Rewind four years and David King not only had his Olympic debut to worry about but also the proposal to his figure skating pairs partner and girlfriend Stacey Kemp.
But their determination to improve on their 16th place in Vancouver means wedding plans are still on hold - with Olympic ambitions their sole concern for now.
The couple have moved their training base from Poland to Florida and last year Kemp suffered a tear to her posterior cruciate ligament – an injury she feared would bring her career to an end.
Instead of operating the duo opted for rest, ten weeks in total, only to return to November’s British Championships and finish as runners-up, ending a run of eight successive senior titles.
And after a troublesome build up to Sochi 2014, that also saw the couple record a lowest ever placing of 13th at the European Championships, King insists a second Olympic outing doesn’t necessarily mean it gets easier.
“I was going to postpone the proposal when we went to see the bobsleigh up in Whistler,” he said. “We had done pretty well and I was expecting this beautiful scene and we got up there it was grey and raining.
“And I thought this is not what I expected so at the closing ceremony we had a beautiful apartment overlooking the harbour and all the different buildings and it was a clear night so I proposed on the balcony.
“But the wedding plans went on hold. We moved out to Florida three years ago now and we were expecting to kind of get married in this time but plans change. But hopefully after Sochi we can start thinking a bit more about it.
“When she [Kemp] tore her PCL it was actually from a lift. She was in the air and she landed and hit her foot first and the weight of her body pushed her knee.
“We have had time to improve. We shoved in quite a few difficult elements mid-season. We kind of played safe for the Olympic qualifiers but we wanted to come out at Sochi and have a real peak and hopefully we can do that.”
Unlike Vancouver, King and Kemp have two competitions to focus on in Sochi with the Games marking the first inclusion of the team event.
And, rather than moan about his busier schedule, King can’t wait to help make history.
“The whole team spirit at the moment is great,” he added. “We have grown up together. The rivalry is between us and the other countries at the minute as we are fighting for spaces.
“Our qualification led to the qualification of Matt Parr in the team event, so it has brought us together as a team and we are all looking forward to it.”
© Sportsbeat 2014