Ireland's 400 metres star David Gillick has every reason to be cheerful as he gears up for his first Olympics next month.
Gillick, although not a realistic medal contender for Beijing, has high hopes of a place in the final after putting together a series of 45-second runs this season.
And how he fares in a high-class 400m at the Aviva London Grand Prix on Saturday will reveal much about his chances of success.
The Dubliner lowered his 400m Irish record to 45.12 seconds in Villeneuve-d'Ascq last month and also clocked 45.52 in Rome two weeks ago.
Despite a niggling knee injury keeping him out of last weekend's Irish championships in Santry, the 25-year-old insists it is full steam ahead for Beijing.
Following tests on his knee, Gillick has been given the all-clear to resume racing with the Games now less than three weeks away.
‘I just had a bit of a niggle in my right knee and that's why I didn't run over the weekend, I just wanted to be cautious about it,’ he explained.
‘I'm quite confident that everything is okay and it hasn't inhibited me much in training or races recently.
‘Just because I was at home in Dublin I said that I might as well get a scan on it and get it checked out to make sure everything was okay.’
The two-time European Indoor champion has been relatively injury-free in recent years and should be in peak condition for the Irish team's pre-Games holding camp, which they begin departing for on Friday week.
‘I've had a couple of small niggles (before), but nothing too major,’ Gillick said.
‘In 2005 I had a back problem that ruled me out of the World Championships.
‘But at that time I was young and I didn't know how to take it after winning the European Indoor Championships in Madrid and then carrying the injury through the season.
‘Thankfully, since then, everything has been going all right for me.’
Having been a semi-finalist at both the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg and last year's World Championships in Osaka, Gillick is determined to go one better and make the one-lap final in China.
The fastest European so far this year - just ahead of Belgium's Cedric Van Branteghem - he is looking forward to locking horns with his training partner, Britain's Martyn Rooney, and a quality field in London this weekend.
Gillick and Rooney are coached by Nick Dakin at Loughborough University but will face stiff competition on Saturday from top Canadian Tyler Christopher, Andretti Bain of the Bahamas and in-form American Darold Williamson.
‘I don't think (the knock) is going to stop me from training. I'm just going to put the head down and keep going until Beijing,’ he said.
‘I've got a lane in London next Saturday, so I hope to compete there and see how things go and keep going and take it one step at a time.
‘It's a very good meet over there, an excellent standard.
‘It's great to see that there is a good Irish contingent heading over. There's myself and Paul Hession taking part in the sprints and there are a few in the middle and long distance events also.
‘It's nice to go to a good-standard international meet with a good few Irish athletes taking part.’
