Nick Donaldson knows exactly what he has to do when the start gun goes off for the 400 metres at Sydney Olympic Park this week, despite only shifting his focus to the event three months ago.
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The 19-year-old initially had his heart set on the 100m and 200m events before his coach, former Olympian Matt Beckenham, identified his strength in middle distance; and already he is making waves in the event.
He aims to make his Australian representative dream a reality at the Australian Track and Field Championships this week with a strong performance in the 400m.
"I was doing 100 and 200 metres and was doing pretty well, but we decided to just have a run at the start of this year to open up the season after Christmas and just get the legs moving," he said.
The Canberran is ranked seventh heading into the meet, after running a time of 46.76 seconds in the NSW State Championships last month.
The national event will act as trials for the Commonwealth Games and World Championships later this year, and Donaldson said he had mixed emotions about his race on Wednesday.
"In under sevens I was just there for a little bit of fun, and then watching the Olympics, you kind of go, 'I want to be there one day'," he said.
"So there was always that little goal of I want to be an Olympian and represent Australia. I guess as I've gotten older, I have seen that it's more realistic and achievable. Now where I am at 19, it's definitely knowing that I want to be one of the best athletes in Australia and compete internationally.
"I've got that in the back of my head, but the big thing for me is just going in and executing. I know I'm in PB shape, and I'm excited to get out there and run the best I can, because at the end of the day, that's all you can do but there's definitely some butterflies there."
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Donaldson will be joined by Canberra medal hopeful, and two-time Olympian, Kelsey-Lee Barber. The 30-year-old will be looking to go one better on Wednesday in the javelin than she did at the Melbourne Track Classic, where she took home silver.
In the age group events so far, ACT race walkers have been the most successful with Kodi Clarkson breaking the race meet record by almost eight seconds to win gold in the under 15 boys 3000m walk. Owen Toyne crossed first in the U16 boys division, alongside a bronze for Darcey Roberts in the U16 girls.
Joshua Smith, Richard Yu, Eamon Henderson and Daniel Nwaobi took bronze in the U14s 4x100 metre relay. With Yu also taking home individual gold in the hammer throw and shot put.
Cameron Myers finished third in the U20s 1500m, before Blake Deery took home bronze in the U15 100m hurdles.
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
