World indoor 3000m silver medallist Sergio Sanchez is aiming for the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.

Spanish middle- and long-distance star Sergio Sánchez is aiming for the 5000m and 10000m double at this summer's European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.

Sánchez has been on fire this year. He began the indoor season by rewriting the European 2000 and 3000m records and capped the season with a superb silver medal-winning performance in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha.

The Local Organising Committee of "Barcelona 2010" recently invited Spain's top medal hope to the Olympic Stadium Lluís Companys de Montjuïc to have a first glimpse of the brand new synthetic track that will host the championships later this summer.

"I'm already very nervous, it's only a few more weeks to go and the track is already set. I will do my best to win the two races. I believe I can do it," Sánchez told the B10 website.

In the lead-up to Barcelona 2010, Sánchez will train in Font Romeu, France, together with his teammates from León.

"I still need to lower my weight by three to three-and-a-half kilos at least by July", he said, "It is going to be real hard work but I want to be in perfect shape for the championships".

Sanchez learnt a lot from the bitter disappointment at the World Championships in Berlin last year, when he failed to qualify for the finals of the 5000m, and changed his training pattern for 2010. The results are there to see for all.

"I'm very serious about my goal. I'm doing three training sessions per day. Much more in quantity than last year. Of course, I hope to stay injury free, that's very important".

Over the past few weeks, he has participated in a number of one-mile races across the country.

"It's not my distance and unfortunately, I need to witness how other athletes beat me, although I take it as training session. I need to run these races to accumulate kilometres and power", he added.

He finished third in his last race in Cornellà behind compatriots Manuel Olmedo and Arturo Casado.

"My whole preparation is focusing on one big competition - Barcelona 2010. The most important month for me this year is July", he said, referring to several athletes who are already achieving good results at this point of the season, "for me, it is crucial to peak at the right time. I don't need to run great 5000 and 10000 metres races right now".

However Sánchez still needs to achieve the entry standard for the 10000m race in Barcelona, although, according to him: "that's not a problem at all. I will clock the qualifying standard in Barakaldo or Avilés. I'm not entirely sure where, but both venues are at sea level, so that's perfect. I'm counting on a 27 minutes and something performance".

Although Sánchez has never run a 10000m race he is still confident of breaking the Spanish record (27:14.44) on his debut. "I want to prove that I deserve to represent my country over this distance", he says. "I can even clock sub 27 minutes".

Sánchez knows that the European Athletics Championships will be a huge challenge. To achieve his goal, he will have to run three top races in a span of five days.

"The 5000m semi-final will most probably be a slow race, which will leave me enough time to recover and fight for victory in the final," he said.

On being asked whether he was aware of Marathon legend Haile Gebrselassie's recent praise of his performance at the World Indoor Championships and opinion that he is a future Olympic champion, the Spaniard flashed a modest smile.

"I was amazed, he really sees me as a future Olympic gold medallist. Coming from Haile, that's a great compliment and it gives me a huge motivation to train even harder."