Ambepitiya in men's 100m heats

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Germany

Sri Lanka's Shehan Ambepitiya will be amongst the 96 male sprinters who will come under the starter's orders in the men's 100m first round heats of the 12th IAAF World Championships which begins here in the German capital on Saturday (15).

As the latest edition of the World track and field extravaganza gets underway tomorrow (15), almost all top elite athletes across the globe have arrived here and are hard at practice. The 96 sprinters will compete in 12 men's first round heats to be worked off from 11.40 a.m. (local time).

Sri Lanka's emerging sprinter Ambepitiya, who won three gold medals in the men's 100m, 200m and 400m at the last Junior Commonwealth Games, will compete in men's 100m heat four to be worked off at 12.01 p.m. (local time). With a personal best of 10.43 seconds and a season's best 10.46, the 19-year-old Lankan sprinter will run in lane three, flanked by Faisal Mohammed (Brunei) on lane two and Massoud Azizi of Afghanistan on lane four.

In heat four

Of the eight sprinters down to compete in the men's 100m heat four, along with Ambepitiya, American Monzavous Edwards (10.02) and Britain's Dwain Chambers (10.04) have the fastest timings this season.

In fact, Chambers has a personal best of 9.97 for his bronze medal winning effort at the 7th IAAF World Championships in Seville exactly ten years ago.

"I am keeping my cool. They may be big names, but I will keep my head down and try to give out my best.

If I can better my personal best and advance to the second round, that alone is a victory for me. I will take it step by step," Ambepitiya said after his final workout today. Sri Lanka coach Sunil Gunawardene was optimistic of Ambepitiya doing well.

"It is a tough task but if this boy could better his personal best, rewrite the Sri Lanka record and make his presence felt, that would be a positive sign for the future. Participating with the cream of world sprinters and establishing a Sri Lanka record too is a great milestone.

If he could do that as a wildcard entry, I am more than satisfied, the former Asian Games gold medallist turned coach said.

Bolt hot favourite

The hot favourite for the fastest man of the World Championship title Usain Bolt said he's ready for what may be the signature show case showdown of the Berlin World Championships.

"I just can't wait to get on the track," the 22-year-old triple Olympic gold medallist said today.

"I have no (physical) worries, I'm in really good shape. I'm just itching to run. I just can't wait," he said on the eve of the men's 100m trials.

Bolt said he is not predicting another triple World record performance to outdo his 2008 Olympic achievements, but he's not ruling that out either. "You never know with me what it's going to be," he said.

"Last year nobody knew what the World record time was going to be. You never know what's possible.

I just want to run. I just want to go out there."

It was only an year ago that Bolt blasted to a 9.69 performance in the 100m, followed up with 19.30 in the 200m, and capped his stay in the Chinese capital as part of the victorious Jamaican relay quartet which clocked 37.10, all world records.

Despite his Olympic glory in Beijing last year, Bolt is yet to win a World Championship title, having bagged only the 200m silver behind American Tyson Gay two years ago. But Bolt said he isn't feeling any pressure inherent to his role as favourite. As has become traditional at every IAAF World Championships in Athletics, the IAAF Council and the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) met today in Berlin to discuss several important issues.

Very good collaboration

Following their meeting at the Hotel Intercontinental, Berlin, ahead of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which begin on Saturday at the German capital's 1936 Olympic stadium, IAAF President Lamine Diack and IOC President Jacques Rogge held a joint press conference at which the leader of the Olympic movement confirmed that there was "very good collaboration at all levels" between the IAAF and IOC, and reaffirmed Athletics' number one position within the Olympic Games. "The ratings for track and field were absolutely very high in Beijing last year.

There were increased television ratings of plus 20 percent across all sports of which track and field is a part.

But particularly something to rejoice, not only were television audiences generally higher but specifically the youth aged 12 to 24 category, where there had been a slump since 1992 in Barcelona, has revived again and it is very reassuring," commented IOC chief Jacques Rogge.

"That there is a vast and healthy interest in track and field and that it is, and nobody will challenge this, is the most universal of sports, the most important at the Olympics Games and has fantastic assets, there is no doubt about that" he added.

BERLIN, Friday.