Finland's ice hockey players fervently sang the national anthem after the long-awaited first Olympic gold.
In particular, the provider of the winning goal against the Russian team was symbolic of these Beijing Winter Games in Corona times.
With the white and blue national flag slung over his shoulders, Marko Anttila celebrated the 2-1 win and shouted his joy loudest of all as he stepped off the ice at the National Indoor Stadium with the gold medal around his neck and a clenched fist.
After arriving in China, the deputy captain had to isolate himself in a quarantine hotel for six days before he was allowed to rejoin the team.
On Sunday, in the 41st minute, he threw the puck at the Russian goal, which Hannes Björninen deflected into the net to decide the game.
"I thought about how we can win something and how it would feel to win something after the quarantine," said 36-year-old Anttila ahead of the final.
The 2.03 meter tall giant could see how good it felt every second after the final siren.
"The goal was to come here, enjoy it and make the dream come true," said the striker.
At 2:20 p.m. local time on Sunday, it came true and compensated Anttila for what other athletes also experienced after their arrival and a subsequent positive corona test.
For the ice hockey nation Finland, 16 years after the 2:3 in the final against Sweden in Turin, it was the big day they had hoped for - despite the early time at home.
However, President Sauli Niinistö watched and congratulated coach Jukka Jalonen over the phone.
"We came close a couple of times," said captain Valtteri Filppula, "it's hard to put into words what that means." Jalonen did: "We wrote Finnish sporting history.
I'm sure the people of Finland are very proud of it.” He only had to laugh when he explained that he was just a normal Finnish man after all.
Ville Pokka (24th minute) and Björninen (41st) ensured the deserved success of the best team of this tournament after Mikhail Grigorenko (8th) went behind.
The Finns remained undefeated and dominated the final for long stretches with their sober and uncomfortable style of play.
It wasn't nearly as spectacular as the memorable 4-3 defeat of the German team, who failed to qualify in the quarter-finals four years ago, against the Russian team in Pyeongchang.
Germany conqueror Slovakia secured 4:0 over Sweden bronze and the first ice hockey medal as an independent nation.
In the absence of the professionals from the North American league NHL, who were missing due to the corona pandemic, 17-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky was the discovery of the tournament.
The teenager was top scorer with seven goals.
At the end of these games, the last gold did not go to the country that is still not allowed to compete with its own flag and anthem in Sochi because of the doping scandal in 2014 and has again attracted criticism in Beijing.
The trigger was the fuss surrounding the 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valiewa, her positive doping test and the cool behavior of her entourage after the failed freestyle.