Super sprinters Laura Andreazza and Ruby Lucas and middle-distance specialist Patrick Rosewill be part of the expected 2000 strong contingent of athletes descending upon the AIS athletics field.

While the journey for all three to get the games has been different, they all agree they are starting to feel the nerves ahead of their expected match up against athletes from the South Pacific and North America.

Patrick will focus on the 800m and Laura the 100m and 4x100m relay, while Ruby will have the biggest workload of the group, tackling the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m.

Despite carving huge chunks out of his 800m time, Patrick believes he will need to make further improvements in order to push for a top five finish.

“I think I will need about 2.04 or a 2.05 (mins) to get close to a medal,” Patrick said.

“But I feel very good at the moment and I am going up this Saturday and I’ll just do some light training a couple of days before.

“Just run a couple of laps of the practice track and do some drills and then rest up the day before.”

Despite remaining grounded in his predictions, Patrick recently ran a time of one-minute flat for the 400m on a grass track in windy conditions, which bodes well for the meet of a lifetime.

For 12-year-old Laura the journey to Canberra has had its share of setbacks, but those down times have made her battled hardened for the challenges ahead.