All her time on the track, from the early days of Little Athletics at Trangie, through to the heights of running in front of 110,000 people at the Sydney Olympics, it was a continual learning experience.

And that continues today with the Narromine star now a leading coach of junior talent, a place where she realises the young sprinters she’s working with are going through the things she did all those years ago.

“They don't all win but you learn so much you can take into everyday life,” she said of racing.

“You learn that discipline and a work ethic.”

Athletics, according to the three-time Olympian, confronts you and makes you challenge your fears.

Handling that is not easy for some people but something Gainsford-Taylor had instilled in her and something she is now instilling in the next generation.

“It's very unique and it suits some people more than others,” she said.

“When you're in an individual sport you're held accountable and it's a challenge because you're front and centre.

“In a team sport if you're having an off-day you can sort-of hide behind a teammate that day so it can be confronting but it also builds character.”

Gainsford Taylor had many challenges throughout her career but her passion for athletics and exercise in general is clear by the fact she has spent the bulk of her life involved with it.

The sprint star’s face still splits into a grin when talking of the early days growing up on a farm at Narromine and hitting the track, where running was main focus but more a source of fun.

And that sense of enjoyment is something that never left.

She battled through injuries during teenage years while at boarding school but getting back on the track proved to her running was what she wanted her life to revolve around.

And from there it was onward and upward.

Gainsford-Tayor competed at three Olympics – Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney – while nationally she set record after record, some of which still stand today.

When discussing running at the Sydney Olympics she mentions how much she “loved it” and it was all about “enjoyment”.

Those same words are used when talking about her coaching career, something Gainsford-Taylor has been doing for 12 years now.

Now based at Sydney, the children Gainsford-Taylor coaches, including her daughter, are in a far different situation to what she was when her career started.

“It puts a smile on my face because I started with Little As at Trangie and you'd turn up to the oval with the big trees there you were anticipating competing and it was just a wholesome, free and enjoyable fun,” she said,

“It never went too long, there was not much standing around. It was just pure enjoyment.”

Gainsford-Taylor’s involvement in Little As in those early days was how she met her coach,  Jackie Byrnes, who has been through it all with Australia’s greatest female sprinter.

Byrnes traveled much of the state in the past through her role with Little Athletics and after seeing a young Melinda Gainsford, as she was known then, in action it soon became clear she wanted a more hands-on role in the rising star’s career

Gainsford Taylor was only eight then but the bond with Byrnes remains today – roughly 28 years later.

“Jackie is my educator and mentor,” she said.

“She's like my second mum. We traveled the world together for 10 years and we've been together for a lot so I love her. There's a few phone calls to bounce ideas off her and we try and make it relatable to our experiences and things like that.”

Some of Byrne’s most vital work in Gainsford-Taylor’s career came well before she was a national icon.

It was well before even Gainsford-Taylor herself knew she could do it.

It came when the aspiring sprinter was at boarding school and Sydney, someone she says “was a bit different to a sheep and wheat farm at home”.

As a growing teenager around 15 years old, a growth spurt led Gainsford-Taylor to be diagnosed with stress fractures in both shins. It made running virtually impossible but Byrnes was there to maintain focus and make her realise she could achieve at the highest level.

“Looking back I was lucky to have Jackie there,” Gainsford-Taylor said.

“She kept encouraging me to train, things like swimming that I could do and luckily she kept me in the sport.”

Lucky indeed.

Gainsford-Taylor’s record and statistics are as good as any of Australia’s track greats.

Three Olympics, two Commonwealth Games, four World Championships and one Indoor World Championships. Just attending those events, as well as countless others all over the world, is an achievement in itself.

But not only did Gainsford-Taylor compete at those meets, she scored some stunning results.

Gainsford-Taylor remains the only Australian athlete to win back-to-back National Sprint Double crowns while she also won silver and gold at Commonwealth Games level.

The country product raced in the final of the 200m at the Sydney Olympics and still holds the Australian record for that event after finishing in the time of 22.23 seconds in Germany in 1997. Her 100m record set in Italy in 1994 stood for 20 years.

Prior to that, Gainsford-Taylor became the first Australian since Betty Cuthbert to win a World Championship when taking gold in the 200m indoor titles at Barcelona.

