'To win Olympic gold I need to beat the best sprinter ever'

Jack Carlin has a problem.

To win Olympic gold, he has to get the better of the man who he describes as "probably the best track sprinter of all time".

Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen - the defending champion in the team and individual sprint - has become close to unbeatable in recent years.

Close to. But not yet invincible.

"Everyone's beatable," Carlin tells BBC Sport. "Even the best make mistakes.

"We've all gone out early in competitions, we've all made silly moves that cause us to fall off.

"It's just part and parcel of being a track sprinter because it's so demanding.

"Basically, you have to race a single person each time. There's no hiding."

One man who did get the better of Lavreysen - winner of the last five men's sprint world titles - in Tokyo three years ago is Jason Kenny.

Great Britain's most successful Olympian claimed the last, and most unexpected, of his seven gold medals after a sensational keirin triumph when he leapt clear of the field with three laps to go.

He is now in Carlin's corner as a coach.

"I've learned more from watching him during the Olympics than actually now as a coach probably," the Scot says of his former team-mate.

"I think he might come into his own at the Olympics. He's been through it four times. So he knows what he's doing.

"We worked really well on race day, we bounced ideas off each other, how we're going to tactically race and that's something we really gel on and we agree with.

"I've never had the rider-coach relationship when they have been my team-mate previously. So it has been different.

"But we're working well together and we have both got our eyes set on what we want to achieve in Paris."

Tokyo experience has fuelled Paris drive

Carlin is quietly relishing competing at these Olympics.

Tokyo was his first Games and he came away with silver and bronze in the team sprint and individual sprint, respectively.

But, with no crowds, family, or friends there in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it did not have the feel of the Olympics.

This time, it's the full-fat version.

Carlin has even got the iconic rings tattooed on to his right bicep. Just don't ask him how he got it.

It signals his drive to make these Olympics memorable.

"It was a massive factor in me wanting to continue after Tokyo, to actually experience the Olympic Games and having friends and family there," he says.

"We obviously had Glasgow [world championships] last year and having all my family and friends there to support me was massive. It spurred me on.

"You want to do it for them as well because they've supported you your whole career."

Carlin is an emotional guy. He feels every win and every loss.

But, at just 27, he is now one of the elder statesmen of the callow men's sprint group.

That brings pressure as well as privilege in a programme where the only currency is medals.

Kenny and Chris Hoy have the set the bar almost impossibly high for the new generation, but outwardly at least, Carlin shows no signs of bearing that burden.

"I wouldn't say I'm the most mature, but I'm certainly the oldest or one of the oldest," he says with a smile.

"I don't think I feel the pressure to try and emulate what those two have. I think I'd be very surprised if anyone ever does again.

"But it's definitely an aim. That's what we all aspire to be."

With Lavreysen leading a strong field of sprint talent, Carlin's chances of grasping an elusive major gold medal are tough.

However, you get the sense he is determined to enjoy it, whatever the outcome.