Stephanie Morton raised her hand to her mouth as she crossed the line to defeat Anna Meares and she wasn't alone.

The aura around the London Olympics sprint champion is such that it seemed inevitable that she would coast her way to a second gold medal in Glasgow and sixth in all Commonwealth Games.

Meares' mortality, however, would be spelled out on the final night of competition at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome as her training partner and athletes' village roommate Morton stunned her in the women's sprint final, and without a third and deciding race required.

 

Australia's sixth gold medal on the cycling track here - a seventh was later won in the men's keirin by Matthew Glaetzer - it might also signal a changing of the guard.

Morton, 23, had beaten her idol turned friend before, including in the keirin final at the national championships in February, but not on such a stage. Meares, 30, is not exactly about to slip off into retirement, but this could well have been her last ride at a Commonwealth Games.

A silver medallist in the time trial behind Meares on the first day of competition in Glasgow, it was the fast emerging Morton's time to shine on Sunday night.

She led from the front in both races in the final and held her ground, gesturing in disbelief as the second win clinched gold in her first Commonwealth Games.

Morton won a bronze medal at the Paralympics in London in 2012 as a pilot in the tandem sprint but this was her true arrival.

"It was just that sense of relief - all that training, and all that stress and pressure just lifted off your shoulders. I couldn't believe it," Morton said.

"I've had a couple wins (over her) now but nothing like this, not at a major competition like this. I'm glad I could finally step up today and prove myself."

Morton cut her victory lap short to celebrate with her emotional parents Catherine and Richard, who were seated in the back straight. Meares, in a highly admirable move demonstrating the pair's closeness, did the same.

"They nearly knocked me off my bike, they hugged me that hard," Morton said, adding of Meares: "Anna knows Mum and Dad and I'm really happy that she did that. It just shows what a classy lady she is and how much respect we have for each other. They would have loved that."

Morton and Meares had spent the day mostly in each other's company, having breakfast and lunch together and even riding the short distance from the village to the velodrome next to Celtic Park in tandem on Sunday. Morton then invited Meares up onto the top tier of the podium at the medal ceremony, bringing Australia's flagbearer here to tears.

They have formed a bond through countless hours together striving for excellence but Morton explained she had to do her best to dismiss Meares' lofty standing in the sport when they both progressed to the final.

"I guess I had to look at her more as a stat on a piece of paper rather than who she was. Look at my strengths, her strengths, my weaknesses and her weaknesses rather than it being Anna," she said. "Look at it more in a tactical way, rather than getting all hyped up about the fact I was racing Anna Meares, Olympic champion.

"I train with Mearesy every day. I see her more than I see my own family. We hardly talk bikes when you're not at the velodrome and back at the room. We're 'Anna and Steph' that are friends off the track, and 'Anna and Steph' that compete against each other. We're really lucky that we can switch on and off like that.

"We rode here together. We'll probably ride home together as well."

Meares said the result was not completely out of the blue.

"She's been serving me humble pie all year so it's certainly not a big shock to the system," she said.

"Sometimes you get beaten."