Olympic Games-bound javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Roberts is confident a lower back injury which has kept her out of action for a month won't derail her plans for Rio after she was given her golden ticket on Sunday night.
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Roberts was part of 28-strong contingent to be given her boarding pass for flights to the Rio Games at an Athletics Australia gala dinner as the Olympic excitement builds.
Hurdler Lauren Wells, long-distance runner Brett Robinson and 400-metre specialist Anneliese Rubie were all part of the team named while sprinter Melissa Breen is still chasing a qualifying time.
Roberts was shocked as she walked through a guard of honour of former athletes given a back injury has hampered preparations for her first Olympics.
But the Canberra athlete has her sights set on a European tour to fine-tune her technique and chase a medal dream in Brazil.
"When I was named it just put everything into perspective that it's fallen into place," Roberts said.
"It's starting to feel quite real now. I didn't get to compete at the national championships and I missed the back end of the domestic season [with injury].
"I was confident I would be named eventually but I didn't expect to be there in the first round of big team announcements. I've just got to be smart with my training so I can get back as soon as possible."
Roberts qualified after throwing well beyond the 62-metre mark required for athletes to join the javelin competition.
She will go to Europe at the end of June to compete in Finland and Germany before joining the Athletics Australia team camp in Florida before the Olympics.
"All the tentative planning can now be put in place and you can think about preparation and everything like that," Roberts said.
"It just kind of hit me so I'm excited now that it's all locked away and that I can change my mindset to focus in that way."
Breen and Wells won the 400-metre hurdle and 100-metre sprint respectively at the national championships in Sydney last weekend.
Breen is the fastest woman in Australian sprint history, but is yet to reach the qualifying mark required to enter the field in Rio.
Coach Matt Beckenham has organised a meet in Canberra on April 16 to give Breen extra practice before Wells joins them for a trip to Japan.
Breen will have four races over 10 days when she goes to Asia at the end of the month.
"I'm really excited about what Mel can do over the next month," Beckenham said.
"We'll race in Canberra and then go to Japan, where she's run fast in previous years. So hopefully we can get that mark because as much as you say it's going to happen, you'd prefer for to have it in the bank.
"We'd like to get the [100-metre qualifying time] sooner rather than later while she's in good shape. The time do to it is in the next month.
"It looks like it's going to be a good field in Canberra on the 16th [of April] and a lot of people still trying to qualify will make it really strong."
