Daniel Caines of Great Britain (© Getty Images)
“Hello everyone,
“Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. The New Year has started very well for me. I have been on a training camp in Portugal and returned yesterday. I went there with my father who is also my coach and my training partner.
“The first three days were really warm and I was able to do some quality training. I feel very good at the moment and look forward to competing soon. My first competition is next week but my first 400m will be on 2 February in Glasgow.
“To be totally honest with you all, my primary objective this year is to remain injury free and perform well in Birmingham. As far as my indoor season is concerned, not only do I want to retain my title but I also want to do it well. I want to do it with style. Outdoors, on the other hand, I aim at a World Championships medal.
“Then there is the relay, in which the British team has always performed well. I still don’t know if I will be part of the team as it seems everybody will be competing indoors. There are several good guys that can make the team, guys like Matt Elias for instance. It will be interesting to be in the same relay team after the Commonwealth Games where he anchored for Wales and I anchored for England. He’s an excellent athlete and has made a lot of progress recently, all credit to him.
“Training with my father has proved an excellent thing. You know, my father is my best friend and I have a lot of respect for him. He is very knowledgeable about the sport and every youngster that joins our group is happy with his training. We try and set very high standards for ourselves and then meet these standards. That is the way we work.
“My home city of Birmingham has already started its promotion for the World Indoor Championships and there are banners that say ‘Birmingham: World Championships City’ pretty much everywhere. They are working hard on renovating the area where the Championships will take place. We’re talking about massive developments here, I am not sure they will make it on time for the Championships but it is an excellent way of developing the city. Birmingham is now second only to London in the UK.
“It hasn’t been decided yet which athlete will represent the Championships in their promotional campaign. They are talking about Ashia Hansen, Jonathan Edwards and others including myself. It would be an honour for me to sponsor the event. It would make me proud to do something for my hometown. I will keep you posted on developments!.”
Daniel Caines