They've had a teasing glimpse of the next Olympics - now the New Zealand under-23 men's K4 kayaking crew are determined to see the real deal in three years' time.
Kurtis Imrie, Ben Duffy, Karl McMurtrie and Tauranga's Taris Harker have made the ideal start to that goal too, storming into the K4 500m A final at the junior world championships in Romania overnight.
The result comes just a fortnight after a training camp in Tokyo with the Japanese national team, which helped light a fire in their bellies.
"The Japan camp was an awesome experience, getting to train with another country and see how they work as a team, and working with lanes and start gates was a huge help to have before racing at worlds," Harker explained.
"We formed some good relationships with the Japanese so that we can keep coming back up until the Olympics and we also went to see the Olympic course currently being constructed, which was a huge motivation boost for all of us. It really helped solidify us as a great team."