COLLINS
ATHENS, Olympics, CMC:
WORLD 100-metre champion Kim Collins of St. Kitts/Nevis believes Jamaica's 100-metre champion Asafa Powell is taking a lot of pressure off him by being widely regarded as the favourite to win the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
"Everybody is expecting Asafa to win and that definitely takes the pressure off me," said Collins.
The 28-year-old Collins was speaking to a CMC team following a well-attended news conference he gave at the Adidas office established in Athens for the Olympics.
The St. Kitts/Nevis superstar, who won Commonwealth and Central American & Caribbean (CAC) gold two years ago, emphasised that he is in excellent shape and very confident that he would be among the top contenders in the 100 metres.
Collins said he enjoys not being in the spotlight as was the case in last year's World Championships in Paris, France when he won the gold medal.
He said that he hopes that Jamaica's Powell, the current world number one, does not feel pressured to win every round leading into the finals, but as a competitor he was not in a position to offer any advice.
Collins was a picture of confidence as he relaxed in the comfortable setting at a promotional centre established by Adidas in Athens for the Olympics.
The reigning World champion reminded the team that this was his third Olympic Games and given that experience, he expected to perform very well.
He said that he was satisfied with his preparation leading into the Games and did not regard any competitor as a major threat.
"I consider everyone in the race as a threat," he said. "I have no plans to look on the sprinter to my left or right, but simply concentrate on my own race."
Asked to comment on living conditions in the athletes' village in Athens, Collins said that he was not complaining.
"The conditions were the same for everyone in the village so I see no need to complain," he said.
Collins hailed the people in his native St. Kitts/Nevis for the support they had given him leading up to the 2004 Olympics and reassured them that he would do his very best in Athens in the knowledge that they would all be rooting for him in his homeland.
