Story highlights
- Robson Conceicao came from humble roots to win gold
- He won by unanimous decision against France's Sofiane Ourmiha
(CNN)Robson Conceicao has made history on his home turf by becoming the first Brazilian boxer to take home a gold medal.
Conceicao defeated France's Sofiane Ourmiha in the lightweight boxing final with a unanimous decision.
"It is the most incredible day in my life," the native of Salvador, Brazil, told reporters after winning.
"I had this dream that I would make history and I don't want to wake up from this dream," he said, thanking God, his family and his hometown supporters.
Canada's Derek Drouin clears the bar on his way to winning gold in the high jump on Tuesday, August 16.
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Brazil's Robson Conceicao, left, boxes France's Sofiane Oumiha in the lightweight final. Conceicao won the bout to earn the host country its first-ever gold medal in boxing.
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Spain's Carolina Marin celebrates a victory in the badminton quarterfinals.
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Dutch field hockey player Bob de Voogd, right, is challenged by Belgium's Emmanuel Stockbroekx during a semifinal match. Belgium won 3-1 to advance to the final against Argentina.
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U.S. gymnast Sam Mikulak competes in the final of the horizontal bar.
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French synchronized swimmers Laura Auge and Margaux Chretien compete in the duets final.
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Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt wins a 200-meter heat. He won gold in the 100 meters earlier this week.
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Great Britain's Laura Trott and her fiance, Jason Kenny, pose with their gold medals in track cycling. Kenny won the keirin and Trott won the omnium.
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Armenian wrestler Artur Aleksanyan, in red, competes against Cuba's Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera in a Greco-Roman final. Aleksanyan came out on top.
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A general view of the beach volleyball venue.
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U.S. gymnast Simone Biles competes in the floor exercise. She won the event, finishing this year's Games with her fourth gold and fifth medal overall. Biles is the first woman to win four gymnastics golds in a single Olympics since Romania's Ecaterina Szabo in 1984.
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U.S. swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky competes in the 10-kilometer open water event.
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Russian boxer Vladimir Nikitin celebrates after his bantamweight victory over Ireland's Michael Conlan.
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Bruna comforts her Brazilian teammate Marta after they lost to Sweden in the soccer semifinals. The match was decided on penalty kicks after a goalless draw.
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U.S. gymnast Danell Leyva competes on the horizontal bar, where he won silver. He also got silver on the parallel bars.
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Germany's Laura Ludwig reacts during a semifinal win in beach volleyball.
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Italy's Costanza Ferro and Linda Cerruti perform their technical routine during synchronized swimming.
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Volleyball teams from Japan and the United States wait for the start of their quarterfinal match.
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Brazilian diver Cesar Castro competes in the 3-meter springboard event.
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Cuba's Yaime Perez competes in the discus throw final.
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Italian golfer Giulia Molinaro tees off on the fifth hole during a practice round.
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Spain's Francisco Fernandez competes in a water polo quarterfinal match against Serbia.
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American Christian Taylor won gold in the triple jump. He also won the event in the 2012 London Games.
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Australian equestrian Scott Keach falls off his horse, Fedor, during the individual jumping competition.
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New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin, left, helps Abbey D'Agostino of the United States after they collided during the 5,000-meter semifinal. Both runners managed to finish the race.
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Chinese cyclist Tianshi Zhong competes in a sprint quarterfinal.
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New Zealand's Eliza McCartney takes part in pole vault qualifications.
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Swimmers prepare for the 10-kilometer open water event. Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands earned the gold.
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Track cyclists prepare to compete in the first round of the keirin.
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Canoeist Josef Dostal of the Czech Republic, left, celebrates with Spain's Marcus Walz after the K-1 1,000-meter final. Walz and Dostal took gold and silver while Russia's Roman Anoshkin earned the bronze.
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Conceicao's achievement is particularly inspiring given his humble upbringing.
He worked on his grandma's vegetable cart before school, and was inspired to take up boxing by his uncle's reputation for street brawling during Salvador's carnival.
"I had a very difficult childhood, I had a very complicated start in boxing with no support at all ... and today I'm an Olympic champion," he said.
How fast does an Olympic boxer punch? 03:21
The Brazilian also lauded his opponent after the fight.
"He's not just a good fighter, he's a very, very good fighter. It was very difficult, a very, very difficult fight," Conceicao said. "He really showed that he wanted to win and thank God, I was better than him today."
Now, he says he needs to catch his breath. Then it's back to training, hopefully for the next Games in Tokyo 2020.
