During the build-up to the Olympics, there would have been times when Mark English and Holly Bradshaw thought Rio was mission impossible.
It turned out very differently with both Sky Academy Sports Scholars beating the odds and performing magnificently.
English, who twisted an ankle in training six months before Brazil, made the 800m semi-finals, while polevaulter Bradshaw, who had to overcome long-term injury niggles, just missed out on a medal.
Darren Campbell, their Sky Academy mentor since 2012, gives an insight to the emotional journey the pair endured to make Rio, how they reignited their mindset and why their careers should now flourish....
A lot of my mentoring with Mark and Holly was trying to keep them positive and saying "it's not over until it's over".
They had to believe they could still qualify. And they qualified... and then performed outstandingly!
It's easy to determine success by winning medals but sometimes you have to view success by considering their journey and how they performed. They performed above and beyond.
Holly was mentally in a good place towards the start of the season. A year ago with all her injuries and problems, making the Olympic team seemed so far away and impossible.
With Mark, he picked up an ankle injury after a good run indoors and his participation in Rio was seriously in doubt.
I was able to empathise with them because I've been there! You don't want to tell them the standard lines. You want to share an experience, where you were in a similar frame of mind and how you were able to overcome that and say what you were able to achieve after that level of adversity.
Adversity is part of life and sport. It's important when I mentor to share my most personal and humbling experiences on what I've achieved in my career and it's having the belief to still go out and perform.
Mark missed a lot of work and it was important he kept building fitness and when he got back on the track the most crucial thing was having race rhythm.
I spoke to him after the first round in Rio and going back six months just getting through the first round seemed very very unlikely. To make the semi-final shows what's possible when you are able to refocus your mind and keep that positivity.
It was vital Holly and Mark stayed positive though. If you're down in the doldrums and it's all negative and you can't see any positives then life's about being realistic. With an injury, as long as the healing process works accordingly you know how much time you have to recover.
It's all about re-evaluating how you're going to prepare. If all of a sudden an injury derails your plans - even your plans from two years ago - then you need to refocus your mind and trust your new plan.
That's so important and that's why the Sky Scholarship scheme works so well in situations like these to help provide the support.
I'm a mentor when there's adversity - I'm not needed when it's good! That's the reality of what we undertake. The three athletes I mentor (I also look out for BMX rider Quillan Isidore), there has been a lot of adversity so it's been fantastic to see these guys step out of that adversity and believe in themselves again.
Holly needed to remember how good she was before all her injuries. Only from that point do I believe that she was able to turn a corner. When you get injured for a long time you forget why you love the sport. It's important that when you train again you rediscover that love and enjoyment.
How Holly performed in Rio was exceptional. She was so close to winning a medal and if she can stay injury free we will see the world class Holly we know. Rio is a huge turning point for her.
Mark and Holly's mindset after the Games needs to be 'anything is possible' and not to have any limitations. Not only did they make the team, they made the semis and Holly nearly won a medal. Imagine how Mark would have done if his original planning had worked out.
There are so many positives and that's what they need to focus on. They've been through a negative period and adversity and now they need to focus on the positives. In the good times you tend not to reflect - only during the bad times! But they need to reflect and look at what they overcame and continue that belief to move forward.
After an Olympics can be tricky for the mind but it depends on age and how you performed. After the 1996 Atlanta Games, I messed up so my mindset was "I've got four years to show people I wasn't a disgrace".
In 2000 at Sydney I won Olympic silver so my mindset going to Athens 2004 was "I know what silver feels like, why can't I win gold - why can't it be me?" Only gold was what I wanted. I didn't want anything else.
But Holly's and Mark's mindsets should be very positive. Holly will try to stay healthy as possible and build on what's happened and in four years she'll be focusing on medals - after finishing fifth, how can you not?
For Mark, when he gets on the track he'll always perform whatever shape he's in. He just needs a healthy period and then he'll be able to shock people with what he can achieve.