Reigning Olympic and European Marathon champion Stefano Baldini left for Windoeck, the capital of Namibia, on 6 January for the first of two training stints in preparation for the 2007 season.

	Stefano Baldini hopes 2007 is as good as 2006.

The Italian marathon star, who won his second European title last summer in Gothenburg, capped his remarkable season with a fifth place in the high-level Boclassic road race in Bolzano on 31 December in which he finished as the first European athlete behind four top runners from Africa, led by winner Abderrhaim Goumri from Morocco. For Baldini it was the ninth appearance of his long career in the Boclassic end-of-the year race.

During 2006 the Italian star improved his national record to 2:07:22 in the Flora London Marathon in April before clinching an impressive European Athletics title in Gothenburg in August. Later in the year he ran his third seasonal marathon in eight months in New York where he crossed the finish-line in sixth place in 2:11:33. The average time of his three marathons in 2006 is 2:10:35 which once again proves his consistency.

"The New York Marathon did not go as I had expected but this year was probably the last chance of my career to compete in New York as a reigning Olympic Champion" he said.

"Looking back at 2006 it was one of the best years in my career. I hope that 2007 will be as successful as 2006. The Bolzano race went beyond my expectations. During 2006 I ran three marathons and for this reason I could not be in my best form at the end of December. In Bolzano I managed to stay in the leading pack of African runners until the last lap. They are more used to short distance races and when they launched their attack I could not respond. But I am happy because I ran one of my best times over the 10 km Bolzano course (28:43)" added Baldini.

He will prepare in earnest for 2007 in Namibia, a country which he knows very well after spending most of his past winter seasons there. "I will stay in Namibia until 29 January. After my return to Italy I will run my first race at the Italian Club Cross Country Championships in Modena on 11 February. In March I will spend a second period in Namibia in the build-up to the London Marathon."

Baldini's major target for his next two seasons will be the defence of his Olympic title in Beijing in 2008. "I want to stay healthy in 2007 and begin my preparation for Beijing in good form. The World Championships in Osaka (25 August-2 September) is also important for me but I fear that the hot and humid climate in the Japanese city at that time of the year may affect my preparation for Beijing. I would like to run in Osaka because running championships races always motivates me but at this stage of my career I have to be careful if I want to be in my best form for Beijing 2008 which will be the final big marathon race of my career", confirmed Baldini.