Laura Collett already has one Olympic gold, she goes to bed dreaming of making that three - not that she expects to sleep.
The 34-year old eventer sits just behind German legend Michael Jung after the dressage and cross-country disciplines and joined forces with Ros Canter and Tom McEwen to narrowly lead the team event ahead of Monday's decisive show jumping.
Collett praised her 'horse of a lifetime' London 52 for his display over a demanding course at Versailles - made even tougher after he lost a horseshoe early in his round.
"I can’t really believe it to be honest. I'm just relieved that it is over and I haven’t let anyone down. I don’t really have the words to be honest," she said. "I'm just buzzing and I'm not expecting many hours of sleep, I've just accepted that I'll sleep when it's over.
"I've got the most incredible horse with me, he's so talented and I can't believe how much he trusts and believes in me.
"He goes around these courses like he's on railway tracks and we're just enjoying ourselves."
Collett and McEwen were part of the team that won team gold in Tokyo three years ago, Great Britain's first in the event since 1972.
Eventing is the truest test of horse and horsemanship, the elegance and precision of dressage, the endurance of cross country and the speed of jumping.
Collett has been near flawless in the first two elements, her dressage score a new world best in eventing and a near flawless display around a challenging and technical course on Sunday.
"Our first job is to focus on the team because one mistake by any of us and it can be over in a second," she added.
"It’s an amazing position to be in but until the last horse is through the finish flags it’s not over until it’s over.
"Jumping in a stadium is going to be a completely different experience to anything he's experienced before. He was very spooky in Tokyo when there were no crowds. I am just hoping he likes the crowds and turns up like he has done the last two days."
Their position could have been even better had it not been for a rare error by Canter that the British tried and failed to protest.
She picked up 15 penalties on the cross-country course to mean Britain boast a slender five-point advantage over nearest rivals France, with Japan just behind.
Thrills and spills are guaranteed in eventing's cross country, the equine equivalent of golf's moving day. Germany were considered Great Britain's most likely rivals but when Christoph Wahler took a spill, their ambitions were over.
McEwen - an individual silver medallist in Tokyo - sits sixth overall with his horse JL Dublin and while he still can impose himself on the podium, he has been full of admiration for Collett.
"She's been looking amazing," he said.
"I thought her dressage was probably the best eventing dressage test I’ve ever seen and by quite a long way, and I’ve seen some good ones."
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