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Take two

Williams sisters win gold in doubles

Venus, left, and Serena Williams hug at the net after winning the gold medal in women's doubles. AP

SYDNEY (CNNSI.com) - Americans Venus and Serena Williams crushed the Dutch duo of Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans 6-1 6-1 in the women's doubles final.

The victory was the most one-sided final in Olympic tennis history, and gave Venus her second gold medal of the Games.

"To have a victory like this with Serena, my sister, a family member, my best friend, doesn't happen often," said Venus Williams, who added the doubles crown to the singles title she won on Wednesday against Russian Elena Dementieva.

"It's very rare," she added, after she and Serena became the first sisters to win an Olympic doubles championship. "Just to be able to stand up together and succeed together on this level has been really, really good.

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"We have done everything we could this Olympics."

It was a day of records for the Williams sisters.

Venus became the only other woman besides Helen Wills in 1924 to win both the singles and doubles titles at the same Olympiad as the U.S. women's team completed a sweep of singles and doubles tennis gold for the third successive Olympics.

The Williams had beaten the Dutch pair by the same 6-1 6-1 score earlier this month at the U.S. Open, but they took nothing for granted in the gold medal match.

"We practiced our doubles for an hour before the match, which is unusual for us," said Venus. "Going over drills and working on our movement. We really wanted to try to get in and out before they tried to take us over."

Serena said the most exciting moment of the day for her was when the medal was draped around her neck.

"I've seen it many a time on TV when I was younger and just to be here now and have this opportunity is a great feeling for me," said Serena, who won the French and U.S. Open doubles titles with Venus last year and the Wimbledon doubles crown this summer.

Venus Williams cited another highlight. "When you walk up to the podium and they say, 'Gold medal USA' and they are playing the national anthem it's very exciting. It only lasts one minute, but it's a good time."

The victory was the 22nd in a row for the Williams sisters. Venus Williams extended her singles streak to 32 match victories in a row with her march to the singles crown.

"Where we are at right now is just good," said Venus, still glowing after her triumph. "We are in a really good place."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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