An emotional Gareth Evans paid tribute to his parents after fulfilling an Olympic dream with a proud performance in the men's 69kg weightlifting at ExCeL.
The 26-year-old, from Holyhead, saved the best lifts of his career for London 2012 as he set three personal bests, although British records narrowly evaded him.
It was only enough to claim eighth place in the B group and, with a further 14 A group lifters to go on Tuesday night, it means Evans will likely finish outside the top 20, but the Welshman walks away with his head very much held high.
Evans' father, speaking during the interval, admitted he was "bursting with pride" to sit in the stands and see his son performing on the Olympic stage, and Evans himself struggled to hold back the tears when talking about all they have done for him to reach this moment.
"My mum and dad have been fantastic since I started the sport when I was 12 years old," he said, having initially been unable to get the words out.
"Before I was getting kit bought for me by Adidas and British Weight Lifting, weightlifting boots aren't cheap, £150 a pair, lifting suits aren't cheap, £80-100 each, and they never wanted anything.
"I had the best of everything and they took me to competitions, took me to GB squads, they couldn't have done more for me."
Overcoming a lump in his throat, he added: "That was for them. I'm really proud to have done it for them, as well as my little girl, it's something for her to be proud of when she's older."