Rupert Staudinger may on paper have been the only Team GB athlete competing in luge at Beijing, but he was far from sliding solo.
The 24-year-old finished 23rd at his second Games and included an emotional tribute to his late great PyeongChang teammate and three-time Olympian, AJ Rosen who passed away with cancer in December, on his helmet.
Four years ago the pair shared a room and the impact of Rosen on Staudinger, not restricted to just his sliding, is palpable.
"He played a huge part in my career and I decided that it's a little thing to keep his memory alive," said Staudinger, who saved his best for the third run at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.
"He was such a great guy. I'm a little bit speechless because it's ever so sad that he's not here anymore because of cancer so young.
"He helped in so many ways, not just sliding but general life things. He played a huge part in my luge career - taught me so much about sliding.
"I shared a room with him in PyeongChang at the Olympic Winter Games and before that he was a huge mentor for me and I probably would have not been at the Games without him.
"Back at the Games in 2018, he basically was a big brother to me. He helped me handle everything that all of a sudden happens to you at a Games."
Staudinger came 33rd in South Korea and despite narrowly missing out on the top 20 and a place in the fourth and final run this time around, jumping ten places is a significant improvement for the student.
"It was good, I finished on a high. I think today was my best run of the whole competition, so I'm really pleased with that," he said.
"I was really consistent over the whole competition. Just slight mistakes in the first two runs but I think I cleaned them up today in the third run."
It's all smiles for @RupertStauding1 as he finishes his Olympics with 23rd in the Luge.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 6, 2022
A proud moment.#TeamGB | #Beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/aWF81vCCc8
Germany's Johannes Ludwig upgraded his bronze from 2018 to claim gold in Beijing and Staudinger, who is half-German himself and resides in the country, admits it is an uphill battle to hang onto the coattails of the sport's dominant nation.
He explained: "Well it's hard. I mean I'm a full-time student, I don't have all the capacity and resources.
"I don't earn any money from all of this, it's pure passion. I try to be as close as possible but to close the gap is probably too much to ask."
Still young, Staudinger admits he has not decided whether he will throw himself into making it to Milano Cortina 2026.
"You know what, it has been such a long season, I need some time to think about everything and let's see, you never know what happens," he said.
Whatever lies ahead, one thing is for sure - Staudinger knows exactly the legacy he wants to leave in honour of Rosen, the man who inspired him.
"If I spread the love of luge, if kids are looking at the sport, watching me and saying, ‘you know what man, this is kind of cool, I like watching it.'
"Then I've done my job."