Jye Edwards' breakthrough season might not have ended in the "fairytale" he'd dreamt about but he's taken a lot away from his maiden Olympic Games appearance at Tokyo.
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Reflecting on his career-best season while quarantining in Brisbane, the Nowra Athletics Club product knows the past 12 months have been a huge step forward in his fledgling career.
"I'm feeling really good about myself - it's been an incredible season and one I'll never forget," said Edwards, who is keeping busy during quarantine by using his exercise bike, watching television shows and Facetiming friends.
"If you had told me 12 months ago I would be in this spot, considering all my previous injuries, I would have bitten your hand off.
"It's laid a fantastic foundation for me to build on for years to come."
Following a stint in Europe with coach Dick Telford to prepare for the Games, Edwards headed to the Japanese city of Narita, which his Australian track and field team used as a training camp prior to heading to Tokyo.
"Although all we could do during the camp was spend time at the track and our rooms because of our three-day quarantine period, it was really beneficial and we got some solid session in," the Warilla High School alumnus said.
"Everyone, especially those coming from Europe like myself, was quite jet-lagged and this allowed us to acclimatise to this time zone and the humidity.
"However, my run into the race wasn't perfect, as I picked up a left hamstring niggle during some practice starts in camp - nothing too serious but it was just a little sore and I had to manage it.
"This saw me have a couple of days off before the race, which slightly disrupted my preparation but I was fortunate because all the necessary work had been done."
The 23-year-old then headed to Tokyo and within the first few days of being at Australia's athlete's village, shockwaves were sent through his green and gold team following United States pole vaulter Sam Kendricks testing positive to COVID-19.
"That was definitely a scare but not a total shock from my perspective, considering the COVID-19 situation around the world and everything that was mentioned in the lead-up," said Edwards, who was saliva tested for COVID each morning.
"Everyone knew there were risks involved with these Games and I kind of expected situations like this - to be honest, I'm surprised there weren't more dramas during the two-week span.
"Once the news came through that one of our Australian athletes had come in close contact with the American (as they were training together), we got locked down in our rooms for two hours.
"Thankfully it was cleared after that and we didn't have any other incidents - overall, the Games ran smoothly, which is a credit to everyone involved.
"In particular, the AOC [Australian Olympic Committee] went over and beyond for us athletes - we were the only country to have their own barista, which was amazing.
"Although this was my first Games, I spent a lot of time with 800-metre Jeff Riseley, who was at his fourth Olympics, and he highlighted how special this event was.
"Obviously it was a shame that it wasn't a proper Olympics as the Japanese would have done an even more incredible job than they did."
Finally, despite all this, race day finally arrived.
"The whole build-up was incredible and being around the Australian team added to the hype, which was an experience in itself," he said.
"I woke up at 5am, as the race was at 9am, and I had a huge buzz - this had been something I had been working towards for some time.
"This was actually my first morning race in ages, as generally, we race at night, which was quite a different experience but one I embraced.
"It was toasty inside the stadium and as there had just been a bit of rain, the track itself was quite wet and I just tried to keep my emotions in check and treat it like any other race."
Despite giving it his all and finishing his heat in seventh, Edwards walked away "disappointed".
"A 1500-metre race is so tactical and that was on full display on my heat," he said.
"Unfortunately I missed out on a semi-final spot by one position - had I finished seventh in either of the other two heats, I would have progressed, showing just how many tactics went on in my slower, and at times, messy race.
"Straight after the race, I was shattered but was the dust settled, I took plenty of positives out of the experience as a whole - particularly the fact both other Australians (Stewart McSweyn and Oliver Hoare), who I'd beaten before, reached the final.
"Without trying to pump my own tyres up, it shows I'm capable of racing at that level and I'll be striving to prove that whenever I step back on the track next."
Following the Games, Edwards was originally slated to head to the United States and compete in the Eugene leg of the Diamond League this weekend.
However, after his biggest season to date and an injury-plagued career, Edwards knew it was best to return to Australia and rest up for a massive 2022.
"You get to a point, both physically and mentally, where you're fatigued and you know your body isn't quite 100 per cent," he said.
"If I was going to commit to the US, it would have been a massive decision and one you really need to be firing on all cylinders for and I just wasn't. To compete with those top guys, I needed to be at my best, which wasn't the case because of the hamstring.
"As such, I was happy to call an end to my season there and finish it on the Olympics, where I'm relatively injury-free, especially compared to past years."
Edwards, once he is released from quarantine, is planning on spending some time in Queensland before eventually returning to his training base in Canberra.
"As restless as I get in here [quarantine] sometimes, it's been a solid way to force me to slow down and rest," Edwards, who plans to return to his family home in Shellharbour in the coming months too, said.
"Once I'm back home in the ACT in September, I'll start easing back into some running, as I genuinely love it - I'm definitely keen to get back into it and build on this season in 2022."
As big as 2021 was, next year is shaping up as even bigger for the Bankstown Athletics Club competitor, starting with nationals in April before Oregon's world championships (July 15-23) and Birmingham's Commonwealth Games (July 28-August 8).
"Competition for spots on the Australian team for both those international events is going to be extremely hard, with the three of us that went to Tokyo and Matthew Ramsden already running the qualifying time," Edwards said.
"With each team only take three guys, it's going to be cut-throat.
"Both events, in their own regard, will be tougher, with the world champs looking like it could have the strongest field ever assembled at the event while the Commonwealth Games, which will have a slightly different field, has a huge amount of pedigree round it.
"Both are huge goals of mine and the hype around them is only going to increase as we get closer to next year.
"However, I don't want to look too far ahead and really just want to concentrate on what I can control, which is running well.
"Ideally, you want to be in strong shape come nationals but also have a gear or two you can go up, so you're peaking for those other events.
"At the end of the day, I'd rather have nine solid months at 90 per cent rather than three months at 100 per cent, so I'll really be concentrating on gradually building myself up, finding that consistency and try to avoid sustaining an injury."
That 2022 campaign is all part of Edwards' "grand plan" of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
"Now that I've got a taste of what the Olympics is all about, I'm more determined than ever to get back there and experience it all again," he said.
"I know it's a long way off and there's a couple of huge seasons in front of me between then and now.
"If the past couple of months have shown me anything, expectations and outcomes can change very quickly in this sport, as highlighted by how much improvement I've made in my times - that's the standard I'm holding myself to now and will only accept more improvements from here on in.
"That excites me because I feel I'm only scratching the surface on the running I want to be."
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