National record holder Melissa Breen must overcome golden girl Sally Pearson and public expectations to win her first Australian title in three years.
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The Canberra sprinter is taking a relaxed approach before this weekend's Australian Athletics Championships in Brisbane, knowing she only has to finish in the top two to guarantee her ticket to the world championships.
Having the A-qualifying time safely in her keeping is in stark contrast to previous years when Breen often had to adjust her preparation on the fly to wipe valuable milliseconds off the clock.
But this time she has been able to tailor her training to allow her to be at her peak at the business end of the season.
Breen is chasing her fifth national title having won the 200m in 2009, her pet event the 100m in 2010 and having completed the sprint double in 2012.
Standing in her way is Pearson, the Olympic Games champion in the 100m hurdles who has largely had Breen's measure during their long-standing rivalry.
Breen took the upper hand when she broke Melinda Gainsford-Taylor's national record in the 100m at the ACT titles last year, but Pearson's consistency has kept her out in front.
"It's been a while since I've raced in Brisbane, the last time was in 2012, Brisbane was where I won my first national title in 2009," Breen said.
"I've been doing a lot of (200m) this season and it's really helped the back-end of my 100m.
"It would be great to get a few more national titles, but it's a great chance to put myself against Sal and Ella (Nelson) in the 200m."
With Pearson electing not to run the 100m at last weekend's IAAF World Challenge in Melbourne, Breen took the victory in a time of 11.52 (-1.3) running into a headwind.
The times of Breen and Pearson have been down compared to last season when Breen stopped the clock in 11.11 seconds, breaking Melinda Gainsford-Taylor's national record which has stood since 1994.
"There's always the possibility of breaking the record, but it took 20 years for someone to do it, so it's probably a little unfair to put a lot of pressure on Sally and myself to say we're going to break it every time we run," Breen said.
"In reality, it took one person 20 years to do it, so it's something that can't happen every time you race.
"People need to appreciate that a bit more when you think 20 years and how many amazing athletes weren't able to do it. It's very tough to run those fast times."
