Matt Wearn has been hailed as Australia's "most complete" sailor in his class as he tries to achieve a rare Olympic double.
Wearn and young gun Grae Morris were confirmed on Friday as sailing selections, in a sport where Australia has enjoyed considerable medal success.
But among the 10 sailing gold medals over the last five Olympics, Malcolm Page is the only Australian who has done so at successive Games.
Page won the 470 class in 2008 with Nathan Wilmot and then partnered Mathew Belcher to back up at London.
Belcher and Will Ryan won 470 silver at the Rio Games before they won gold in Tokyo.
Now Wearn has shown impeccable timing and the potential to emulate Page as he gears up for the Olympic regatta at the Mediterranean port of Marseille.
In his Olympic debut at Tokyo, Wearn became the third-straight Australian to win gold in the Laser class after Tom Slingsby (London) and Tom Burton (Rio).
After illness wrecked Wearn's 2022 racing schedule, he has been on a tear with three wins in Olympic selection events.
"Not only did Matt hit baseline performances across our three selection events, he won gold at all three," coach Rafa Trujillo said.
"The test event had light and shifty breezes, in the The Hague we had a lot of current and in Adelaide we had medium to strong winds.
"There is no doubt Australia selected the most complete ILCA 7 sailor we have."
Wearn rebounded brilliantly from 2022's challenges, winning the world title last year for the first time after three silver medals and successfully defending his crown last month in Adelaide.
"2022 was tough. In a year where I was looking forward to taking the momentum of the Games through to this campaign it was all taken away by a series of illnesses which ended my season," he said.
"It took well into the 2023 season for me to get back to the health and fitness level I needed to be at the top of the fleet again, but with some amazing help I managed just that."
While 28-year-old Wearn is now a seasoned competitor, Morris is just 20 and a new sailing talent.
Morris' category, iQFOiL, is a windsurfing format that, like him, will make its Olympic debut in Marseille.
He finished fourth last year at the Olympic test event, ninth at the world championships and sixth at the European championships. Morris backed that up with a fourth earlier this month at the worlds.
"The iQFOiL is fast in all conditions and exciting - it's windsurfing but better," Morris said.
"Paris is going to show people what windsurfing looks like now, and I think everyone is going to love it."
In November, Breiana Whitehead (kite foil) was the first Australian sailor named for the Paris Olympics.
