Tyler Smith is refusing to give up on his dream of Olympic qualification as he plots his possible routes to reach Paris this summer.

With the clock ticking down to the two-year qualification cut-off period on May 27, Smith’s attention is firmly set on battling to secure one of the 55 places on offer in the men’s event at the Games, which takes place in Paris from July 26 to August 11.

Despite finding himself in 106th place in the World Triathlon individual Olympic rankings as things stand, the 25 year-old remains optimistic about his chances of earning one of two places per gender available to each National Olympic Committee, with three possible avenues still open to qualify.

“Looking at the most recent Olympic qualification simulation, I still think there are three pathways that I could qualify through,” said Smith.

“Right now I’m 106th, but with the way the allocations work there is actually only two or three athletes ahead of me for the last allocation spot, because it rolls down the rankings.

“Apart from that there is also the new flag rule [highest placed in World Triathlon rankings from a country who did not secure a place by Olympic ranking] and two spots through the Tripartite Commission allocation [top 140 places in Olympic rankings and top 180 in World Triathlon rankings].

“However, as things stand my most realistic option is still through the main Olympic rankings because I’m still there or thereabouts and if I can keep improving, it is still doable.

“It’s one of those situations where I can see my goal in reach, but I know it will take everything I have to get there. However, the fact I’m close gives me huge motivation because it’s my dream to qualify for an Olympic Games.”

With the race on to secure the required points, Smith is taking a different approach to events this year. In stark contrast to focusing his attention on racing in the Africa Triathlon Cup series at the start of last season, he is instead aiming at racing closer to home, with travel logistics dictating his viable options.

“The first race I’m targeting this year is the Americas Triathlon Championships in Miami [March 8],” Smith added. “That’s a big one to start off with because it has a lot of world-ranking points on offer.

“The start to this season will be a little different because last season finished late with the Pan American Games in October and starts again in a couple of months.

“Looking at the logistics of what races there are, it just makes more sense to stay within the region because a key thing for me is managing the travel demands.

“I’m looking to get some good results and points on the board early and then in April look to race in more of the bigger World Cup events.”

As well as taking confidence from a highly encouraging campaign last year in which he sealed top-ten finishes across the Africa and America Triathlon Cup series and the Pan Am Games, remaining fit was the biggest positive for Smith after enduring a prolonged battle with an Achilles injury.

“I felt really positive at the end of the last season because I had some really good results,” said Smith.

“I took a little bit of time to get to the level but I always felt as if I was capable and my previous form pointed to that.

“That gives me confidence heading into this season, but the biggest thing for me is that I’m starting off fit and healthy. That takes away a major stress that I had before.

“People may not realise how big a part the mental side plays in sport and so being able to remove that stress of coping with an injury is a huge. Before I was dictated to by my injury, but now I can focus solely on training and racing, rather than having to worry about damage limitations to my body.”

In preparation for his opening race in March, Smith revealed he will be based in Bermuda full time after previously arranging training blocks in various countries overseas.

“I’ll be residing in Bermuda a bit more this year for training because I’ve come to realise that the island is as good a place to train as anywhere,” he added.

“Before this year I had it in my head that it would be difficult to do the work I needed to while on island, but my perspective has definitely changed.

“I know I have to be more responsible for my own training, so I’ve been getting the miles in and working hard to try to reach my potential this season.”