The nerves in Melissa Tapper's right shoulder were damaged at birth, but as a junior in open table tennis competition she topped the ranks.
She had to be convinced to try out for the Paralympics, but then easily gained selection for the Games in London where she narrowly missed out on a medal.
It was then she set her sights dual qualification.
"It's been an incredibly long road from where I started, I've been competing now for 18 years so to finally have achieved it it is amazing," said the 26-year old.
"The scariest thing was actually putting it out there it was something I wanted to achieve because the fact is at the end of the day you don't know if you'll achieve it."
Melissa Tapper with husband and coach Simon Gerada. Source: SBS
Coach, husband and former Olympic table tennis player Simon Gerada is a major support for Tapper.
"As an athlete, a former athlete, she puts me to shame with her professionalism. You could almost find me at a bar the night before the competition but with Melissa it's all pretty much perfect," he said.
Tapper earned selection at the final direct qualification match in Bendigo. Table Tennis Australia has since nominated Tapper to the Australian Olympic Committee to be part of the team heading to Rio, approval is expected this week.
Gerada said now that selection is taken care of, it's time to fine tune her game.
"With such a strong base you can still call on other skills to get you through so it's just about finding her A-game at the Olympics and Paralympics."
Tapper is entertaining modest Olympic dreams of advancing beyond the group stage, however she said the sky's the limit for her second Paralympic appearance.
"I believe I have a big chance to try and medal in Rio, so I'm going to work really hard to achieve the gold medal and hopefully I'll be able to do that."
The first day of Olympic table tennis competition in Rio is the 6th of August, and the Paralympics is a whole month later. While Tapper faces the prospect of several weeks down time in between, she said she'll be using that to her advantage.
"Being over there pre-Paralympics will be a huge advantage. Being over there, seeing the venue, what it feels like to be inside it, how far away the village is - because you have to travel between the village and the venue," she said.
Olympics or Paralympics, Tapper will be putting it all on the table
"Every time I go out there I try my best and every time I compete I want to put my best game out there. So depending on whether I'm playing an able body or Paralympic sport it doesn't change."
