Christine Ohuruogu insists the silver medal she won on home soil means more than her gold from Beijing, even though the athlete was left heartbroken at losing her 400m title.
Ohuruogu produced a storming finish to snatch silver on the line by just 0.02 seconds, and while the 28-year-old's immediate reaction was one of devastation at not catching gold medallist and long-time rival Sanya Richards-Ross, she later reflected with pride on her achievement.
"I feel a lot better," the former world champion told Press Association Sport. "I felt okay leaving the stadium, realisation started to hit me about what I'd done. And I think once I looked at everything in perspective I could definitely feel that I had come away with something quite great which I didn't realise when I crossed the line.
"I think it was the knee-jerk reaction to losing my title more than anything, but now I've looked at everything, to come back into another Olympic cycle and come away with a medal...I mean the last good season I had was in 2008.
"To come back and still leave with something and to lose to a good competitor - Sanya is not any random athlete, she knows what she's doing and she's good - and the field was very strong with Amantle Montsho the world champion, I was very happy with what I did.
"It wasn't meant to be but that silver means a lot more to me than gold in 2008. I should be really proud of myself, it could have been a lot worse and I could have come back with nothing. To have done what I did having three years which were not that great, I should be quite happy with that."
Ohuruogu ran just four times over 400m in 2010, missing the European Championships through injury, and was then disqualified for a false start - a very rare occurrence in her event - in the heats of last year's World Championships in Daegu.
However, she looked close to her best with a storming third leg as Britain won 4x400m relay gold at the World Indoor Championships in March, before beating Montsho during a torrential downpour at the London Grand Prix last month.
"I always knew I would get back, it was just a matter of when," she added. "You need to have a good amount of training behind you. You don't lose your talent, it's just a matter of how you access it and do the right work to bring out your talent.
"I have a good work ethic, that's one thing I know I have. I don't ever sell myself short. I am happy that I gave it everything for this Games, there is nothing I could say I could have done better."