And what about after a race? If you win, how do you celebrate?

The first thing I want to do if I’ve been away for a long period of time competing is to go home and be with my family and my boyfriend, Brynn. What we do depends on what point of the season it is; for example, if it’s the end of the season we’ll go out for a nice dinner and maybe have a few drinks, but if I’ve still got competitions left it’s a little different. In the middle of the season, we’ll often do a debrief and maybe grab something nice to eat, but we won’t do anything crazy. The only time I really celebrate is after something big, like the Olympics.

Things don’t always go to plan. What’s been the mentally toughest moment of your career to date, and how have you dealt with it?

The injury I’m going through right now has been challenging, but before this, it was probably when I dislocated my shoulder four months out from the Tokyo Olympics. I hadn’t qualified yet and needed to go to all these races to do that, so dislocating my shoulder meant there was a lot of uncertainty about whether I’d make it to the games. That was definitely tough, but I stuck to my rehab plan and ended up coming out of the process stronger than I had been before. This time around, things are even tighter. I broke my collarbone exactly 10 weeks before the games are due to start. But I’m sticking to the plan again, and I’m confident I’m going to be back in time. Life’s not easy and there are going to be bumps along the way, but I try to embrace these moments and see them as a challenge to see how much better I can be.

Team GB BMX racer Beth Shriever on dealing with setbacks as she fights to defend her Olympic title