KEY POINTS:
Okay, Liza Hunter-Galvan, it's all up to you now.
The best thing she can do is forget the hoo-ha and get on with what she'd originally wanted to do: run for Amber.
She should forget the controversy over Athletics NZ's original decision to omit her from the Beijing team; and draw strength from the support she's received from the athletics community - especially those hardy distance runners who backed her to the hilt - but move on from the snipes and jibes.
From now on, she should get back to where she was in Amsterdam in October last year when she ran so superbly to post her qualifying time, a 2h 30m 40s personal best, spurred on by the love for her brain-injured daughter, Amber. May that determination to create new memories for Amber drive her through the humid streets of Beijing.
Leave the rest behind.
Will it be so easy for others in the sport to do the same? Maybe not. There is a lingering sense of unfairness among her supporters.
It's all well and good to take a tough stance - but if athletes are going to be judged on past performances, shouldn't they be told of their failings? The Sports Tribunal decision includes a grim paragraph confirming the worst of the critics' fears: because of her championship results, the selectors had pre-determined that Hunter-Galvan was not going. Not even her Amsterdam run could sway them.
But no one told her. How can that be fair?
Yesterday's decision to include her in the team has righted that wrong. It has also ensured that Hunter-Galvan will have more people watching her race than she could ever imagine. It's a great Olympic story: the mother-of-four running for her daughter after battling officials to make it to the start line.
Just make your supporters proud, Liza. And give Amber a memory she'll never forget.
