Collins steps up for Olympic year

AUBIERE, France, CMC - History-making sprinter Kim Collins, of St Kitts and Nevis, has stepped up his preparation mode for the 2008 Olympic season and his first major test will be next weekend's World Indoors.

Collins, 31, stunned the World Championship 100-metre field in 2003 to capture the gold medal and after relatively moderate results in recent years, is ready to climb to the top again.

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Collins became the first athlete from his small country to reach an Olympic final, placing seventh, and three years later he became the first athlete ever representing the Caribbean to become 100-metre World Champion.

Under the guidance of Jamaican coach Glen Mills, Collins says there has been no major change to his training but some adjustments have been made that should improve his performance.

"I train more, and I have added weight training for some time," said Collins, who clocked a personal season's best 6.56 seconds on Tuesday night to win the men’s 60 metres at the Gaz de France meeting.

“I do some bench press, calf and hamstring work, hip raises but with light weights only, as plyometric exercises remain my main strength provider," Collins said.

The mild-mannered sprint ace is hoping for a good result at the March 7-9 World Indoor Championship in Valencia, Spain, especially after his Gaz de France win in mid-week.

His time was only 0.03 seconds off his all-time best 6.53 that landed him silver at 2003 World Indoors Championships.

Collins won his first major title at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and also collected World Championship medals in Edmonton, Canada, 2001 (200-metre bronze) and Helsinki, Finland, 2005 (bronze in the 100 metres).