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American sprinter Shawn Crawford returns to the site of his 2004 Olympic gold medal on Monday hoping for a better reception from the Greek fans.

Crawford and his opponents lined up for the 200 metres in the Athens Olympic Stadium while boos rang out.

"I recall a lot of things about the Athens 2004 Olympics. It was my first Olympic Games and the first time I won a gold medal," he said ahead of the Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria.

"I recall lining up in the 200 and listening to all the Greek fans boo because Konstantinos (Kenteris) wasn't in the race."

The fans were angry that their fellow countryman Kenteris was not allowed to participate in the race after a doping violation and took it out on Crawford and the other contestants.

Crawford went on to win the race in a still-personal best of 19.79 seconds and give the USA a gold medal, but now the 31-year-old sprinter says he is looking ahead to the World Championships next month in Berlin.

"I just want to concentrate on outdoing my previous performances," he added. "I'm grateful and enjoyed the Athens 2004 Olympics, but I'm looking forward to obtaining the best I can get out of myself.

"I'm trying to live up to my potential. I have the potential to run a better time than I'm run before. I'm excited to be back in Athens where I had great success and hopefully the same this Monday."

Joining Crawford on Monday at the Tsiklitiria event, which has produced four world records in the past, will be athletes who have won a total of 138 medals in Olympic and World Championships and will be participating in 18 events in the Athens heat.

"I like the hot weather here because it means less warm-up time. I feel the hotter it is the faster I run. I hope to produce pretty good times in both the 100 and 200 metres. I think this will help me boost further my confidence for Berlin," Crawford said.

American team-mate LaShawn Merritt two weeks ago equalled his own world season-leading mark in the 400m, winning the US Championships in 44.50s and will be the favourite to win that event.

His personal best in the event is 43.75 when he won the gold medal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

"I feel great coming from winning the national championships. I hear the Athens Olympic Stadium has a great track and I'm looking forward to running a season's best on Monday. My main focus is to be in top shape for Berlin," said 22-year-old Merritt.

Merritt's main opponent in the 400m will be fellow American Jeremy Wariner, who has a personal best of 43.45 seconds from 2007 and is the reigning world champion.

The two are bitter rivals but have not met on the track so far this year.

"Jeremy is a major competitor. Every time I line up I count nobody out because I know they train has hard as me. I never take anybody lightly. My main focus is winning the race," Merritt said.

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell Brown, holder of a dozen Olympic and World Championship medals, will be in the women's 100m - she is world champion at the distance - while Russia's Gulnara Galkiva, world record holder and Beijing 2008 Olympics champion, will be the one to beat in the women's 3000m steeplechase.

The Tsiklitiria meeting will also feature women's pole vault standouts Russian Svetlana Feofanova, who has broken the world record seven times, and American Stacy Dragila, who has broken the world record six times.

The javelin features Latvian world record holder Vadim Vasilevskis and the recent US Championship winner Michael Rodgers will be competing in the 100m.

AFP