Lauren Perdue shows off the gold medal she won at the London Olympics.

AS GOOD AS GOLD!

Lauren Perdue earned a gold medal on Wednesday during the London Olympics. On Thursday, the first-time Olympian received that gold medal.  She proudly wore it around her neck while taking pictures with some of her friends and teammates. Lauren was nice enough to share some of the photos with me, and I'm now sharing them with you.

Lauren, a resident of Greenville, N.C., who is now competing at the University of Virginia, helped the U.S. women's relay team win the 4x200 event. She was the lead leg in the preliminary round, helping the Americans secure a spot in the finals.

From there, Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt took over. The foursome won the gold medal in a new Olympic-record time of  7:42.92. Lauren earned a gold medal for being a part of the team.

The ever-gracious Wahoo swimmer was thrilled to be a part of something so exciting.

"What an incredible few weeks it has been leading up to this moment!" Lauren texted me shortly after the U.S. won the gold. "I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to fulfill my lifelong dream of competing in the Olympics and also contribute to a gold medal relay tonight. The relay tonight was spectacular. Each one of us has worked incredibly hard for this moment and I could not be more proud of my USA teammates."

Lauren is done competing in these Olympics. She is staying in London to watch more of the action, and to cheer on her U.S. teammates.

The future looks bright for the affable swimmer, who has been swimming since she was 8 years old. More gold may be in her future.

I'm planning to write much, much more about Lauren, her quest and her dreams in the near future.

Below are more pictures of Lauren and her gold medal -- definitely a beautiful sight.