When the clock is turned back to the summer of 2015, and the brilliant European Athletics U20 Championships held in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna, the performances of Alina Reh stand out.
The German teenager was stunning form, winning the 3000m and 5000m double and landing gold on both occasions by an impressive, eye-catching, distance.
Everyone present in the Ekangens Arena were in no doubt: this runner has a big future.
Reh won her title at the shorter distance by over four seconds and the 5000m gold medal by more than five; showing tenacity, control, and an experience of how to dominate a race that belied her tender teenage years.
Now, 22 months on from those triumphs, that future has suddenly become the present, with Reh sitting on top of the 2017 European 5000m list after a performance in Berlin last Saturday that demonstrated just how much progress she is making.
Reh obliterated her personal best by over 25 seconds in the German capital, taking her time down from 15:41.62 to 15:16.39.
She has now secured the qualifying mark (15:22.00) for the IAAF World Championships in London this coming August but, a few weeks before, she anticipated being back in Bydgoszcz and will take some stopping at the European Athletics U23 Championships..
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These are exciting times for the 19-year-old distance runner.
She is not 20 until the end of this month and it is her homely preparations that remain at the core of what she achieves.
Other athletes might travel abroad at this time of year to prepare in warm weather for the pursuits that lie ahead but Reh has been preparing in Kempten in southern Germany.
'Such training camps will probably come for me in the years ahead,' reflected Reh, speaking to leichtathletik.de. 'However, I am and remain a home-bound person: the environment, bed and food suit me. From there, I can deliver good performances.'.
And how she delivered in Berlin.
Konstanze Klosterhalfen, frequently her German international teammate in recent years and the 2017 European indoor 1500m silver medallist, set a fiery pace over the opening 2000m, covering five laps in 6:08 and Reh took on the final 3000m with gusto.
At the end, Reh was quick to shower praise on her friend and occasional rival. 'Thanks to Konstanze, I did not expect such a time. I was also surprised. She's never done it before, so I was nervous. But Konstanze made this super.
'When she left the race, I thought to myself: ‘Now it will be hard’. I had to run 3000m alone and it was windy but I piled it on and pulled through.'
While it is all about progressing, and taking small steps on that learning curve towards making an impact in the senior ranks, suddenly a time such as this can do wonders for a runner’s confidence. The next level now realistically seems as achievable as you might have hoped.
It also means Reh can now move towards the heart of the summer with a freshly-found status. For the moment, she is Europe's leading 5000m woman and it is a good tag to hold on to.
Reh, who was eighth in the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships 3000m in Belgrade barely two months ago, now runs at next week's German 10,000m Championships in Bautzen and is in a very good place mentally and physically after an indifferent 2016, although she finished the year by finishing fourth in the 2016 SPAR European Cross Country Championships junior women's race won by Klosterhalfen.
'I have more passion for running as never before. I made quick progress as a youth and I had many great successes. Last year came a small hole, also an injury.
“One must learn to deal with such a situation. There are also phases in which it is difficult but through these phases one has to fight through, and if you have fun and enjoy the sport, you can overcome every low.'