After Kayla Harrison successfully defended her 2012 Olympic gold medal in judo, she realized it was probably her last time she would hear the 'Star-Spangled Banner' play in her honor.
Watch: Kayla Harrison sing along to national anthem at medal ceremony
So she climbed on top of the medal podium and jubilantly sang her heart out.
“I wanted to really remember all of it and show my true joy because I was so happy to be there,” she explained Friday to TODAY.
At the 2012 London Games, Harrison became the first American woman to win judo gold. She earned her second Olympic title after defeating France’s Audrey Tcheuméo on Thursday.
“I don’t believe this is my life, really,” she said the next morning. “To go and win America’s first gold medal, I didn’t think that it could get better than that, but yesterday was the best day of my life.”
After naming her first medal "Freddy" in 2012, Harrison said she lost sleep Thursday night trying to come up with a name for her second gold.
WATCH: Kayla Harrison reveals what she named her newest gold medal
"After much deliberation, I’ve decided to name her Flavia," she said. "Freddy and Flavia, they're lovers. They’re together forever."
Harrison said she worked hard not only for her title, but to win over the Brazilian fans who watched the match Thursday.
“I was booed from the very beginning yesterday," she said, a bit incredulously. "I’ve never been the bad girl before, but I kind of fed off that. I liked it and in the end, I won them over.”