Eight months after they were originally scheduled, the now inaccurately-named 2020 Olympic Games are just 129 days away and double-figure representation remains the realistic objective for Tasmanian athletes.
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Fresh off a contribution of 11 in Rio de Janeiro and a record 15 in London, the state is again well placed to play a big role in Tokyo but, as with everything else in this COVID-plagued world, it's all rather complicated.
As things stand, six Tasmanians have been nominated for selection onto the Australian Olympic team, but even that is a misleading stat.
Grove canoeist Daniel Watkins, Perth track cyclist Georgia Baker, King Island runner Stewart McSweyn, Launceston triathlete Jake Birtwhistle and Huon rower Sarah Hawe would have been joined by Amy Cure, but the West Pine track cyclist opted to put the bike back in the rack when the Games were postponed.
Over the next four months, various sports will name their teams and more than a dozen Tasmanians remain on the radar.
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Among the team sports, the state appears destined to prolong its impressive representation in men's hockey.
Not since 1992 has an Olympic Kookaburras team failed to include a Tasmanian as Daniel Sproule (1996-2000), Matthew Wells (2000-08), David Guest (2008), Eddie Ockenden (2008-16) and Tim Deavin (2012-16) have amassed nine medals between them including the Big G from Wells in Athens.
Only injury seems likely to prevent Ockenden reaching his fourth Olympics as Australia's joint-captain and most-capped player continues to get better with age while fellow Hobartians Josh Beltz and Jack Welch are also in the latest squad.
Launceston-born, Brisbane-raised Chris Goulding is in the Boomers Olympic squad but, with fierce competition from so many NBA regulars, has his work cut out to repeat his Rio selection when the final cut is made.
One Tasmanian who stands to benefit from the Olympic postponement is Nathaniel Atkinson who was serving an international ban last year but is now again eligible and has been named in the latest Olyroos squad. If selected, the Riverside product would be Tasmania's first Olympic soccer player since Dominic Longo helped Australia record their best finish of fourth in 1992.
As the reigning Australian cyclist of the year, Tour de France podium-finisher Richie Porte is in pole position for a spot in the road race. Porte has already thrown his hat in the ring given the hilly nature of the course and will be keen to atone for a Rio campaign which ended with a broken shoulder blade but the Launceston father-of-two's involvement will depend on how he finishes Le Tour just six days before the Tokyo race.
Several Tasmanians remain in the frame to join McSweyn in the track and field team for Tokyo.
Hobart javelin-thrower Hamish Peacock needs to return to his 80-metre-plus days if he is to reach a second Games while Milly Clark's hopes of again being her country's best-placed marathon runner are not helped by the Launceston runner having the fourth fastest qualifying time with three set to be selected and few opportunities available to record an improved time.
Meanwhile, Hobart sprinter Jack Hale's selection is likely to be dependent on whether Australia contests the 4x100m relay.
Tasmania's normally reliable glut of Olympic rowers is set to take a hit in Japan.
Having provided 20 rowers for Athens, Beijing and London, yielding five medals between them, the sport has only confirmed Sarah Hawe for Tokyo. The dual world champion's Huon clubmate Georgia Nesbitt will need to overcome international travel complexities plus a final selection regatta in Switzerland while Tamar's Ciona Wilson remains a chance among a highly-competitive sweep squad.
However, a surprising candidate may fill the sporting void.
Having not provided a swimmer for an Olympics since Scott Goodman won a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly in 1996, the state looks set to make up for lost time with Launceston's freestyle sensation Ariarne Titmus not only a world champion and record holder but likely to contest multiple events having shown her potential with three golds and a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Other less mainstream Olympic sports also have a pleasant habit of offering up candidates with events from weightlifting to diving threatening to continue where judo and softball have chipped in previously.
Tasmania's proud representation at Paralympic Games will also continue in Japan with Devonport's Deon Kenzie looking to upgrade his Rio silver medal in the T38 1500m.
Launceston's Todd Hodgetts is targeting a third-straight Games with gold and bronze medals to show from his previous performances in the F20 shot put while Hobart's T36 runner Xander McKillop and visually-impaired Devonport swimmer Jacob Templeton are among others still in contention.
Tasmania is already guaranteed high-profile involvement in Tokyo with Legana father-of-three Ian Chesterman serving as Chef de Mission at a summer Games for the first time having filled the role at six winter versions and coming full circle after beginning a 90-minute bullet train ride away at Nagano in 1998.
However many Tasmanians end up competing, it is nine years since the state last won a medal, 13 since its last gold and it is yet to produce an individual Olympic champion, something Titmus, Birtwhistle or Porte may be able to remedy in Tokyo. No pressure.
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
