Great Britain's Shanaze Reade is more than happy to bide her time before getting into action at this summer's Olympics.
As was the case at the 2008 Beijing Games, in which her hopes of a podium finish ended when she crashed in the final, the BMX rider will have to wait until near the end of London 2012 for her medal push to get under way.
The BMX competition begins on August 8, almost two weeks after the opening ceremony, but it is not something the 23-year-old is likely to start complaining about.
For Reade, the extra build-up not only gives her valuable additional preparation time - a bonus, given she has suffered some injury setbacks of late - but also a chance to watch her fellow cyclists bid for Olympic glory.
And the Crewe-born star hopes success for her Team GB colleagues on the track and road will help inspire her in her own performance.
"I need that time just because of where I was prior to the World Championships (held in Birmingham in May) - I had a massive crash and ended up in hospital," Reade said. "I had concussion, so I missed a week-and-a-half to two weeks' prep leading into the Worlds, and then I also crashed there and had a few cuts and scrapes.
"So I've needed this period - I couldn't ask for anything more and I'm at the top of where I need to be now.
"I also think it (the gap between the start of the Olympics and the BMX competition) is a good thing because you get spurred on - I train with all these guys like Sir Chris Hoy and you are going to see how successful they have been and just feed off that.''
Although she will head to London as a firm believer in the theory that one should try to treat an Olympic race like any other, Reade is also determined to enjoy the unique experience of competing at a home Games and will not be attempting to entirely shut out the magnitude of the occasion.
"I still want to treat it like the Olympics,'' Reade said. "When I went to Beijing (in which BMX was included as an Olympic sport for the first time and she was making her Games debut) I treated it as if it was something massive, like this do-or-die kind of thing. I want to get that balance right where I really appreciate that I am at an Olympic Games, but at the same time treat it like a normal race."