Only coach Sharon Hannan truly knew how close Sally Pearson came to pulling the pin on her world championships title defence last month as she battled to regather form and fitness following two serious hamstring injuries.
The answer - very close indeed.
"She was actually packing her port (suitcase)," said Hannan of Pearson's state of mind after an uncharacteristic seventh place in Lausanne and another poor run for fifth at the Monaco Diamond League meet.
"There have been a few tough days, really tough days.
"She did really question whether she should keep going or whether she should just go home - whether it wasn't going to happen - whether she was going to be in good shape by the time she got here.
"All of those questions kept coming up over and over and over again.
"Basically the message I tried to keep giving her was to back herself.
"She'd been at the very top and it was a delayed preparation and a stuffed-up preparation but I still thought we had time."
This was where the closeness of the relationship between Pearson and the only coach she has ever had came to the fore.
Pearson listened to what Hannan was saying, stuck it out and was rewarded with a win in the Diamond League meet in London - her last outing before the world championships in Moscow.
The 100m hurdles world title defence was back on.
Hannan said that one win made an "exponential" amount of difference to Pearson's state of mind.
"The timing was perfect, so then she was far more relaxed about the next three weeks," said Hannan.
"She started to have more confidence and to believe that we still had time - but another three weeks would have been an almighty blessing."
Pearson tore her hamstring in February and again in May, meaning she was unable to begin racing until late June, by which time new US sensation Brianna Rollins had already set a sizzling time of 12.26 seconds at the US trials.
Pearson is not the sort of athlete to ever be truly satisfied with second place.
It's been a rare occurrence in recent years, as she came to Moscow as the reigning Olympic, world, Commonwealth, world indoor and Continental Cup champion.
The only person able to beat her in Saturday night's world championships final was Rollins, who overcame a dreadful start to win in 12.44 seconds, ahead of Pearson (12.50) and Britain's Tiffany Porter (12.55).
"The silver was certainly not beyond our expectations - we were definitely expecting to beat all-comers except the new one (Rollins)," said Hannan.
"I wasn't really sure whether Brianna would still have the legs to keep going and obviously she had some pretty good legs.
"They were faster than Sal on the day."