As well as taking on some of the biggest races in the world, Melinda Gainsford Taylor also took on the biggest names in athletics.

From Jamaican superstar Merlene Otty to Bahamas pair Pauline Davis-Thompson and Debbie Ferguson and America’s Chryste Gaines, Gainsford-Taylor raced against them all.

She also raced with and against fellow Australian favourite Cathy Freeman as well as controversial American athlete Marion Jones.

Gainsford-Taylor ran behind Jones twice at the Sydney Olympics in what was, at the time, some of the highlights of the entire competition.

Jones won the 200m final, in which Gainsford-Taylor ran sixth ahead of Freeman, but was later stripped of all her medals when in 2007 she confessed lying to federal agents under oath about her use of steroids prior to the Games.

It was one of biggest news story in the history of athletics and Gainsford-Taylor confessed it was a tough time to be an athlete.

“The most scary thing about the Marion Jones situation was that people were creating drugs which couldn't be detected so you think how many others are doing it,” she said.

“And now you look at the length Russia has been going to to do it.

“People are happy to cheat but I'm a big believer in things coming back to bite you and Marion Jones is a perfect example of that.

“I don't know how you can do those things and risk your health or even stand up there on the podium and listen to the anthem knowing you cheated and took the medal away from someone below you who worked hard.”

While stating she felt the war on drugs in sport will never be won, Gainsford-Taylor stated the advancements made in science made it harder for people to cheat.

Samples are now kept longer so athletes can be tested historically for newly-discovered drugs while the biological passports have now come in to record test results over time.

“But we're never going to stop it because it's human behaviour to take shortcuts and lie and cheat,” Gainsford-Taylor said.

“And some people are willing to go to any length to win or do something they think will make a better life for themselves.”

While the Games were somewhat tarnished by the exploits of Jones and other drug cheats, that couldn’t ruin the experience for Gainsford-Taylor and all the athletes who got to race in front of family and friends.

At the Sydney Games the country runner from Narromine took part in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m relays.

Her best result came in the 200m where she finished sixth, later bumped up to fifth following the Jones suspension, while the 4x400m relay team made the final.

The games were a career highlight for Gainsford-Taylor, who had raced in previous Olympics and other meets in front of bumper crowds, as it was so different to anything else.

The memory of performing in front of a raucous Australian crowd under the glow of the Olympic flame is something which sticks with Gainsford-Taylor and the feeling of having an entire country’s support is something which will never be forgotten.

“It was my home Olympics and I was in front of 110,000 people and you could see familiar faces in the crowd and the majority of the crowd is cheering for you. It was just such a happy and peaceful Olympics too,” she said.

“In Origin or playing for the Wallabies, when you run out and the stands are full, there's nothing like performing in front of that and having them cheer for you. I miss that.”

Gainsford-Taylor, who was named a Member of the Order of Australia earlier this year, has left her mark on the national sporting landscape, not only through her coaching and continued involvement in the sport, but also because she holds the Australian women’s 200m record.

“It's really special to hold records but you realise if the sport is to move forward it needs to be broken,” she said of her mark.

“There's someone like Ella Nelson now who is running well and it would be good for the sport if she broke my record because that means the sport is moving forward.”

Nelson is part of an exciting new generation of Australian athletes who appears ready to take the mantle from Gainsford-Taylor.

The current record holder would love for that to happen sometime in the near future but confessed it would be even more special if it was one of her own athletes who went on to break the record.

Gainsford-Taylor, who is also a well-known media personality now, hosts Speed Clinics all over the state to help inspire and mould future tracks stars with a session at Dubbo’s Barden Park proving a real success last year.

There are athletes from all corners who have benefited from the tutelage of the tree-time Olympian but one of the country’s most exciting talents lives under her own roof.

Gabriella Gainsford-Taylor won the state Primary Schools Sports Association title in 2015 and widely regarded as one to watch in the future.

“It's a whole different ball game and you get even more nervous,” the proud mum said of watching Gabriella compete.

“She’s definitely loving it at the moment. I encourage her to do other sports because she’s only 12 and I’ve said to her if she chooses to do athletics then it’s a long time and she’ll want to enjoy it because it can get difficult.

“I always encourage her and give her every opportunity but the main thing is she’s always having fun.”