The national under-18 400-metre champion dominated his specialty event on Saturday, crossing the line in 47.38 seconds for the men’s under-20s, just 13 milliseconds slower than the qualifying time. 

However, Baird said he was confident he would make the qualifying time in upcoming events, including the state championships at Albert Park.

Baird, who is the Llanberris track record holder with his 46.97, could not quite scrape sub-47 seconds, but was still pleased with the result. 

“I was just off my PB, but first race out of a hamstring tear, I’m stoked,” he said.

“I came out and flowed well in the first 200 metres of the race.”

The Ballarat Harriers sprinter ran in lane eight and said the wind had to be factored into his race plan. 

“The wind was outrageous, it hit me like a brick wall. There’s a cross wind here so you never get a tail wind,” he said.

“Especially in lane eight I was blind. You have to run your own race and I know how my race plan works.”

Speaking with The Courier last week, Baird said he was aiming at qualifying for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games later in the year.