Judy Wilson still remembers the ''wobbly legs'' she had when she burst on to the Olympics Games stage as a teenager 64 years ago in London.
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And with less than a month to go until the opening ceremony, the former long jumper admits the nerves and memories will come flooding back as she watches from her Duffy loungeroom.
Wilson - a member of Australia's 1948 Olympic team - was the special guest at a lunch in Parkes yesterday to mark one month before the Games begin in London.
She was joined by Olympians Sally McCreedy, Petria Thomas, Simon Hollingsworth, Michael McKay and Adam Pine.
Wilson was just 16 years old when she made her first overseas trip to compete in London and she says the athletes should prepare for ''the experience of their lives''.
''It was a wonderful time and an experience I'll never forget. The place was full [for my event], I had wobbly legs and the stomach was churning, but that doesn't matter because it's a great memory,'' Wilson said.
''I definitely get a special feeling around the Olympics time. My husband [Dennis] does, too.
''We are gripped by the whole thing, we watch absolutely everything … it's nothing like it [used to be] and they'll have a great time over there.''
When the Games begin next month, it will be the third time London has hosted the Olympics, following on from 1908 and 1948.
Australia's only gold medal from the 1908 Olympics was for rugby and it was also at the lunch as the countdown to this year's event continues.
When Australia's team arrives in London and laps up the atmosphere of the Olympic village, it should spare a thought for those like Wilson who have gone before them.
Instead of enjoying the comfort of a luxury jet to travel, it took Wilson four days to fly to London with stopovers in Singapore, Cairo and Bombay. When she arrived she was billeted out in a teacher's college and for one week stayed in a hotel which was partly destroyed after being bombed in World War II.
Wilson was the second youngest athlete in the Australian team and she finished seventh in her event.
And she's not the only talent in her family with husband Dennis a former record holder in the four-by-one-mile relay.
''Our team was small because people didn't really have an incentive to do it, but it was a wonderful time,'' Judy Wilson said.
''When we were in the hotel we had to jump over all the bricks and rubble they were bringing out. There was only one floor that was liveable. It's something I will never forget.''
