KEY POINTS:
It's all about family. Talk In-line skating with New Zealand's latest world title winner, the 20-year-old Nicole Begg of Timaru, and it comes back to the same topic time and again.
"I wouldn't be where I am today without my parents," says Begg from Cali in Colombia, where
she had just claimed the world 1000m track sprint title.
It was her second world gold, alongside her 10,000m points race success in Korea last year. It also proved what a brilliantly versatile skater she is, as Begg has also claimed major titles on the road, including a gruelling 111km ultra-marathon event.
These are far from being the first family triumphs in the sport, though.
Begg's mother, Cheryl, won three world skating titles representing Australia and her father, Bill, is an outspoken and world-renowned coach who has guided both mother and daughter's world title careers.
"Sometimes it is quite hard," Nicole says of having her father as coach.
"The tension from training can carry on when you get back home. Sometimes there is a bit of yelling.
"But it never gets too bad and there are a lot of positives because he knows me really well, how my body reacts and if the training is getting too hard. Stuff like that.
"It's an advantage having parents who really know the sport."
The family, including her 24-year-old brother Wayne, who is also in the New Zealand team, have travelled the world together, often because Bill has taken up new coaching jobs.
That is why Nicole was born in Perth, and the family now spend half of each year in Switzerland, where Bill Begg is national junior coach.
As might be expected in this story, Bill and Cheryl met through skating.
Cheryl took it up as a teenager in Christchurch after being given $5 by her mother to join a local swimming club. The woman tending the pool was absent, so Cheryl wandered across the road and instead joined a roller-skating club.
A teenage Bill Begg had been taunted by skating bullies during a public session in his home town of Timaru and, in his typically dogged manner, set about righting the wrong by learning to skate properly. And how.
Self-taught, he discovered a passion for teaching and designed the rink which is still the home of Timaru skating.
"I first had the old quad skates on my feet when I was 2 1/2 - I've got the videos," says Nicole Begg. "It's always been a big part of my life. I always had a choice and I played other sports but I've always had a passion for skating.
"I dreamed of winning world titles and you get goose bumps when you actually do it.
"I watched videos of my mother winning her world titles a lot and they inspired me. But basically it was just me and my brother skating in Timaru so it was hard for training."
Skating isn't big news in this country, and in-line officials were dismayed last year at the lack of media response to the eight gold medals New Zealand won in Korea.
Nicole took publicity matters into her own hands, accepting a Swiss sports magazine's invitation to bare plenty of skin in a photo shoot.
"It was a bit nerve-racking but I don't regret doing it. It got my name out there and made a lot of people realise that the sport exists," she says.
"I released the photos to a skating website and the Timaru Herald and they just spread.
"The website got too many hits and had to close down. People would tell me they'd seen me on the news in Argentina, a newspaper in Chile, I had American radio stations ring up, Australian magazines, all sorts.
"It was a bit out of the blue and quite funny because in New Zealand it's hard to get publicity for a minor sport but when something different comes along, everyone wants to know about it."
Money, or the lack of, brings this story back to family again.
When money was at its tightest, Bill and Cheryl Begg worked two jobs each in Auckland to help send Nicole and Wayne around the world.
Bill sold kitchen units and Cheryl was a retail store manager and both worked in a supermarket at nights.
"It makes me very proud, what they've done for us, and I'm very grateful," says Nicole.
"It was a real struggle for my parents at times, especially when I was still at school and not earning money.
"It was all coming out of their pockets, and they got out extra loans. They sacrificed themselves because they have a passion for the sport and wanted to see their kids succeed."
Begg now scores Sparc money and has sponsorship deals which ease the load on the family's world travels.
Skating is a reasonably strong sport in Europe but even bigger news in places like Colombia and Korea.
There is live coverage of the world championships in Colombia, and Begg was featured in TV segments and adverts.
Boisterous crowds of a few thousand have watched the championships, booing decisions that go against the local stars.
The crowd reaction is intimidating, Begg says, and even in such a buoyant atmosphere it can be a lonely business as a New Zealand skater.
When Begg lines up in today's road marathon - she won silver last year - there will be no team support.
Tactics play a big part for some top contenders. Team members peel away to drag their best skater to the lead and spread across the track to block passing moves. They also sit behind the lead skaters so opponents can't grab them.
"I'll counter that by pretending to be the ninth Colombian and work off them - they don't mind, unless you beat them," says Begg.
And as always, Begg is never truly alone. There is always family, both in her thoughts and by her side.