Almost walking away from the sport when he missed selection for Tokyo, slalom kayaker Tim Anderson now fancies himself as an outside chance of an Olympic medal in Paris.
Anderson was officially named in the Australian team on Tuesday along with fellow Victorian Tristan Carter, the 25-year-old set to compete in the men's C1 event.
Defending Olympic champion Jessica Fox was locked in last year for her fourth Games while both men are making their Olympic debut.
Anderson had a break-out year in 2023, including finishing fifth in the K1 at the world championships and third overall in kayak cross world cup season rankings.
The 29-year-old said those results had fuelled his belief he could match the sport's big guns.
He spent eight months training in France and felt well-suited to the Vaires-sur-Marne course, where he also hopes to compete in the kayak cross which is a new Olympic addition.
"I had quite a lot of runs throughout the world cup season with top five times," Anderson told AAP.
"Not always in the final often - some times in the heat or semi-finals - but I think I can I can realistically aim for that again in Paris.
"The course has quite a lot of small and compact features and I enjoy paddling it and I think it suits my style.
"I've just got much more confidence in my own paddling and have built a lot more trust in my own skills."
After some lean years Anderson said he almost quit the sport, focusing on his double degree in science and biomedical engineering.
But he found he wasn't quite ready to give up on his Olympic dream.
"I definitely considered it after the last Olympic cycle when I wasn't successful in making it into the Tokyo Games and I focused on my uni degree and making the most of the opportunities that gave me," he said.
"But I just love the sport and I found it really hard to leave, and now I'm not going to be retiring anytime soon."
