'It can get tense': The harsh reality facing Tassie's Olympic hopefuls

Injuries, illness and loss of form are three main factors that could define a hopeful's journey to the world's biggest sporting stage.

But even once those are in check, for Tasmanian track cyclists Josh Duffy and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden there are other challenges at play.

"I live with James Moriarty and then Ollie (Bleddyn) and Blake (Agnoletto) are two of my best mates and realistically, we're going for probably one or two spots at the Olympics between the four of us," Duffy explained.

"So it can be quite tough sometimes. It's not a stretch on the friendship, because we can quite often look past that, but it can get tense sometimes for sure."

But the Adelaide-based 23-year-old from Launceston said he uses what could be an awkward aspect of Olympic qualification as an extra motivator and believed the team pursuit line-up which he is a part of looks at it as a positive rather than a negative.

"While there's competition between us to try and get in those spots, once you're in them and you're lining up alongside each other, you know they've got your back and you've got their back," he said.

"That makes it much easier to go out there and race like you should ... we've really worked on that culture, because a lot of us are close friends and it's been really important for us to build that culture."

National head track endurance coach, Tim Dekkers, who will have to make the tough decisions on who to take and leave behind for the upcoming Paris Olympics, said the healthy competition was critical to a successful team.

Using an NFL-style formula of starting with a big squad before trimming it down following numerous training camps, Dekkers explained his philosophy when making tough calls.

"The reality is, you've got to put your best team on the track for that event and yes, generally, the decisions are hard, because these are people's careers, but their careers should be long," he said.

"If it doesn't happen one time, what do we have to do to make it happen down the track?"

For Launceston-based Wilson-Haffenden, 18, her unquestionable talent is there for all to see, but Dekkers has been in awe of her mental strength.

"What's impressed me is her determination and her character and that will of not giving in, you can see it," he said.

"There's a real tough character in there that is determined to be successful. Talent gets you so far and the mindset really takes it to the next level."

Having had plenty of success in the past year, Dekkers said the Hobart-born cyclist could be in line for a long career ahead, if she was willing to put in the work.

"You see that with a lot of young athletes, they're in a rush and they want it all tomorrow," he said.

"But the reality is - I've seen this time and time again, where young athletes get a taste of success young - you've got to be ready for that longer haul to make it more consistent and get to a higher level.

"She's had some great success as a junior but now we're in for the long haul and hopefully she's around for a long time and we can get her at a really high level."

With both Duffy and Wilson-Haffenden riding for Australia at the UCI track nations cup in Hong Kong just months out from the Olympics, Dekkers was confident they would put in their best performances.

As for the pair representing Australia in the French capital, "we'll see" was his answer.

But Dekkers did have advice for the Tasmanians.

"Regardless of the success that may come this year, you're still very young in your athletic career and it's really the beginning of hopefully a lot more to come," he said.