Rio de Janeiro - Winning selection on South Korea's all-conquering archery team virtually guarantees a spot on an Olympic podium so Chang Hye-jin was naturally crushed four years ago when she learnt she had missed out on a trip to London.
On Thursday, the 29-year-old erased that disappointment emphatically by capturing the individual title at the Sambadrome, her second gold at the Rio Games.
In South Korea, national archers are feted like super-heroes, for having the talent and will to survive ruthless domestic competition and the courage to carry the burden of a country that expects nothing less than victory.
The few that make the cut enjoy limitless state resources and lavish corporate sponsorship.
For the rest, life on the outer can be very lonely.
Chang was fourth in line when the three-woman team was selected for London and she watched with a mixture of pride and regret as they won a seventh consecutive team gold and Ki Bo-bae took the individual title.
Barred from training at the same facilities as her national team mates, Chang did not wallow during her time in the wilderness.
She headed to the range to fire off hundreds of arrows in solitude and her hard graft was rewarded with a ticket to Rio.
“I couldn't get official training, so I trained myself,” she told reporters after defeating Germany's Lisa Unruh in the final on Thursday. “I told myself I would do my best to be in this venue with them.”
With triple Olympic champion Ki and Choi Mi-sun, Chang celebrated South Korea's eighth successive team gold on Sunday but never believed she could win the individual title.
But on a day when gusts sent arrows sailing far off target, she kept her head and her mistakes to a minimum.
Thursday was meant to be another coronation for archery queen Ki and Chang started nervously in their thrilling semi-final duel.
She shanked her second arrow into the outer circle for an embarrassing three, drawing a gasp from the crowd.
But she recovered to nail four perfect scores of 10, with the last sealing the match.
The last Korean in the draw, she shouldered the task of winning for her country, and Unruh crumbled under the weight of her opponent's mission, clinically outpointed 6-2 in the final.
“When I was on the podium, I thought of the difficulties that I endured to get through this selection process,” said Chang.
“(Then) I realised I was shedding tears.”
Reuters