British badminton star Gail Emms admits the full weight of her decision to retire from the sport will not hit home until she returns from the Olympic Games.
Emms, who along with partner Nathan Robertson claimed silver in the mixed doubles in Athens four years ago, is looking to end her career in the best possible fashion by going one better in Beijing.
That may be a tough task after the pair were drawn to face second seeds Zheng Bo and Gao Ling from China in the first round.
But the 31-year-old insisted she would not let the emotion of the occasion affect her.
'You can't think of all that, you're in competition so you just want to win and you're just focused,' she said
'You can't think of all those things until it's all over, when I'm back home, and then I'll probably be emotional. Nathan will, obviously, be inconsolable.
'I think Nathan knew it was on the cards because he knew I wanted to do other stuff outside of badminton.
'I wanted to try different things, go on to the next stage of my career and life. Plus we've achieved what we've we wanted to achieve in badminton.
'For us really, the only thing missing is the Olympic gold and I feel this is the best chance we've got to get that. After that, I don't know how committed and motivated I would be to carry on in other tournaments.'
Emms revealed she has no firm plans for life after badminton but emphatically ruled out embarking on a coaching career.
'I don't know what I'll do, which is quite nerve-racking and exciting as well,' she added.
'I'd love to be involved in sport somehow, especially with (London) 2012 because we've got some great talent. Maybe mentoring them, helping them with what I've learnt in my career and helping them develop as players.
'But not coaching. Much as I love our coaches, I don't know how they do it. They do such a great job but the amount of work they do.
'It's a really, really tough but very rewarding job, but I don't think it's really me."
Emms' decision brings down the curtain on a lengthy partnership with Robertson that has seen them claim Commonwealth, European and World titles together, and she puts their success down to a close relationship on and off the court.
'Some partnerships have not worked out because they didn't get on,' she stressed.
'You've got to have that respect, you've got to get on. You've got to work with people.
'I know when to stay well clear of him if he's chucking his racket around, and he stays well clear of me if I'm having a strop. You just know each other so we both know what to say and not what to say.'
