The 15-year-old suffered what turned out to be a stress fracture in his back while preparing for the World Cadet Taekwondo Championships in Muju in August 2015.

He was forced to wear a back brace for more than 23 hours a day for six months, followed by 12 weeks of physiotherapy.

At one stage, it seemed as if his entire future in the sport was under threat.

But, after returning to training in July, the teenage talent has made a winning return at the Australian National Championships.

This secured a place in the Australian team for the World Junior Championships in Burnaby in Canada, due to take place between November 16 and 20. 

"We didn’t realise how bad it [the injury] was until after the competition," said Wilson.

"The odds were against me, but I had to try."

He is considered a major hope of winning a first Australian Olympic medal in the sport for two decades since Lauren Burns took gold and Daniel Trenton silver on the sport's full Olympic debut at Sydney 2000.