Great Britain sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is relishing the World Athletics Championships in Daegu.
Top sprinter kicks off new skysports.com blog with view to Daegu
Great Britain sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is relishing the World Athletics Championships in Daegu as he looks to take a big step towards the Olympics in London 2012.
The 22-year-old powerhouse will run in the 100m and 4x100m relay in South Korea in what is the final major event before next year's Olympics in London.
Although competing against the likes of Usain Bolt in the 100m, Aikines-Aryeetey is relishing the prospect of pulling on the Team GB vest again in Daegu.
London 2012 is undoubtedly the focus, but everyone in the GB camp knows how important a good performance is in the World Championships first.
Aikines-Aryeetey, who picked up World Championship bronze in the 4x100m relay in 2009, hopes to run well in both events this time around.
"The World Champs hold such importance as they bring us another step closer on our journey towards next year," he said in his new blog for
skysports.com. "For me personally, I'm so happy and excited to be back in the GB squad.
"I was slightly disappointed with my performance at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace earlier this month as I wanted to put on a good showing to our home fans.
"However, it was pleasing to make the final and I think on reflection, I was probably tired from the trials the week before, but what's important now is that I move on and focus on the next job in hand which is to have a couple of weeks quality training at our holding camp in preparing for Daegu."
The former World Youth Champion in both the 100m and 200m and World Junior 100m champion knows it will be tough running in both events but just has to manage his time well.
"My plan for Daegu is to stay really focused, I'm doing the 100m as well as the relay, which is the last event so I can't afford to take my foot off the gas in training and must keep the intensity up for the duration.
"Because competing is so energy sapping, the need to do as little as possible during our down times is crucial so on non-race days, I'll be chilling to the max!"
In sprinting, every hundredth of a second counts, so even the smallest of adjustments can make a huge difference on the big stage.
"Training wise, there are a few things I need to work on which were identified at Crystal Palace, one being I need to correct my block position because at the moment my ankle is too high, so the next week or so I will be working to keep it lower - it's the really small things that can make a big difference."
Click here to read Harry's blog in full.
