THE Olympics is the dream of every athlete — and international discus thrower Nick Percy from the Isle of Wight is no different.

After making a name for himself in the United States in university sport over the past five years in Nebraska, captaining Scotland, winning top national and international competitions and breaking records, the 24 year old, of Bonchurch, believes his time has come to qualify for Team GB in the 2020 Olympics.

Nick, second in the UK discus rankings, will have caught the eye of Team GB selectors with recent performances — but he knows he needs to improve his throws by as much as two metres to reach Olympic qualification standard, as well as make the top two in the British Athletics Championships in August, to almost rubber-stamp his place in Tokyo.

Recently, Nick, who trains at Sandown’s Fairway athletics facility under coach Vesteinn Hafsteinsson, broke a 35-year-old county record at the Hampshire County Track and Field Championships with his throw of 57.99m — easily beating the previous record of 56.35m.

He followed it up by winning the 2019 Loughborough International, while competing for Team Scotland — captaining his nation against the home nations, as well as top university and Great Britain athletes.

Nick, born in Glasgow, also won the Bedford International Games over the bank holiday weekend, with his throw of 61.68m.

He will be looking forward to another major event — the World University Games, for Team GB, next month.

Educated at Ryde School, Nick holds the Scottish discus record (63.38m), his personal best throw, and has won top titles — the British Senior Open Championship in 2016 and 2017 and was a successful junior discus thrower under Sandown coach Ray Scovell, among others.

Nick’s other notable successes were winning in the 2011 World Youth Championship and 2012 World Junior Championships, silver at the 2013 European Junior Championships, and, for Scotland in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Championships, he won silver (discus) and bronze (hammer), as well as competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Across the pond, Nick won three American Conference titles and one NCAA national title.

The nutrition, exercise and health science graduate, said: “To make the Olympics would be amazing. Four years ago, I won the qualifying event, but didn’t have the 65m qualifying distance, but I know I’m capable of reaching the distance needed.

“The Olympics is the aim for every athlete — and it is for me.

“Ray was the reason I started throwing and was what helped me on the road to my career as an athlete. It was a great honour to win while representing Scotland at Loughborough.”