Two Sacramento athletes achieved Olympic glory Sunday, winning medals in their events, including the area's first gold medal of the Beijing Games.

Mary Whipple, who grew up in Orangevale, led the U.S. women's rowing eight to gold as the team's coxswain. The women's eight led from start to finish for the first U.S. gold medal in that event in a non-boycotted Games. The women's eight won the gold in 1984 in Los Angeles, after Soviet bloc teams had pulled out of the Games.

"We were just on a mission," Whipple told the Washington Post. "We knew we could produce a gold medal-winning night. We wanted to make our mark on history."

Whipple and her U.S. rowing team pulled ahead by nearly a boat length and finished in 6 minutes and 5.34 seconds, denying Romania its fourth consecutive Olympic gold.

The Netherlands won silver and Romania bronze.

It was the second Olympic medal for Whipple, who won silver for the event in Athens in 2004.

Meanwhile, a second Sacramentan reached the medal podium in his first Olympic competition. James Williams, who attended Rio Americano High School, won silver in the men's team sabre event.

He joined teammates Keeth Smart and Tim Morehouse in the finals, staging a scrappy comeback before falling to France, 45-37. Italy took bronze.

"Surprisingly, I didn't feel very nervous," Williams told www.fencing.net. "I was actually more nervous watching. It's all very surreal and hasn't really set in yet."

Williams was 9 when he first walked into the Sacramento Fencing Club in Rancho Cordova. The 22-year-old helped the Americans medal in men's team sabre for only the second time.

"Everyone is just so ecstatic," said Sacramento Fencing Club co-owner Paul Sears, who also was a longtime friend of Williams. "I got phone calls at 4 in the morning screaming that James was on TV. We are thrilled and amazed. He definitely deserves it."

Twin sisters Mary and Sarah Whipple got their start at Lake Natoma, near their home on Hazel Avenue.

On a wooden dock overlooking the lake Sunday, Amanda Black savored the Olympic victory. She raved at length about Mary Whipple, whom she hasn't met.

"We see her pictures here, and it drives us to achieve," said Black, the manager of the California State University, Sacramento, women's rowing team.

Sitting next to Black on the dock, Michael Brandt, 22, was celebrating quietly.

"When she won silver in Athens in 2004, that was amazing," said Brandt, who is on the Sacramento State men's rowing team. "We haven't felt the effects of her winning gold yet, but we will."

Those effects typically are felt every four years during the Olympics, which spark interest in gymnastics, swimming and other sports.

Brandt said rowing is no different.

"We have been getting people from all over the country who want to come here and meet the Whipples," Brandt said.

Mary Whipple, 28, attended Sacramento Adventist Academy and graduated from Casa Roble High School, and then went on to lead the University of Washington to NCAA rowing championships in 2001 and 2002. Her sister, Sarah, headed to UC Davis, where she became a three-time All-American, before becoming an assistant rowing coach at Sacramento State and now at University of California, Berkeley.

"They both have done a lot for rowing," said Black, who was coached by Sarah Whipple. "For Mary to win gold, that's definitely exciting. A lot of girls want to follow in her footsteps."

Call The Bee's Melody Gutierrez, (916) 326-5521.