The great gold strike of 2008

Somjit's gold medal was Thailand's only one in boxing at the 24th Olympic Games a year ago and secured a place for one of the finest pugilists the country has ever produced alongside Somluck Kamsing, Vicharn Pholrit and Manus Boonjumnong - the select group who've tasted Olympic glory.

His predecessors had scored golden victory in their first appearances at the Games, but Somjit claimed the Holy Grail of his boxing career in his last competition on national duty.

There could have been no better script for the Buri Ram native, who endured plenty of ups and downs before finally achieving what he'd so long craved, and right at the end of his career.

Looking back, Somjit acknowledges a moment when he thought he'd never succeed at the Games, just as critics said after his painful loss to Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa at the 2004 Olympics.

What a brutal day in Athens that was. Somjit - the 2003 world champion in the 51kg category - looked assured of winning his second-tier bout against Gamboa, taking a relatively healthy three-point advantage into the final round.

But, inexplicably, the win slipped away, and it would prove little consolation that Gamboa went on to seize the gold medal.

"I got a lot of criticism after that," says Somjit, now 34. "People wondered about my mental state. They said I didn't have the fighting spirit. Those words really hurt me.

"I was devastated because I'd let the country down. I wanted to quit. But there were still people offering me great support, so I decided to carry on."

The agony of defeat - as it's so aptly described in sport - only made the 2008 achievement that much sweeter. And, in terms of sheer effort, it would have been nothing short of tragic if a fighter with such a glittering resume failed to taste Olympic glory.

"I told myself, 'What's gone let go.' I used the pain of the defeat in Athens as motivation to work harder in training. I still believed the effort we put in would one day be rewarded."

Somjit's rugged preparations paid handsome dividends in Beijing. He marched into the gold-medal fight on August 23 with consummate ease, conceding only five points along the way.

Then, in what must have triggered a little déjà vu, another Cuban awaited him in the last battle, Andris Laffita Hernandez.

But Laffita stood no chance against years of pent-up frustration. Somjit's victory was nothing if not comprehensive.

"My bitter experience four years earlier made me stronger mentally," Somjit says. "Rather than nervous I felt relaxed. I focused only on my opponent, not the medal. I just wanted to finish a job that had to be finished."

His watching, cheering homeland saw Somjit celebrate in his customary way, one finger to his lips as is the shush the crowd.

How does it feel when the referee yanks up your gloved fist after the points are tallied, signalling that this is the champion?

"It's unbelievable," Somjit smiles. "I couldn't put it into words. I was thrilled to have finally made my dream a reality. The pride I felt made up for all the disappointment of the past. I'll never forget that day."

Even after more than a year, the moment has lost none of its vividness. Somjit is ready to continue believing it happened only yesterday.

"Time has really flown," he says. "I wasn't even aware it's already been a year. I'm doing so many things these days, it just seems to consume all my time."

It's almost inevitable that successful Thai fighters get steered into show business, and Somjit has found it tougher than boxing.

"I have the opportunity to try a lot of new things. I've got an album of songs out, I emcee a TV show, and I'm going to be in a TV soap opera that's now in production.

"It's more tiring than training for a fight! At least we had time to rest after workouts in the ring. Now I have a tight schedule every day and, to make it worse, I have to commute between Bangkok and home in Nakhon Ratchasima almost every week.

"I should have gone back to the gym!" he laughs.

Something else that comes to successful boxers, though not quite as inevitably, is a tendency to waste their newfound fame and fortune. But Somjit isn't about to get caught up in that.

Happily married and with a child, he's prudent with money. Part of his cash, he says, will be used to build a new house for his parents.