MEREWETHER athlete Rose Davies has her sights set on Zatopek for more reasons than one.
With an Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games now all under her belt during the last two years, long-distance runner Davies will look to springboard her upcoming campaign with a third straight Zatopek crown.
The two-time defending champion will contest the women's 10,000 metre final, which doubles as the Australian titles, at Victoria's Lakeside Stadium on Thursday.
Davies, 22, also has an opportunity to earn points and post a qualifying time for the 2023 World Championships in Budapest in August.
On top of that Zatopek leads into trials for the World Cross Country Championships, run over the same 10 kilometre distance, with Davies hoping to wear the green and gold at the off-track event in Bathurst on February 18.
"A three-peat [at Zatopek] would be nice. I mean, everyone's goal is to win because you don't enter a race hoping to come third," Davies said.
"But I'll just see what happens on the day. I don't want to put any pressure on myself because I think there's a bit of pressure on me after my last two wins. If I run to the best of my ability I'll be happy."
Davies, who has been training in Bendigo recently after spending almost six months overseas racing in 2022, has a personal best time of 31 minutes, 18.54 seconds.
"I would love to break 31 minutes, I think that's my next goal," she said.
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