Jack Marley came within touching distance of an Olympic medal in Paris last year, and the Dublin boxer is using that particular disappointment to drive his ambition forward.
The 22-year-old heavyweight showed his potential at the Games and now heads to the World Championships in Liverpool (4-14 September) full of confidence following ideal preparations throughout the summer months.
A year on from Paris, Marley's approach to improving has been to take it slow and steady, aiming to stack up the percentages, one by one, to take into future tournaments.
The Los Angeles Games in 2028 will certainly be a long-term aim, however, Marley’s focus remains firmly in the here and now, working day by day to become the best he can be.
Likewise, Marley’s approach to tournament boxing is to take it one bout at a time, reluctant to look beyond the next opponent, steering clear of permutations of who or what might come next.
"It was tough losing in the medal fight, just being so close to the podium," said Marley, speaking to the press ahead of the trip to Liverpool. "But yeah, it was fuel to the fire and it was also just a realisation of where [I am] and what I can achieve.
"Obviously an immediate reaction of disappointment, but then once you sit back and take it all in and realise that, when you look at it as a Games as a whole and an Olympic cycle as a whole, I was happy on the outcome of the four years."
In fact, the disappointment was short lived as Marley feels that he adjusted back into his normal routine soon after returning from Paris and was not hit too much with the post-Olympic comedown, which can affect elite athletes.
"It's like any big tournament, you just need a short period just to reflect and recover and get ready to go again," said Marley.
"I didn't feel like I needed months off, but just enough time to relax and recover.
"It's very easy because you're in a bubble for so long and then when you're out of the bubble, it just takes a few days to come around. But you're back with your friends and your family and you're back seeing everyone and that's the best part of it."
Looking ahead to the Worlds, Marley is coming off the back of some quality sparring and feels in a good place heading across the Irish Sea.
But expect to see more of the same from the Sallynoggin man, who is reluctant to change his style or approach too much, as he believes that it has served him well thus far.
"We're just back yesterday off a ten-day camp in Sheffield with GB and ten different countries, so I think I've had the best preparation I could, and all I have to do now is perform," he said.
"We got to where we are from how we have always boxed," said Marley, when asked was he trying to change any aspect of his fighting style.
"I might come across [as an aggressive boxer] because I might be matched up with a guy of a different style, and that's how I have to fight that fight. But I see myself as a versatile boxer," he added.
Looking ahead to the Worlds, Marley does not place too much emphasis on feeding off the crowd, nor the fear factor that the Ireland singlet might bring to his opponents, however, he is thankful that the competition is so close to home, compared to some of the distances that this Ireland team cover boxing throughout the world.
"I wouldn't really feed into motivation or anything like that," said Marley, regarding being part of the renowned Ireland team. "I feel it's a small part of, yeah we're a great nation and a great fighting nation, but I wouldn't be using it as fuel.
"The support doesn't really bother me, but the two main positives are the same climate and the same time difference which is a blessing. We don't have to really climatise in either time or weather which is great. So it's just like boxing in Ireland."
