Emulating Amy Williams off the sled has put Lizzy Yarnold in the perfect position to emulate her on it - and be crowned Olympic skeleton champion.
Yarnold is just two solid runs this afternoon away from succeeding Williams - her landlady in Bath - as Britain's ice queen.
And it was training alongside Williams during the formative years of her skeleton career that showed Yarnold what it takes to reach the pinnacle of her sport.
Talking to the Bath Chronicle before the start of her stellar season, which has already seen her win the FIBT World Cup, Yarnold said: "When I started a few years ago and trained alongside Amy in the gym, she never let a rep go, she was lifting weights to the maximum of her capability.
"To see how a normal athlete can go on to become exceptional and an Olympic champion through such hard work – not just through the competition season but every single day – was inspirational."
It was a theme the 2012 World Junior champion returned to when she met the media at her University of Bath training base prior to the Sochi Games.
"Amy is a very good landlady, absolutely lovely," Yarnold added. "We're very good friends. I learned so much from her, especially in the early years.
"Since I started sport I've always been extremely competitive and extremely driven. I try to work longer than anyone else and to train as hard as I can.
"In the gym people comment on the fact I become The Yarnold. I've got a job to do, I'm not chatty, I can be quite aggressive.
"I don't enter any race to come second, I'm there to do my best. I just try to focus on that, you can't control what anyone else does. I just try to get faster and faster."
The 25-year-old was certainly too quick for her rivals at the Sanki Sliding Centre yesterday, with her trademark strong starts propelling her to two excellent runs and a 0.44 second lead going into her day of destiny.
Should she see complete the job, Yarnold would become British Skeleton's fourth medalist in as many Games following Alex Coomber's bronze in 2002, Shelley Rudman's silver in 2006 and Williams' gold in 2010.
"We're extremely proud of the success of British skeleton teams," said Yarnold. "I've slotted into the team and I'm extremely proud to try to continue that success story.
"I think I perform better at big competitions, I really thrive."
Yarnold and Rudman, who sits 11th after the first day of competition, will compete again at 3.40pm and 4.51pm today. We will be covering the action live on this website.
Britain's men also start their competition today, with University of Bath engineering PhD student Dom Parsons and Kristan Bromley going at 12.30pm and 2.05pm.
* With thanks to Steve Ballinger of Matchtight.
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