Ashleigh Gentle is close to securing a Rio Olympics triathlon start after the Australian's second place at a world series event in Japan.
Compatriots Charlotte McShane and Jake Birtwhistle also gave their Games selection chances a significant boost with top-10 finishes at round four of the world series in Yokohama.
Triathlon Australia selectors will finalise the Rio team of three men and three women next week, with May 20 the deadline.
Aaron Royle, Ryan Bailie and Beijing 2008 Games bronze medallist Emma Moffatt are already confirmed selections.
The other spots are discretionary.
Gentle finished runner-up in Japan on Saturday behind American Gwen Jorgensen, who will be the woman to beat in triathlon at the Rio 2016 Games.
Birtwhistle, a rising star who won last year's under-23 world title, finished an impressive fourth.
The men's race was won by Spaniard Mario Mola - another strong Olympics medal contender.
Ryan Fisher, the other Australian in the men's field, finished 13th, while McShane was fifth and Moffatt took seventh.
Having three women in the top 10 is a timely boost for the Australian squad, with TA performance manager Bernard Savage admitting before Yokohama that they needed to improve.
Gentle also finished second at the opening round of the world series two months ago in Abu Dhabi and she is almost certain to take one of the remaining women's spots in the Australian Games team.
Jorgensen won the Olympic distance race - 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run - in one hour 56 minutes two seconds.
Gentle recovered from a slow swim - she was 30 seconds adrift of the main pack at the start of the bike - to finish a minute and 18 seconds behind Jorgensen.
The Australian beat Japanese triathlete Ai Ueda by five seconds, outsprinting her in the last kilometre.
"I was disappointed with my swim," Gentle said.
"It was really choppy but there are no excuses.
"I really pushed the pace those first few laps (on the bike) to get in the game again.
"Ueda is a fantastic runner and I knew with the home crowd support she was going to put up a fight.
"At the end I tried to hold back just a little a bit, so hopefully I could have the legs for the sprint."
Mola won in 1:46:27, ahead of Mexican Crisanto Grajales and Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt, while Birtwhistle clocked 1:46:50 to finish five seconds away from a place on the podium.
Australian Erin Densham, who was outstanding in winning the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, had another disappointing race with 33rd.
London Olympian Emma Jackson was 17th and Gillian Backhouse finished 20th.
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