Tasmanians eye Paris after Olympic qualification in The Bahamas

Jacob Despard was in the Aussie team which secured Olympic qualification on the final night of action at the World Athletics Relay Championships in The Bahamas.

Despard and his 2022 Commonwealth Games relay teammate Jack Hale, both of Hobart, are in strong contention to make the national squad for the Paris Games which begin in late July.

Under the bright lights and electric atmosphere in the Caribbean, Australia's men kept their cool to join the women in punching their ticket to Paris.

They booked their berth with a second place heat finish in a time of 38.46 seconds.

After missing out on an Olympic ticket via photo finish on day one of competition, the quartet of Despard, Sebastian Sultana, Josh Azzopardi (both NSW) and Calab Law (Queensland) left nothing to chance, finishing behind South Africa (38.08) but well ahead of Colombia (39.04) in third as the top-two countries advanced to Paris.

The elation spread throughout the team well before anchor Azzopardi crossed the finish line.

"As soon as Josh was clear of the chasing pack I couldn't wipe the smile off my face," Despard, 27, said.

"I couldn't be prouder to qualify with this group of men. We're all really committed to relay and have a great connection as a team."

Speaking to The Examiner last month, Hale, 25, said he saw Paris as his last realistic Olympic opportunity having missed out in Tokyo by three spots.

"This one is prime for me. I'll be 26 - the right age," he said.

"It's everything to me. It's been a dream since I was 10 and initially started to run fast."