This year s event will have major implications for Sloman, with the top two competitors progressing to an Olympic-qualifying event in Japan. Sloman said he was excited for the race and especially keen to make up for falling short midway through Olympic qualifiers last year. With the selection process for Tokyo forced to restart due to COVID-19, Sloman has been gifted a second chance. I m more motivated than ever to get on that team because I know how gutted I was when I missed out, he said. It s obviously one competition that leads to the Olympic team, so it s a very important race.