Athletes sometimes don't realise what they've got until it's gone and that's exactly the case for former world champion rower Emma Twigg.
Twigg quit the sport after the Rio Olympics but now she's started training in New Zealand and is determined to force her way back into one of our toughest Olympic programmes.
The 31-year-old has spent hours on Lake Karapiro pursuing her dream but it was actually watching others chase theirs in South Korea earlier this year that made her realise the privilege she'd given up.
"I spent a bit of time at the speedskating oval and I was watching the guys and looking around me at this amazing venue and realising how awesome it is to be an Olympian, to be an athlete," she said.
Twigg has attended three Olympics but never won a medal. Instead she's finished fourth twice.
She said those results have turned into her drive.
"I’d be lying if I didn't say there wasn't some kind of unfinished business."
Since giving up the sport two years ago, she's been working for the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland.
Twigg took a year off to study before the Rio Olympics but she fought her way back into the highly competitive New Zealand squad then and she plans to do it again.
Over the next month she'll be tested both on and off the water and is confident she can produce the goods.
"I still believe I can be the best in the world and that's one of the motivators to get back in a boat.
"But I'm really looking forward to enjoying the process more this time and focusing less on the end result."
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