Winger Britt Goodwin insists there is nothing that can beat the feeling of being named in the Great Britain women's handball squad for the 2012 Olympics.
Goodwin was selected for the 14-strong Team GB squad that will compete at the Games for the first ever time this summer. The 29-year-old was born in Norway when her father Steve, a professional footballer, was playing for Lillestrom and is no stranger to success, having won the Norwegian version of reality TV series Big Brother in 2005.
"I am absolutely over the moon," she said at Thursday's kitting out session in Loughborough.
"I have been in the team for the last five years. I have had to give up my job, give up by apartment, leave my boyfriend and come over here. But when this is what is at the end of it all, it's worth it.
"Before being selected it has been a bit unreal, but after seeing all the amazing kit, it makes everything a bit more real.
"It was an amazing feeling winning Big Brother in 2005 because it was the public that voted so that was nice, but it is nothing compared to the Olympics. It is every athlete's dream to be here and to be able to represent Great Britain in London - you can't really touch that."
Goodwin has been a member of a centralised camp that was set up in 2006 with the intention of developing a team capable of competing at the Games. GB, coached by Dane Jesper Holmris, have made remarkable progress, registering success against some of the top teams in the world.
"It has been tough at times but we focused on our training and we got through it and here we are now," Goodwin added. "In 2007 when I first started it was four of us and we did wonder what was going to happen.
Playmaker Nina Heglund has also had an eventful journey, having joined the camp as a 15-year-old. She was also born in Norway, but has a British mother and is proud to be representing Team GB.
"It is amazing, I am going to have my 19th birthday at the Olympics so that will be a birthday I will never forget," she said.