Zac Rothwell's chosen event is the 400m and he's doing everything he can to be the fastest he can be.
On April 5, the Katoomba teen was third in the U18 men's 400m at the Australian Junior Championships in 49:32 seconds.
That follows wins at the state titles in February in both the 400m (50:02) and 200m, with a PB of 22:18.
The 16-year-old Katoomba High student drew the less than ideal outside lane for the national event.
"I had to run my own race," he said.
"I've been running races by myself all season. I do know how to handle it when you can't see anyone."
Rothwell's dad Steve is his coach, himself a past Katoomba High student and an Australian All Schools champion of the U17 2km steeplechase and 3000m in 1983. He also qualified for the Commonwealth Games but didn't get the opportunity to race after contracting glandular fever.
The younger Rothwell can also see himself in the green and gold.
"My long term goal is definitely to qualify for the world championships and the Olympics," he said.
"I've always had that dream to become better."
Rothwell's focused on meeting the qualifying time for next year's world junior championships in June, and will be training hard to reduce his time to sub 47:70 to qualify.
"I've always wanted to race for my country," he said.