Two-time Paralympic medallist Scott Reardon has been preparing for this day since 2017, after he began setting in motion his path off the track.
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And it came on Tuesday.
As the 100-metre sprinter announced his retirement from elite athletics, following a 13-year career and numerous achievements, including silver in London 2012, gold in Rio 2016 and four consecutive World Para-Athletics Championship titles from 2013 to 2017.
Reardon said his retirement had been a long time coming, and his third Paralympics in Tokyo marked his final meet.
"I've been preparing for retirement since 2017 as I knew the end of my career was coming closer, but it was important to me to finish my career at a Paralympic Games because it is the pinnacle of what we do," the T63 athlete said.
"To do that with Vanessa [Low] was the number one priority for me, as we had always dreamed of being on an Australian team together.
"I see a lot of athletes who get to the end of their career and they have nothing else, and they're retired and they're lost. So, I proactively tried to make sure that I had enough stuff going on and I was prepared enough that when I did retire, that it wasn't going to be a big step, it was just more of a transition into the next thing.
"The big thing I've been able to do since 2017 is try to make sure that my identity, isn't that I'm an athlete, it's something that I do, it's not who I am. Because I didn't want to be finishing sport and feeling lost, and that part of my life was gone."
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The 31-year-old finished fifth in Tokyo and walks away from a sport he grew to love, after a talent search day in 2006 kickstarted his shift from water skiing to athletics. Before he went on to claim a world record and two Paralympic records, and still holds the World Para-Athletics Championships T42/63 100m record at 12.13 seconds.
The Canberra athlete has credited much of his success to his coach Iryna Dvoskina, who has stuck by him through his entire elite career.
"To be with her for so long and to have the success that we did, means everything, and we did everything - we won one Paralympic championship, won world championships, world records and Paralympic records, and everything else in the book," he said.
"It takes a team to be able to be successful and we did some pretty amazing things together."
His next chapter will take him off the track and into the classroom. The University of Canberra student is aiming to finish his high school teaching degree in design technology next year, to continue on his path of education.
"It's nice to be remembered for success because it is pretty unique, but I really hope that when people look back at my career, they can see that if you dedicate yourself and put absolutely everything into it, regardless of your background - you can do amazing things," Reardon said.
"Hopefully the platform I was able to raise through athletics enabled me to be able to make a change in the perception of people with disabilities around the world, and I will continue to do that.
"We're in such a better spot now than what we were when I first joined in 2008."
Instead of drawing on knowledge from his elite athlete career and moving into a PDHPE teaching degree, Reardon explained his design technology choice. He said he was always interested in woodwork and came from a family of builders.
"The demographic of people who do [design technology] tend to be young boys who don't normally fit within the normal school curriculum. And I think sometimes they end up a little bit lost ... and I think that's what drew me to not only just teaching, but teaching woodwork, I've always loved doing that, but also the ability to be able to mentor a group of young boys," he said.
"To be able to help them understand that even though they may not fit in the system that they're currently studying in, there is a place for them in the world with goals and visions. And they can aspire to be something special, even though they might not feel 100 per cent immersed in the school system, so I think it was just a nice way for me to be able to contribute to society through education."