After pitting herself against the best in the Commonwealth two years ago and emerging with double bronze, sprinter Bianca Williams believes she is well equipped to dealwith the pressure of trying to achieve her Olympic dream.
Two years ago the 22-year-old gained her first experience of a major multi-sport event when she headed north of the border to the Scottish city of Glasgow.
She had only picked up one major international medal previously, courtesy of a silver as part of the 4x200m relay team at the World Relays earlier in the year.
But that collection was bolstered when she sprinted to bronze in the 200m in Glasgow in a personal best time behind Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbareand England teammate Jodie Williams, before also adding 4x100m relay bronze.
She has continued to go from strength to strength since too, including making the 200m semi-final at last summer’s World Championships in Beijing.
And with an Olympic year now upon Williams, and British qualifying standards the name of the game if she wants to book a ticket on the plane to Rio, the sprinter is feeling in good shape.
“The Commonwealth Games was a really good experience for me,” she said.
“Obviously you do not have the likes of the Americans there but we were going up against Australia, Canada, and Jamaica so it was good to test yourself.
“Going into Rio and having had that experience of being in a village and being part of a multi-sport Games will be really useful.
“It’s helped me get used to things, I know a bit more about what to expect and I won’t be overwhelmed by it all.
“I had a training camp at the start of January which was perfect for kick-starting the year.
“It’s scary that this year as come around so quickly, we’re in January now and the months will soon fly by.”
Williams will briefly turn her attentions to indoor matters when she makes an appearance at BUCS Nationals in Sheffield in two weeks time.
But with the outdoor season her main focus this year, the University of East London student intends to use the outing as a way of building fitness.
“BUCS might be my only indoor competition, I might do the national championships but I’m mainly going to be concentrating on my training in the next couple of months,” she added.
“I will see how I go at trials in terms of which distance I will be targeting for Rio. But it would just mean everything to make the team.
“I’m feeling fit and in a better position that I was this time last year so I’m looking forward to getting going.”
Sportsbeat 2016