Divers Leon Taylor and Peter Waterfield earned Britain's first medal of the Athens Olympics with a brilliant silver in the synchronised 10m diving.
The pair, who agonisingly missed out on bronze in the Sydney Olympics, finished in second place with 371.52 points.
The Chinese duo of Tian Liang and Yang Jinhui were impressive winners, with the Australian world champions Matthew Helm and Robert Newbery taking bronze.
It was the first British diving medal in the Olympics for 44 years.
"It's very sweet. It's not the gold - which was within our grasp - but I am ecstatic," Taylor told BBC Sport.
"To come out and start off on day one with a silver medal is fantastic."
Waterfield added: "It's not sunk in, I am speechless. We have worked really hard over the last four years for this and it's fantastic.
"It was an amazing feeling and it's really special to win the first British
medal of the Games."
The duo, who are Commonwealth champions, also won silver at the Fina World Cup in Athens earlier this year.
They went into their final - and most difficult - dive needing 88 points and made the grade with room to spare.
Taylor and Waterfield faced missing the Games altogether when Waterfield twisted his ankle while working on his poise and balance during a ballet lesson six weeks before the beginning.
They spent 10 days on the sidelines before being allowed back in the pool.