"I was in Safeway when I got the call," she said. "I screamed and started crying. Everybody must of thought I was crazy. This was the biggest (win), but Andre doesn't look at it like that. He takes them one at a time."

Ward, 20, out-pointed Russian Evgeny Makarenko, 23-16, in the quarterfinal of the light heavyweight division (81 kg), the same weight class in which Leon Spinks (1976) and Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, (1960) claimed gold and Evander Holyfield (1984) earned the bronze.

Ward is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal and has two fights remaining. If he wins both fights, he earns the gold medal.

Many said Ward's victory could be the biggest upset of the Olympic tournament. Makarenko was the two-time defending world champion and was heavily favored to win the gold medal in his weight class.

Tiffiney Ward said she spoke to her husband in the hours before the fight. He had expressed his nervousness to her.

"I said, 'I have enough nervousness for the both of us,'" she said. "I had breakfast and didn't know if I was going to be able to keep it down."

Ward's mother, Madeline Arvie, 44, of Vallejo, said she burst into tears as soon as she heard her son had won.

"I've been totally excited since he's been in Greece," Arvie said. "I can't believe it. I've been looking at all of his baby pictures and him getting into boxing. I knew he was going to do this."

Arvie said her son has worked really hard to get where he is today.

Three years ago, Arvie started telling people that her son was going to the Olympics. She said after a lot of prayers and fasting, she knew he would make it.

"People come up to me now and say, 'You told me three years ago,'" Arvie said. "I was so amazed, I didn't even know how to act. When they flash is picture on the television, we all scream."

Ward is one of only two Americans still competing for an Olympic boxing medal. His next fight is scheduled Friday against Utkirbek Haydarov from Uzbekistan.

Charles King, owner of King's Boxing Gym in Oakland, called Ward's victory "huge."

"I was happy," King said. "My heart was in my stomach, just a lot of nervous energy."

He said he knew Ward had the skills to win on Tuesday, and the skills to win the gold.

"It's just a matter of show casing skills and putting it all together for the world to see," King said. "That's what he did to this guy who was the top man. The Russian was No. 1 in the world. I see (Andre) walking through these other guys, but you have to take one fight at a time."

In 1988, Andrew Maynard was the last American boxer to win the gold medal in the light heavyweight division.

Antonio Tarver (1996) was the last American to medal in the division, earning a bronze.

Cathy Clark, who watched Ward try out on a Hayward ball field more than a decade ago, said she was struck by his determination, even then, during some catching drills.

All the other kids would let a dropping ball stay on the ground and would wait for another one to be hit their way.

"But Andre would run after the ball," said Clark, who sponsored Ward as part of the Blackhawks of Hayward, a nonprofit organization geared toward helping low-income youth participate in organized sports. "I thought, 'Now that's a kid that doesn't give up.'"

Clark is one of Ward's many Hayward supporters, friends and family members, who have proudly watched him achieve his lifelong goal of competing in the Olympics.

"Going to the Olympics has always been Andre's and my brother's dream," said Ward's aunt, Sandy Boos of Hayward. "We always knew he'd do it. He was predestined."

Ward's father, Frank Ward, who introduced his two sons to boxing, died two years ago.

Last Thursday was the anniversary of his death, making for some bittersweet moments, Boos said.

Staff writer Michelle Meyers contributed to this story.