And he is determined it will be there for a long time to come.

"I slept with it around my neck last night and the only time it has come off is when I had a shower," Knowles said.

"It's a pretty weird feeling and I keep looking at it and thinking of all the hard work that got me here," he added.

"It's much better than the silver one I got from Athens."

The Australian Rollers, led by a quartet of Wollongong players - Knowles, Brendan Dowler, Brett Stibners and Troy Sachs - took out the ultimate prize in wheelchair basketball with a 72-60 win over Canada in the Paralympics final on Tuesday.

The win was revenge for Athens in 2004, where the Canadians took home the gold and Australia had to settle for the silver.

"It is a completely different feeling to Athens because when you win it's an awesome feeling as the siren goes," the 25-year-old Knowles said.

"And then after you have a bit of time you start to think what you have just done - it's just amazing.

"When we got silver in Athens it was like we lost gold and I didn't really get the chance to think what we had achieved.

"There was no way I wanted that feeling again and I know all the guys were the same," he said.

The South Coast influence was very strong on the team, with a third of the squad having learned the sport in Wollongong.

Sachs has now moved away, but his roots are at Bulli.

Knowles and Stibners are still playing with the Roller Hawks, while 40-year-old Dowler lives on the South Coast despite playing for West Sydney.

The Rollers showed a fighting spirit, coming back from 32-28 down at half-time in the final with a storming third quarter to take a lead they would never surrender.

The game was still in the balance with a minute on the clock, with the Rollers holding a five-point lead, when a quick break finished off by Sachs put the result beyond doubt.

"We didn't have time to think we were going to win it until the last 30 seconds," Stibners said.

"We all knew that the Canadians had come back from 18 (points) down against the States."

Sachs, who was the only survivor from the Atlanta gold medal winning team, top-scored with 17 points for the Rollers.

But it was a team effort, with every player on the 12-man roster getting court time.