Tre Houston is priming himself for the most important season of his career and admits the hard work starts now as he builds towards this summer’s Olympic Games.

Bermuda’s top sprinter has already qualified for the 200 metres — an event he has targeted reaching the semi-finals in, in Rio — and is confident of hitting the 10.16sec qualifying standard for the 100.

The 25-year-old started his three-race indoor season last weekend and insists he will be taking no short cuts in his preparations for the Olympics, which run from August 5 to 21.

“As far as training is concerned, everything is going really well, no injuries or niggles, and I’m putting every penny of funding I’ve received to good use,” said Houston, who was elevated the A-level category in the Bermuda Olympic Association’s new Elite Athlete List.

“I’ve been doing a lot of things different from last season. I had quite a short pre-season, two or three weeks, as I finished last season quite late.

“I’ll be in spikes for the next few weeks of the indoor season and then I’ll go back into the long training, working on my endurance.”

Houston should be able to enjoy pressure-free preparations for Rio, however, he is aware of the perils of taking his foot off the gas.

“I’ve got a good bit of time to get everything correct,” said Houston, who trains at Next Level Athletics in Houston, Texas, under head coach Eric Francis.

“As for me having already qualified for the Olympics, I feel less pressure and more relaxed because I don’t have to chase a time.

“But at the same time I’m still working hard. Everyday when I go to the track or the weights room I’m still putting 100 per cent into it.

“I’m still training like I haven’t made the Olympics and trying not to be too content.

“I don’t just want to be a number at the Olympics, I want to make the semi-finals — that’s the goal.”

Although Houston has not experienced an Olympic Games yet, he competed in the 200 at last summer’s World Championships in Beijing and at the Pan Am Games in Toronto in July.

He did not make it out of the heats at either competition, posting a time of 20.92 at the championships and 21.00 at the Pan Am Games.