The race for the New Zealand spot in the K1 500 at the canoe sprint world championships is heating up.
The best-of-three contest is now level at one-all, after Dame Lisa Carrington fought back to defeat Aimee Fisher in race two at Lake Karapiro, but despite only returning to the high performance environment last year, Fisher is ready to prove herself in Thursday's winner-take-all showdown.
Sunday saw a race so close, no-one could make out who won, but even after leading most of the way, Fisher was pipped on the line by rival Carrington to square the ledger.
"I think we said yesterday, it is the clash of the titans," Fisher told Newshub.
Even in defeat, the loss proves Fisher is side by side with New Zealand's Olympic golden girl, beating her by eight-hundredths of a second on Saturday and losing by only 0.11 in race two.
"Another good showdown," Fisher added. "It was neck and neck, and she got the win.
"Full respect to her."
The 27-year-old ruled herself out of the Tokyo Olympics, after a standoff with Canoe Racing New Zealand over athlete welfare, and only returned last year to claim the world title in Carrington's absence.
"It's always a privilege to represent New Zealand," Fisher said. "Building into the Olympics, it's always good to get the experience at world champs."
Coach Gav Elmiger says the 2016 Olympian has not only grown as an athlete, but as a person in the two years he's known her.
"I'm very proud of Aimee," he told Newshub. "The ups and the downs, and to be here today doing what she loves in front of everyone, showing the world what she can do, we should be inspired."
After Sunday's narrow result, the pressure is now building on both athletes, who will race again for the third on Thursday claim that golden spot.
