Pozzi in form of his life ahead of quest for European glory

By Matthew Jeynes, Sportsbeat

HURLDER Andrew Pozzi is confident of announcing himself on the big stage after warming up for this month's European Junior Championships with a record-breaking run.

GUNNING FOR GOLD: Pozzi will held to Tallinn for the European U-20 Championships in the best form of his career

The 19-year-old heads to Estonia fresh from laying down a new UK under-20 110metres outdoor hurdles best of 13.29 seconds last weekend at the Bauhaus Junior Gala.

And the teenager made sure people sat up and took notice in Mannheim, with his time a new meeting record as well as a European leading time.

But there is no time to pop champagne corks and as Pozzi prepares for an assault on Tallinn, Pozzi insists he isn't done yet.

"I'd only run 13.61 seconds before Germany and I needed a decent time to put me in the right frame of mind for the European Junior Championships," said Pozzi, the UK junior record holder for the 60m indoor hurdles who benefits from being on the Spar Sprints Star Programme.

"Halfway through the final I knew it had the potential to be really quick if I could stay clear of the hurdles, and now that I've run that time I'm feeling really good.

"I'm really excited about the European Juniors and I am heading there full of confidence after a good season so far.

"It's going to be a really good chance to run well and I am running well already so I'm confident of at least medalling.

"I'll be racing the German Gregor Traber who was No.1 one in Europe so it'll be interesting to see how that goes but so far I'm quite hopeful of beating him."

Pozzi couldn't have asked for a better start to his 2011 season considering he only managed three indoor races last year thanks to a stress fracture in his foot.

And the Stratford-upon-Avon AC starlet has fired a warning shot to his rivals, insisting the best is yet to come as he continues to find his feet.

"I had a whole year off because of a stress fracture in my foot so I've still only really been training for eight months now and getting back into the rhythm of things," he added.

"If I get a good volume of training in I think I'll be in a really good position for next year and pushing for the Olympics.

"The good thing is I know I have more left in me and hopefully everyone will see that in the upcoming competitions."

Brought to you by SPAR, Official Sponsors of UK Athletics, for more information visit www.spar.co.uk

(c) Sportsbeat 2011