Canberran Claudia Marcks grew up idolising her rowing Olympic champion mum Megan, but now the cyclist wants to make her own mark at the Games - maybe even as soon as Paris next year. "Leading into this year, I get a bit emotional thinking about how special it would be to compete at an Olympic Games, and I know that would make my parents really proud," Marcks told The Canberra Times. "To continue that Olympics representation through the family, I think that'd be amazing." Marcks' mum won gold for Australia in the coxless pair in Atlanta and her father was also a rower that competed at World Championships. Her 17-year-old brother is also pursuing rowing, but the sport was never right for her. "I tried it once in high school. Early morning wake-ups are one thing, but on freezing cold water too, it wasn't for me," Marcks said. "I'm definitely fortunate in the gene pool with parents from an elite athlete background," she added. "But I'm very much wanting to go my own way and they're very supportive." The 20-year-old was this week elevated to podium-level categorisation AusCycling's Performance Pathway network which is not only a huge endorsement, but it puts her in the elite company of cyclists on track for gold. Marcks said her ultimate goal is to compete at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, but she isn't ruling out her chances for the Paris Games, starting in July next year. The Canberran has been training hard in Adelaide at the AusCycling national camp leading into the World Cup in the same city in January. The camp has seen her rub shoulders with the best cyclists in the country and build her form for a slim chance to push into the Australian Olympic team. "You try to put everything you can into an Olympic year because you never know what the opportunities are going to be," Marcks said. "There's definitely some strong girls racing in Paris and I might be a year off the Olympics but you never know what's going to happen." In track cycling Marcks enjoys scratch racing, but her focus event is in individual pursuit as an endurance athlete, which she joked she had a "love-hate relationship with". "Once you cross the finish line, you literally cannot walk and collapse off the bike," Marcks said. "It's very painful but it's also very satisfying knowing you've put everything out there." Marcks sees her best opportunities in the team pursuit event though. "There's more of a pathway with that and that's my lead into the Australian team," she said. "That's what I'll be competing in with the Australian team at the World Cup."