Seven weeks ago, Steele von Hoff just wanted to walk again.
Then he wanted to go to the toilet without any help.
Then he thought he could ride a bike again.
Then he thought he could get to the Commonwealth Games.
But only when he was 150 metres from the finish line did he dare dream he could win a gold medal.
Von Hoff capped a remarkable recovery on Saturday when he won a bunch sprint at the end of the 168.3km road race on the Currumbin Beachfront to win Australia's 14th cycling gold medal of the Games.
"Seven weeks ago I wasn't really thinking about much, I just wanted to make sure I could walk and it was all good," he said.
He had just been in a high speed crash while racing a criterium in Melbourne, broke four vertebrae in his back and two in his neck and was confined to bed for three days, seriously concerned about whether he would walk again.
A week later he was lying on a recumbent bike, then a stationary upright bike and within a fortnight of the crash, he "snuck out on my mountain bike" while wearing a neck brace.
"Coffee shop rides" with his friends on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula evolved into serious training and he was back, defying medical predictions.
"I didn't want to just rock up here able to race for the story, I wanted to rock up here in a position to win this gold," the 30-year-old said.
But he was not confident and even told his teammates he didn't think he'd be quick enough if it came down to a bunch sprint.
It was only when teammate Cameron Meyer led him out in the bunch with about 200 metres to go and up to Welsh rider John Mould did he start considering the possibility of gold.
"About 150 metres to go when I came around Mouldy I thought I've actually got some pace here, I could win this," he said.
He might have lacked self belief during the race, but his teammates, and even opponents, thought otherwise, telling him he was well positioned to win.
Von Hoff did what he was told, followed in behind Meyer and timed the sprint to perfection, edging out Mould and South African Clint Hendricks.
Just like von Hoff's personal recovery, it was a remarkable effort by the Australian team to get in a position where he and Meyer could challenge at the end.
The Australians had to continually fight to to stay in touch with various breakwaways and were never in control, with team directors telling them throughout the race the situation was "critical".
Hayman, Mitch Docker, Alex Edmondson and Callum Scotson did a superb job hauling the team back from nearly four minutes behind the leaders to latch onto the front with around 12km to go.
Meyer and von Hoff did the rest.