When Olympic years come around, the cut-throat nature of elite-level sport comes to the fore.
Athletes that have spent countless hours on their craft over a lifetime can have their dreams made or dashed in an instant with the naming of Olympic squads.
Neah Evans, the GB track cyclist from Cuminestown, is no different. Evans is part of the women’s endurance squad that will lose another member before the Olympics. Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Ellie Dickinson, Laura Kenny and Emily Nelson are all vying for places, however Archibald, Barker and Kenny are reigning Olympic champions.
At the time when team-mates were winning Olympic medals, Evans was still juggling her cycling career with her job as a vet.
The Rio games almost passed her by, due to the hours she was putting in at work. This time around she intends on being a key part of the summer showpiece.
“At the moment we’ve got three people in squad who came away with a medal in Rio and Laura Kenny who came in from London with two gold medals. There’s huge experience in the team, so we know we can deal with the pressures and know we can perform when expectations are high.
“The Olympics are a whole different scenario.
British Cycling prepare for a four-year cycle, looking to peak every four years. Everyone handles pressure differently; I find it really exciting.
“It will be very hard on who doesn’t make it. We’re all of a very good standard and if we were riding for different nations, we would all probably be going. It might just come down to who is healthy. It’s going to suck for the one rider who doesn’t get on the plane but you just have to do everything in your power to be there.
“It’s going to be career-testing. We have camps in February, April, May, June and July. It’s going to be such a tense period – I don’t think there’ll be anything quite like it.”
Her star was helped on its ascension by the two medals she brought home from the Commonwealth Games in Australia, with silver in the scratch race and bronze in the points race.
She had gone into the Commonwealths with little expectation but walked out of it as one of cycling’s rising prospects.
“I didn’t have any major championship medals at that point. It was individual racing and me racing for myself. I know I’m able to do well but there wasn’t those expectations. But because it’s the Olympics and British Cycling have such a strong reputation, there’s an expectation to come away with a medal.
“I loved the Commonwealth Games and had a great time. If I can channel that enjoyment then it’s going to be great. If I have my process and stick to it, then I know things can go well.”
Nearly two years down the line, she is a fully-fledged member of the British Cycling squad, a two-time European champion in a GB vest.
Medal ceremonies are becoming a familiar setting for Evans, who experienced the bureaucratic side of success Down Under.
She said: “It was the scratch race where I’d got silver. I remember going for the awards ceremony – I’d got changed as I had to wear the bottom of my tracksuit.
“But I didn’t have my shoes, just my cycling shoes. The guys doing the medal ceremony were absolutely freaking out because I couldn’t go on without any shoes.
“They’ve got their instructions that everything has to look the part. I ended up borrowing the physios shoes that are about 10 sizes too big. It’s funny things like that which stand out.”
The expectation levels have changed significantly in the two years between these major tournaments in Evans’ career. With the GB colours comes the pressure of glory; they have topped the medal table in cycling at the last three Olympics with 22 of their 38 medals gold.
“I would like to go to Tokyo and come back with a medal; because the cycling squad has had so much success, taking part is not good enough,” added Evans. “We’re going to get gold, it’s not just about taking part. If that comes off it will be incredible.”