Tom Walsh has had to fend off a lot in his career - self doubt, form slumps - but most recently it's been words from his rivals.
"I got told the other day like, 'Oh i thought you were gone?'" Walsh said, shaking his head.
"I've always loved proving people wrong."
That's exactly the fuel to his fire that the 31-year-old needs heading into his fifth World Championships.
Walsh has already has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics but this weekend in Budapest will be a chance to reclaim his world title off shot put record holder Ryan Crouser.
"Budapest is going to be a good ding-dong battle that's for sure," said Walsh.
"I am in 23-metre shape and I've just got to dot my i's and cross my t's these last few days."
Walsh is still on a high after his silver medal at a Diamond League meet in London three weeks ago where the Kiwi recorded his longest throw in four years.
The New Zealand Athletics team is currently on a pre-World Championship camp in Montpellier in France and team moral is high - a picture on social media is circling of Walsh queezed into Kiwi sprinter Tiaan Whelpton's speed suit.
"It seems that it was a bit of a stitch up," laughed Walsh.
"And might need a bit more stitching up the guts as well.
"They actually stitched me up at the singlet presentation by giving me the speed suit rather than the singlet."
Walsh's roommate Hamish Kerr said he should wear it during the World Champs.
"It'll be good for your aerodynamic as you move through - keep you nice and compact," Kerr joked.
Along with Walsh, Kerr also has a point to prove, not to anyone else but himself.
"There's always that imposter syndrome of you don't belong there and everyone else is more talented than you," said Kerr.
But that's hardly the case for the 26-year-old, who last year won bronze at the Indoor World Championships.
"I wouldn't quite call myself a major medallist yet," he said.
"To be able to get an outdoor medal, it's not only confirmation that you're the best in the world but that you can also bring it when everyone else is bringing it."
Kerr has changed up his training this year by increasing his power load in the gym - judging by data him and his team have, his power output is 10% higher.
But Budapest will be Kerr's test with many using the World Champs as a good training run ahead of next year's Olympic Games.
"I went from doing quarter squats at 150 kilograms to sort of 250 kilograms.
"You never quite know if something works until you get to the comp and nothing quite simulates an Olympics like a world champs."
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