Racewalking champion Jared Tallent will get one shot at qualfying for next year's Tokyo Olympic Games.
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His hopes of a fourth Olympics appearance will rest on his performance in the Australian 50km Race Walking Championship in Melbourne on Saturday, March 27.
He needs to complete the event in three hours, 50 minutes or better to qualify.
Anything less and his dream of finishing his international athletics career on the biggest stage will be over.
There will be no second chance. There is no contingency plan.
Tallent admits it is not going to be easy to achieve.
"I'm under the pump," the 36-year-old said.
"It's pretty cut throat. It has to go well.
"Training has been going well, but it needs to improve.
"Hopefully I qualify for my fourth Olympics.
"I have won a medal at the past three, so it would nice to finish with another medal," he said.
Tallent spoke about the challenge he is facing while in Ballarat visiting family over the Christmas-New Year break - his first time in his hometown since before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
"I've been missing home.
"It's the longest period i have been away from Ballarat in my whole life. It's good to get back and see the family," he said.
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Family is also strong motivation for Tallent to compete in Tokyo.
"My son Harvey will be four (years-old) by the Games.
"A motivation is to have him see his dad race at the Olympics. It would make it pretty special.
"I am sort of doing it for him," Tallent said.
"He sees me doing a lot of training. It'd be good for him to have the experience of seeing his dad race - even on TV.
"He's never really seen me race," he said.
Tallent made his Olympic debut at Beijing in 2008 - claiming a silver medal in the 50km walk and bronze in the 20km.
He was second across the line in the 50km at London in 2012, but was elevated to gold after Russian Serhey Kirdyapkin was stripped of the win by the Court of Arbitration for Sport four years later.
This also delivered Tallent the Olympic record of 3:36.53.
Tallent added a silver to his medal collection at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Injury has unfortunately plagued Tallent since Rio, with hamstring issues being a constant concern.
"I have had a lot of hamstring injuries - particularly since Rio.
"I went to the US last year to try to qualify for the world championships, but strained a hamstring and haven't raced since."
Tallent said fortunately he had been injury-free for the past 12 months, so it was now a matter of getting his race fitness right.
"I have a lot of training to do.
"I need a good three months of training...with the head down and no interruptions.'
Having attended a training camp at Thredbo in New South Wales in the leads up to Christmas, Tallent starts what will be a do-or-die training regime with a three-week camp in Melbourne.
"Hoping that goes really well."
The camp is expected to feature a series of time trials to provide Tallent with a guide on his progress.
