Christine Ohuruogu is confident she can recapture her best form this weekend's Olympic trials.
The 28-year-old enjoyed the greatest moment of her career at the Beijing Games four years ago as she claimed the 400m gold.
She ran 49.62 seconds to take victory, a time she has not come within half-a-second of since as injuries have hampered her progress.
The Londoner is known for saving her best for the big occasion, though, having set her personal best of 49.61 in winning the world title in 2007, and her 50.69 clocking in New York earlier this month, her quickest run since 2009, suggests she is getting back to her best in time for the London Games.
She will look to seal her spot in London with a top-two finish at the trials in Birmingham on Saturday and thinks she can finally surpass her five-year-old personal best at the Olympic Stadium.
"I think that's what it's going to have to be, should I make the final," she said.
"The personal best I have is from '07, and I ran close to that in '08. I ran .61 in '07 and then .62 in '08. It would be nice to know that I can go faster. I think I know that I can run a better race than I did in '08 and that's what keeps me going, knowing that '08 wasn't my best race.
"But at the end of the day, whatever it takes is whatever it takes. The Olympic final might be won in 50.02."
Ohuruogu, who false-started at last year's World Championships in Daegu, is ranked ninth in the world this year, with four athletes already having run under 50 seconds.
But the Briton has the kudos of holding the tag of defending champion, not that she gives it much thought.
"I don't really view it as defending champ to be honest," she said. "It's not really something that makes you think 'oh gosh'.
"At the end of the day I am going for the one thing that the rest of the world wants, and I think that's something that really does motivate me.
"The Olympic defending champion thing doesn't really do much for me. I'm just going there to grab something that I want."
