In two weeks time, the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot will be in full swing. But will the men’s 60m spring a surprise champion and could it even be an athlete making his debut for his country who did not think he would be in the team?
Stranger outcomes have happened in athletics, which is why Great Britain’s Richard Kilty will go to Poland full of confidence.
Last weekend Kilty finished fifth in the 60m in 6.57 at the Sainsbury’s Indoor Grand Prix, just before the squad was announced, where he would have expected James Dasaolu and Dwain Chambers to be the two sprinters chosen.
But that race in Birmingham ended in victory and ultimately despair for Dasaolu. Earlier in the afternoon he had won his semi in 6.47, the fastest time in the world this year, and then took the final in 6.50 but suffered injury during it.
The leg injury has ruled Dasaolu out of Sopot, opening the way for Kilty, 24, to land his senior British championship debut and he is hoping to make his mark in the way his teammate might have.
'If I can run that perfect race, there's so many guys within a couple of hundredths that I think I can go to Poland and win,” said Kilty, a UK junior 100m champion, speaking to BBC Tees.
'But that's the case for a lot of athletes. My first target is to make the final as then anything can happen.
'I think I can run sub 6.50. I was a little fatigued in Birmingham having raced three hard rounds in the UK trials the weekend before.
Like Chambers, Kilty has a season’s best of 6.53 from the British trials. It was also his personal best and a time which puts them joint eighth on a world list where the leading two men will not be at the championships.
Along with Dasaolu, France’s Jimmy Vicaut was not planning to be in Sopot, even though he looked impressive in those Birmingham heats when he ran 6.48.
Outside of fellow Britons, Germany’s Alex Schaf is behind them in the European Athletics rankings with 6.59 from Sindelfingen while Christian Blum, of Belgium, has run 6.63.
France’s Christophe Lemaitre, the double European 100m champion, has gone quicker with 6.61 but reports have indicated he would not be competing in Sopot.