’ve had to search deep inside and fight for it and do what I know I’m capable of. Olympic gold medals don’t come easy.”

Romero would know — just four years ago she was one of the world’s best competitive rowers, competing in the Athens Games on a quadruple skulls team. Romero and her teammates won silver in that event, crossing the line two seconds down on Germany. The Brit gave up competitive rowing in 2006 after suffering from a chronic back problem.

But in 2008, in her new sport, Romero became the dominating force. She won the world championship just five months ago, making her the favorite coming into Beijing. Romero didn’t disappoint her powerhouse Great Britain team, and after winning her qualifying and opening round pursuits, the Brit was untouchable in the finals. Romero trailed Houvenahgel for the first laps of the 3km race, but sped into the driver’s seat at the 1000-meter mark. She crossed the line in 3:28.321, nearly two seconds up on Houvenaghel.

Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine defeated New Zealand's Alison Shanks for the bronze.

“Everybody says winning an Olympic medal is a dream come true,” Romero said. “To have become an Olympic champion, to have medals in two different sports in only two [Games] — if I hadn’t done it today, I don’t know where I would be; probably on the floor dead somewhere.”

Romero’s win made her just the second woman to claim medals in separate events at the Summer Games. East German Roswith Kraus swam to a silver medal at the 1968 Games in Mexico City in the 4X100 relay, and then took silver and bronze in handball at the 1976 and 1980 games.

"I'd have been absolutely crushed if I got the silver," said Romero. "It's taken for me to come into cycling to realize my full athletic potential.”

Romero’s win brought Great Britain’s medal count to eight in track cycling, and came one night after Bradley Wiggins defended his title in the pursuit. Romero’s win also capped another night of British dominance at West Beijing’s Laoshan Velodrome. Keirin champ Chris Hoy breezed through the opening rounds of the match sprint and will ride for the gold on Monday night. Victoria Pendleton also enjoyed a successful day in the opening rounds of the women’s match sprint.

Like Romero, Houvenaghel is something of a newcomer to cycling, having taken up the sport in 2002. Houvenaghel works full time as a dentist in Bodmin, Northern Ireland. The 33-year-old took a year-long sabbatical from her job to train for the Olympics.

She did not know if she would return to dentistry anytime soon.

Houvenaghel said she was pleased that Britain could go one-two in the event, but she expected more of a challenge from the world’s other top female pursuiters.

“I was a little bit surprised by the performance of the previous world-championship medalists,” Houvenaghel said. “I was expecting the rest of the riders to up their game from the world championships to the Olympics, and it appears that the medalists [in Beijing] did.”