The 26-year-old returned to Kerry McCann Athletics Centre to defend her Illawarra Track Challenge 60-metre sprint title, which she has won annually since 2015. However, this time around, Taddeo had to settle for second place as Campbelltown's Monique Quirk claimed victory in the final.

"It didn't go as well as I wanted to, but I still ran a PB [7.42 seconds], which I was quite happy with," she said.

"Obviously I wanted to go out there and defend my title, but I wasn't the best on the day. The girl that won it has been in amazing form all year, so good on her I say."

Like most athletes, the impact of COVID has provided plenty of hurdles for Taddeo over the past 12 months.

However, she believes it's been important to be able to adapt quickly in an ever-changing landscape.

"At the end of the day, we're elite athletes. We're always going to different countries so we need to know how to adapt quickly," she said.

"I think the hardest thing was not having that one-on-one with my coach over that off-season period. Having said that, my off-season period involves a lot of running sessions. Not that COVID was a good thing by any means to anyone, but it was my off-season so I was home doing a lot of kilometres and running sessions by myself. I was also fortunate to have a couple of friends jump in my training sessions and have a training partner who lives down here as well.

"I was probably in a pretty good position compared to a lot of other athletes. I just needed a field and a couple of cones to train."

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Taddeo now has her eyes set on a busy 2021, with one major goal in mind: a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics. However, Taddeo - who is best known for her hurdling talent - will focus on taking one step at a time.

"I have the ACT State Championships coming up and, in mid-February, I've got a few domestic races happening through to March," Taddeo said.

"I will have a big race in Brisbane at the end of March, leading into nationals and into Olympic selection, hoping to qualify for the Olympics in the 100-metre hurdles."