When mountain biking champion Anton Cooper heads overseas in a fortnight, he'll be vying with teammates for what is currently just the one spot on the New Zealand Olympic team.
"Everyone's under a huge amount of pressure," he told 1News.
"But that's what makes the Olympic games special. I think we'd all be gutted if we missed out, but there'd be something wrong if you weren't."
New Zealand are currently ranked 11th in the world. If the Kiwi trio of Cooper, Sam Gaze and Ben Oliver can accumulate enough points over the next three World Cup events to move up to 8th, they'll get a second spot at the Olympics.
With just one place on the team, there’s some stiff competition. (Source: 1News)
"I know it's going to be tight," Cooper said.
"It's a shame we're having to fight so hard at this late stage to try and get two spots, but it's the situation we're in."
Cooper can take confidence in the fact he heads abroad with dual national and Oceania titles. He's also in the best shape, physically and mentally, that he's been in years after recovering from injury and illness.
"Sometimes you have years nothing goes right, and sometimes you have years nothing goes wrong and touch wood this is the year nothing goes wrong and we really nail everything," he said.
Should Cooper cement a spot, it'd be his second Olympics after coming 6th in Tokyo.
"The Olympic games are a whole other beast... just knowing the work you put in to get there adds pressure. You've got one chance, one hour 20 minutes to change your life and that's all I'm focused on.
"I don't want to go [to Paris] and just participate – I want to come home with something shiny and I know whoever's selected wants that."
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