There were dozens of media requests, a 2am dinner with his parents and a few bottles of champagne but it will be business as usual soon enough for Australia's latest Winter Olympics champion Dale Begg-Smith.

The 21-year-old managed to get to bed at about 4am after his stunning victory in the men's moguls final.

"I didn't want to go out too late or I'd be dead today," said the ever practical Begg-Smith.

"It was pretty crazy. I can't really answer my phone right now because it's constantly ringing so I'll just leave it off."

Vancouver-born and raised Begg-Smith has not surprisingly been inundated with requests from Canadian media but as always is planning on keeping things as low key as he can.

With three more World Cup events this season he is spending more time pondering where to set up a training base more then what to do with his new found fame achieved by a near flawless moguls skiing performance.

With two-time former world champion Mikko Ronkainen setting the pace Begg-Smith, last down the Sauze D'Oulx course had to pull out something special.

And he did.

In a nerveless run on the 233m course he racked up a score of 26.77 to edge out Ronkainen (26.62) and American Toby Dawson (26.30).

Fellow Australian Nick Fisher achieved his best ever result in a top tier competition finishing 12th while Michael Robertson was 24th and Dale's brother Jason 29th.

But it was Begg-Smith's night as he seamlessly skied down the Sauze D'Oulx course to record Australia's third ever Winter Olympics gold medal after Steven Bradbury (short track speed skating) and Alisa Camplin (freestyle aerials) both won in 2002.

"Its unbelievable, just awesome, it's what I've always wanted to do," the taciturn Begg-Smith said in a rare display of emotion.

Coach Steve Desovich, who helped Canadian Jennifer Heil earn her gold in the women's event and had also coached 1994 men's champion Jean-Luc Brassard said he would have been happy to collect a bronze after seeing the high scores.

He paid credit to his charge's technique and described Begg-Smith as "impenetrable".

"He never absolutely ever shows weakness - I don't think he feels it, that's just the way it is," Desovich said.

Begg-Smith scored well with his tricks - an inverted jump with cross and an off axis 720 - and had a good run time but it was for his turns - which account for 50 per cent of the total score - that he again did best.

Asked what was going through his head in the starting gate, he said very little.

"I don't really think about anything except my runs," he said.

"In training I don't lose my composure, so in competition I try to keep it the same way. I ski my best in training and then I ski my best in competition."

Brought up in Vancouver, Begg-Smith came to Australia as a 15-year-old with his brother Jason.

They had decided they could no longer participate in the Canadian skiing program because it clashed with their burgeoning internet business - a topic that was the source of much speculation tonight.

Something of a mystery man, Begg-Smith spent two years out of competition, training and refining his technique before he became eligible to ski for his adopted country.

In the last two years he has gradually climbed up the world rankings and he now wears the competitors number one bib, largely thanks to the fact he won three of the last four World Cup events.

A maze of contradictions, he comes across as painfully shy but according to those who know him best he's highly intelligent and very confident of his own abilities.

"Dale, he's always been that way, he's really a strong personality and is very sure of himself." said mother Maddi, who came from Vancouver with Dale's father Ralph and sister Denise to watch both their sons compete here.

The win was also a boost for all winter sports athletes with the Australian Olympic Committee announcing a small increase in funding of $250,000 after 2008.

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