When I attended the Atlanta Olympics, I felt I'd reached the pinnacle of my sport. I was lucky enough to win gold and it became the happiest time of my life – happier than I think anybody could imagine.

But winning a gold medal in Sydney on my home turf would be all the more special.Here I'll have plenty of friends and family cheering me on.

My parents deserve all the credit for getting me to the Olympic Games. They put in 20 years of sweat and tears. Any accolades I win are theirs as well, so it's great that they will be able to watch me this time if I make the Olympic team. Shooting might not seem like a very physical sport but being physically fit is important. So in the lead-up, I'm working on accuracy and training in the gym a lot.

You can only be as mentally fit as your body is. I think it gives me an advantage because almost all my opponents are older than I am. Being in better shape than them gives me a feather in my cap. My biggest competition will probably be the Italians. They've always been our rivals in clay target shooting, because they are so professional in what they do.

Michael's Event Men's Single Trap Venue: Sydney International Shooting Centre, Cecil Park. Dates: Sept. 16-17. Times: Day sessions. Ticket Price: $50. Records: WR 150/150, OR 149/150, AR 147/150.

The Italians are paid athletes, while Australians have to fork out for themselves unless they are lucky enough to be on the Olympic Assistance Program, which I am. That support has made things a lot easier and helped make us competitive. The hour before I go on I get so nervous that I can hear my own heart beat and negative thoughts rush through my mind. But fighting them is what sport's all about.

I try to treat competition as practice, because the targets we shoot in the Olympics and at practice are exactly the same. The pressure is huge – I have to forget it's the Olympics and focus on the target. There are three things I try to do: see the target; approach the target with aggression as fast as I can; and make doubly sure I see the target.

Sighting the target straight away is critical – a tenth of a second of not seeing it can make the difference between a hit and a miss. If I'm distracted for a fraction of a second I lose my chance. Once my bit is over, I want to see the swimming and the basketball and the hockey. My fiancee plays hockey so I'm a fan.

The impression I want visiting athletes to take home is that this is the best country and Sydney the best Games in the world.