Wayde van Niekerk could be asked to join the SA 4x100m relay team which is scheduled to compete at the World Relays in Poland in two weeks' time.
The line-up is looking a little fragile after Clarence Munyai pulled up injured in the 200m semifinals at the national championships in Pretoria on Friday.
And there were a host of other absentees at the SA showpiece which ended last night, including Luxolo Adams, Simon Magakwe, Emile Erasmus and Henricho Bruintjies.
Adams, Erasmus and Munyai are in the team alongside sprint king Akani Simbine, Gift Leotlela and Thando Dlodlo.
But SA relays coach Paul Gorries said he wasn't worried. Apart from the fact that Adams and Erasmus are likely to be back in the next week or so, he's also looking at calling up the biggest gun of all - Van Niekerk.
"I'll have to still speak to [his agent] Peet [van Zyl] and them to check, but Wayde is already in the team for the 4x400m, so I'm thinking of pulling Wayde from that relay to put him in the 4x100m.
"That's the option I'm thinking of."
Van Niekerk was the first man in the world to run a sub-10-second 100m, sub-20 200m and sub-44 400m.
But whether he will - or even can - agree to competing at World Relays remains to be seen.
He's hoping to fly to his new training base in the US early this week - that's already a week later than hoped - and to have to fly out to Europe a week or so later could be a little rushed.
SA's 4x100m relay team, fifth at the 2019 world championships, is considered a strong medal hope at the Tokyo Olympics. For that combination, World Relays is about fine-tuning for the Games.
The men's 4x400m, however, is trying to qualify for Japan.
Gorries was philosophical about the injury situation at the moment.
"There's not a lot of panic as far as I'm concerned. The main objective is Tokyo. I'd rather have a full-strength team then."
And Gorries would like Van Niekerk in the mix in Japan. Van Niekerk would not be able to run the 4x100m heats in Tokyo, set for August 5, the same day as the men's 400m final.
The relay final is the following evening, and Van Niekerk's participation in that would depend on what he has left in the tank.
Gorries was at the 2015 world championships in Beijing when Van Niekerk claimed his first major 400m gold. "I've always seen him as part of the 4x100m."
Anchored by Simbine, the SA relay team has become a threat on the world stage since finishing fourth at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Van Niekerk could push it to another level, and then there's still the likes of Gift Leotlela, who has returned strongly this season after a series of injuries.
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