Australia will have two runners in the Olympic men's 100m for the first time in 24 years after Josh Azzopardi received a last-minute call-up for the blue-riband event in Paris.
After just missing out on a top-56 qualifying berth, the 24-year-old received a quota spot and will line up alongside countryman Rohan Browning.
The much-improved Azzopardi has set two personal bests in 2024 - most recently when he stopped the clock at 10.14 seconds in Geneva in June.
He also beat newly crowned Australian champ Sebastian Sultana and Browning to win the Oceania 100m title in Suva last month in 10.33 and has now set his sights on claiming a semi-final berth in Paris.
"That would be huge for me," the NSW sprinter said on Tuesday.
"I'm in good shape at the moment, running some PBs.
"I've really worked hard this year, put a lot of effort into every department.
"The incremental improvement over the last couple of years has built me up to this moment and I know I can go faster."
The next task for Azzopardi will be finding extra tickets at the Stade de France for his parents, grandparents and girlfriend, all of whom had booked their flights to Paris in the expectation that he would only be contesting the 4x100m relay.
Australia will be well represented in the short sprints in Paris, with Calab Law (men's 200m), Ella Connolly and Bree Masters (both women's 100m) and Torrie Lewis and Mia Gross (both women's 200m) joining Azzopardi and Browning.
Both 4x100m squads also qualified in a track and field squad of 75, the largest Australia has sent to an overseas Olympics.
"The whole goal of the relay team at the moment is to make the Olympic final and then see what happens from there," Azzopardi told AAP from London ahead of Saturday's Diamond League meet.
The last time Australia had more than one runner in the men's 100m was back at the Sydney 2000 Games.
Matt Shirvington was fifth in his semi-final on home soil, while Patrick Johnson and Paul di Bella were eliminated in the earlier rounds.
Browning - who advanced to the Olympic 100m semis three years ago in Tokyo after winning his opening-round heat in 10.01 - has had to manage a chronic knee problem for much of the year.
He and coach Andrew Murphy decided the Sydneysider's best pre-Games preparation was to focus on training and rehab at their base in northern Italy rather than chase times on the European circuit.
The Australian track and field's team's pre-Olympics camp is in the southern French city of Montpellier.
The opening round of the men's 100m is on August 3.
