Top Kiwi sprint prodigy Eddie Osei-Nketia is going from strength-to-strength on the track but the 18-year-old admits the thought of playing a team sport, such as rugby, still piques his interest.
Osei-Nketia collected gold at this year's New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletic Championships on Sunday when he won the senior boys 100m final in 10.97 seconds.
The title came after already being crowned the senior men's champion in both New Zealand and Australia earlier this year.
In between those wins though, Osei-Nketia joined a New Zealand Rugby training camp for potential sevens players in Auckland last month and the sprinter said the brotherhood and team environment he experienced there left a lasting impression on him.
"The one thing I enjoy about sevens is that it is a team effort, not like you are all by yourself," Osei-Nketia told Radio New Zealand.
"You are socialising with people, meeting different people each time and learning new characters of each player."
Nketia told 1 NEWS earlier this year shortly after committing to representing New Zealand on the track the thought of one day swapping the black singlet for the black jersey played a role in his decision.
"Since the day I was born in New Zealand, I always knew that hopefully one day I would represent in the black singlet or the black jersey," he said.
"I want to play for the All Blacks."
While Osei-Nketia is solely focused on the track for next year's Olympics in Tokyo, he said last month he will consider trying to represent New Zealand both in the 100m and rugby sevens at the 2024 Olympics.
But before all that though, there's a little bit of family rivalry he wants to cross off his list - his dad's New Zealand 100m record.
Father Gus Nketia sprinted for New Zealand in the 1990s having previously competed for Ghana and his national record 10.11 seconds still stands today - his son's best time is 10.19.
"That record will be 26 years-old next year and that record needs to go," Osei-Nketia told RNZ.
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