Catching up with Croydon's Olympic hopefuls

Things haven't quite gone to plan for Martyn Rooney over the past 12 months.

The 24-year-old Croydon Harrier has struggled for speed since coming third in the European Championships last July, the last time he ran under 45 seconds.

Last Thursday, he ran his quickest race of the year in Lucerne, winning in 45.63 seconds but that was still slower than the 45.25 qualifying time he needs for next month's World Championships, the UK trials for which take part this weekend.

"It has been a difficult year so far," he said.

"But I am in a better shape than I have been since I did my hamstring in 2009 and I am just trying to find a rhythm.

"I have never been as quick as I am now but it is learning to use that speed to get me around 400m.

"I would be doing excellently if I was a 200m runner but I am not, so I am trying to target it in the right way and I think it will improve me massively.

"I haven't got the qualifying time yet but 400m at the moment is wide open in the UK.

"The A standard has been lowered from 45.5 to 45.25 and it is a time you should be able to do in good weather and I am pretty confident when racing against other British opposition."

Once the World Championship in Daegu, South Korea, are out of the way, Rooney's attention will begin to focus on London next year.

"I think it is exciting, the Olympics are only a year away," he said.

"Until the World Championships are out of the way it is a bit on the back burner as I have to stay focussed on the job in hand but my running has always been geared towards peaking at the right time and at the Olympics.

"This year will go really fast, all of the sudden we will be in January and it will be Olympic year."