Nick Griggs is chasing down a dream he has been running towards since watching in awe as Usain Bolt conquered London 2012.
Still only 18, Griggs has the attributes to become a top international athlete for Ireland. The question is when, rather than if.
With just over a year to go, Paris 2024 is closing in and it would mean everything for the record breaker from county Tyrone to make his first Olympics so soon into his career.
READ MORE: Irish runner Andrew Coscoran breaks 40-year-old 1500m national record
In fact, having just finished his final school exams last Friday, Griggs only became a full-time athlete that same day.
"It would mean everything," said Griggs, a former European under-20 3,000m champion and the current holder of the under-20 1500m, Mile, 3,000m and 5,000m national records.
"I always think about this because as much as I love athletics, I used to watch Usain Bolt when I was six or seven and he was in London and I remember after I said to my mum and all my school friends, 'I'm going to be an Olympian, I'm going to be an Olympic champion'.
"They were like, 'Aye, I'm sure you are', which is what you have to say.
"And mum would always say, 'That's good but have a realistic back-up option'. So it just would mean everything because that's all I've ever wanted to do.
"As much as I'm a distance runner, I always thought I was going to be a sprinter because I always looked up to Usain Bolt.
"I still have a Jamaica flag and photos up in my room and stuff even now, so watching him in 2012 do that 'three-peat' for the second time.
"I was too young in 2008, I was only three, so in 2012 I was a bit older and I could understand. That really spurred my drive for athletics and the Olympics.
"If anyone asked me, 'What are you going to be when you're older', I didn't even say a pro athlete. I didn't know what a pro athlete was. I just said, 'I'm going to be an Olympian'.
"So that's the one thing I've always wanted to be - and to say I could achieve that at 19 would mean everything to me. Even if I didn't make it next year and I made it when I was 23, it would mean the world.
"So that's something I'm going to work hard for next year. Hopefully it becomes a reality."
The achievements of Ciara Mageean, Mark English and Andrew Coscoran in more recent times also spur him on.
Coscoran broke the Irish senior 1500m record in Nice recently (3.32.68). Griggs broke his own national under-20 record at the same meeting (3.36.09).
"It does give you that extra bit of added motivation that if they can do it, I can do it too," he said.
More than anything, Griggs is pleased that he committed late last year to taking a year off his studies after school finished up.
He can weigh up his options and admits that while there remains a possibility of going to college in the north, if things go well he might plough on with his running career.
For now, his focus is on the 123.ie Junior and under-23 national championships in Tullamore on Sunday. He races in his favourite event, the 1500m, in the championships.
After that, his first experience of altitude training could push him closer to Paris.
Griggs explained: "If I do make the Olympics at 19, why would I not cash in on that opportunity? I'm only going to be 19-20 once so I might as well make the most of it to try and be the best athlete I can.
"For now it's just a gap year but it probably will turn into full-time."
Results Ireland's first ever sprint NCAA champion Rhasidat Adeleke has enjoyed at the University of Texas tempted him a little in terms of a US scholarship.
But he is set on his course.
"When you see the progression of people like Rhasidat, it does tempt you a wee bit and you're like, 'whoah, what are doing out there' because she's obviously gone over as a 100, 200 type runner but now she's one of the best 400m runners in the world, running 49 low, it's insane," he said.
"It does tempt you but you just have to obviously have a really good coach here and a good set up, and everything's great up here.
"So as much as you admire from a distance what's going on over there - and yeah, that's unbelievable, and America does work for people - from a personal perspective I'm happy where I am right now and I will be for a long time, hopefully."
