Georgia Hunter Bell remembers it well, not least the comically oversized vest.
The feeling of knowing she was going to win her first ever track race as she passed everyone - girls and boys - on the final lap.
Listening as her mum was told that 800m in two minutes and 39 seconds was "pretty good" for a 10-year-old.
It all remains vivid, more than two decades later, as Britain's Olympic 1500m bronze medallist prepares to complete a full-circle moment in pursuit of another global podium.
The dilemma over whether to stick with the 1500m, switch focus to the 800m, or even attempt a rare double, had continued to occupy her mind just a few weeks before the World Championships began in Tokyo.
But after making exciting progress this season in the event which she originally showed great promise before she quit the sport for five years, Hunter Bell's decision to target the 800m in Tokyo has set up a tantalising gold-medal showdown with training partner Keely Hodgkinson in Sunday's final (11:35 BST).
The pair went head-to-head over the two-lap event at the Lausanne Diamond League in August, where Hodgkinson achieved back-to-back wins on her return from injury.
"This year will be the first time that it might be close," Hunter Bell told BBC Sport before that race.
"We do a lot of training together, we obviously are very good friends and we have a great team vibe.
"At the end of the day, if Great Britain could win two medals out of three, and [our training group] M11 could go one-two, that would just be the coolest thing ever.
"We're all excited about the opportunity, rather than seeing it as anything negative."