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FEELING POSITIVE: Mark Lewis-Francis

BRITISH SPRINTERS Mark Lewis-Francis and Simeon Williamson will line up against world class sprint powerhouses Asafa Powell and Kim Collins in the Aviva Series 2012, offering fans a sneak preview of this summer’s track action at the London Olympic Games.

Lewis-Francis will line up in the hotly contested 60m sprint at both the Aviva International Match in Glasgow on January 28 and the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on February 18, while Williamson will join the high calibre 60m field at the final meet of the UK indoor season at the NIA.

Twenty-nine-year-old Lewis-Francis sustained an agonising hamstring injury at last February’s Aviva Grand Prix, which derailed his 2011 international campaign, but he is determined not to dwell on the disappointment and will instead look to commence his Olympic year on the right note.

He said: “I’m feeling positive about the year ahead. I had a good year in 2010, winning silver medals in the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, but injury held me back in 2011.  I hope 2012 will be another good year and free of injury. In sport you never know what’s going to happen next, so I’m feeling excited about what’s to come.

“I really want to get in some good performances in the indoor season and make sure I start the year right. I’ve had a good winter and I’m ready to race. If I can get some good results under my belt I’ll take a lot of confidence from that.

“I’ve competed at the Aviva International Match and the Aviva Grand Prix before and they’re two very different meets but both are really important to me this year. The Glasgow meet will be the first time most athletes compete in 2012 so it’s going to give us a good indication of where everyone’s at after the winter. I won the race last year and I want to do the same again in 2012.”

At the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 Lewis-Francis rose to national acclaim when he out-sprinted the USA’s Maurice Greene in the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay to win gold for Great Britain.

This winter he will take on two stalwarts of the international sprint circuit in Kim Collins, a dual bronze medallist at last year’s World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and Asafa Powell, the former World Record holder over 100m, who will make his UK indoor debut.

“Racing a world class field on my home track in Birmingham is going to be a real test but that’s exactly what I need before the World Indoors."