It takes a lot of positivity and determination to recover from heartbreak in sport.
Luckily, Sarah Walker has both by the bucket load.
A Kawerau girl and Rotorua BMX Club member, Walker's hard work paid off and her dreams came true when she won silver at the London Olympics in 2012. However, it has been far from smooth sailing since.
She suffered a horrific crash in California in 2014, resulting in a severe concussion and six broken bones in her arms. Then, after a long recovery, she was on track to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016 when her preparations were disrupted by a broken arm in training. The setback ultimately cost her qualification for the event.
It has been a tough six years since she stood on that podium in 2012, but the infectious smile has barely wavered. Fast forward to 2018 and Walker has won her third Oceania BMX title as well as the elite women's race at the New Zealand BMX Championships.
She is nearing her best form again and has her sights set on BMX World Cup and World Championship events, as well as, in the long term, Tokyo 2020.
"It sounds weird, but [moving on from missing Rio] was quite easy. Knowing there was nothing more I could've done, I did everything within my control to do the best I could, it just meant that at that time it just didn't work out.
Sarah Walker in hospital after surgery on her broken arm in 2016. Photo / File
"It was heartbreaking, but on reflection I was really proud of myself that through everything I gave it my all. Sometimes your best is a silver medal at London, sometimes your best is not qualifying at all, that's just sport.
"I kind of see it as an injury is pretty short term in comparison to the rest of the year. Yeah, I've had a few injuries, but in comparison to the rest of the year, in terms of time, I've been healthy for a lot longer than I've been injured. Why would I stop doing something that I really enjoy and love for those short moments where I'm a little bit sore?" Walker said.
She made the final at the BMX World Championships in South Carolina last year, which was a big step on the path to potentially competing at another Olympics.
"It was cool because it was everyone who was at Rio and they were all in form, so to make the final amongst those people was a really cool moment for me. Having missed out [on Rio], even at the time, I believed in myself enough to know I was good enough."
She said, throughout her BMX career, she had learnt what she valued most personally.
"After London, when I was standing on the podium with my medal, I realised that the medal is an object and it's actually the feeling you get, the pride, the emotion that comes with it, that's the coolest part.
Sarah Walker celebrates a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012. Photo / Getty Images
"Winning an Olympic medal, to me, isn't what I do it for any more. I just want to do the best that I can and know from experience that works out sometimes and sometimes it doesn't."
While fiercely competitive, Walker's focus was always on enjoying herself.
"It was cool to go over and win the Oceania title, it is nice every now and then to get a result, but it's most important to me to just have fun and enjoy it because when I do that I ride better anyway.
"I am absolutely a competitive person, I wouldn't do sport if I wasn't competitive naturally, but a lot of that competition now is against myself, seeing if I can be better than I was before and to see what I'm capable of.
Kawerau's Sarah Walker has not let severe injury or missing out on the Rio Olympics get her down. Photo / Stephen Parker
"I know that I'm not quite in my best form, because we've got so much data and testing numbers that I know where I'm at, but I'm not that far off, which is cool. I'm getting closer and closer with every training."
She is racing at BMX World Cup events in Belgium and Holland in the next month before taking on the BMX World Championships in Azerbaijan at the end of May.
"I've also got a world cup in Argentina in September and that's the first race of the Olympic qualifying period, so that will be the big race that I'm working towards.
"I'm aiming to be better than I've ever been by then."
