A lifetime of training, both physical and mental, prepared Shirley Reilly for the moment when she, on her sport's biggest stage, was knocked to the ground.
The 27-year-old Tucson resident stuck in a pack during the Paralympic Games' 5,000-meter prelims when her wheelchair's wheel was bumped by a Chinese competitor.
Reilly toppled over and into a railing, harming her dreams of medaling in the event.
"My first reaction was to get back up and finish," she said. "What was running through my mind was, 'You can't control this,' but I wanted to finish and make it to the final.
"I didn't get too scraped up. I was just knocked off-balance."
Reilly got up, finished the race and qualified.
"I was happy that I kept calm."
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In the finals, she won a silver medal.
"It was incredible," she said. "The whole experience was really incredible."
Reilly left the London Paralympics, which ran from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, as one of its premier athletes, having won three medals, one gold, one silver and one bronze.
The Star caught up with her about her Paralympics experience, her remarkable year and what she's going to do next:
The big one
If being knocked to the ground was Reilly's grittiest moment, her marathon was her most glorious.
Reilly and three other racers bunched together Sept. 9 with about a mile to go in the Paralympics' final event.
They were all exhausted, having made 66 turns during the street course.
With a half-mile to go, Reilly made her move.
"I started to go," she said. "I sprinted really hard for the last half-mile."
In the shadow of Buckingham Palace, she finished first, in 1:46.33, edging Brit Shelly Woods by a second.
Two others, Swiss bronze medalist Sandra Graf and American fourth-place finisher Amanda McGrory, finished two seconds behind Reilly.
Reilly couldn't believe it.
"It was amazing," she said.
Great expectations
Qualifying times made the UA junior think she had a chance to medal in every single Paralympics event.
"I had high expectations for myself," she said. "It really was about getting a medal in every event.
"I got three out of five of them."
Was she satisfied?
"Kind of," she said.
Reilly did not medal in the 400 or 800 meters.
She participated in the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics without winning a medal.
"I was really hoping I would come with at least one," she said.
She won a silver medal in the 5,000 meters and a bronze in the 1,500.
In both cases, she missed the gold by less than a half-second.
Her three medals were won in events classified as T-54, for those athletes without leg function and some trunk function.
Reilly, who was paralyzed from the waist down after being born prematurely, is classified as a T-53, meaning she has less trunk function than T-54 racers.
Her medals came against some athletes with more function than she has.
And where to put those medals, anyway?
"I haven't done anything with them yet," she said, laughing. "I just recently went back to where my parents live in California. They wanted to see them. I showed them to them.
"But now, I don't really have a plan."
The secret
The Alaska-born Reilly has already won the L.A. Marathon and the Boston Marathon this year.
In November, she'll try to take the New York Marathon.
She credits her recent dominance to not only her coach, Wendy Gumbert, but her boyfriend, Sean Eres.
"I only get one training partner, and that's my boyfriend," she said. "He really is my better half."
Eres, who shares an apartment with Reilly, rides a handcycle with his girlfriend.
Reilly said he pushes her.
"I do my best to hang on," she said. "He makes a good training partner, and we make a good team."
