For world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis 2009 has been as rewarding as 2008 was disappointing.
In August the 23-year-old English athlete led her rivals from start to finish to claim gold in Berlin.
That was all in marked contrast to last year when Ennis suffered the agony of missing the Beijing Olympics because of a right ankle stress fracture.
She has recently been short-listed for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and next month will captain the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team in an international match at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.
"It is the complete opposite end of the spectrum from a year ago," Ennis said Thursday. "I was completely forgotten about and that was a disappointment.
"But my performance in Berlin has brought massive change. There is a lot more media attention and opportunities and at the same time I am back in training and trying to work hard.
"There has been lots of changes, so it's about getting that balance right.
"Watching the Olympics at home was horrible," she added.
"There is so much media attention and it was the Olympics this and Olympics that.
"It was really difficult to watch knowing I was close to being part of it before having it taken away from me.
"You had those days when you are crying and saying, 'why me?' And then you think there are worse things in the world and you have to get on with it.
"I would never want to go through an injury like that again but the World Champions made up for it quite a bit.
"The Olympics are a whole new level but the World Championships are the next best thing so to come back and win it made up for the Olympics disappointment a lot," she explained.
Ennis, turning to the Glasgow event, added: "I am looking forward to coming back to Glasgow and I will compete in the high jump.
"I will have a full indoor programme and obviously it's the World Indoor Championships in March and my preparation for that starts in January.
"So it's all about making sure everything is right."
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
