Rate it!

0 votes

Vicky Barr is intent on following up her first major championship appearance by claiming some "major scalps" at the British Grand Prix on Monday.

Barr took her place alongside Lee McConnell, Christine Ohuruogu and Nicola Sanders in the 4x400m relay team which finished fourth at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

The 27-year-old will take on a tough field in her home town of Gateshead which includes Olympic champion Ohuruogu and Debbie Dunn, part of America's gold medal-winning relay team in Berlin.

But having clocked 51.25 seconds in the World Championship relay heat, Barr said she is in the shape of her life and is ready to mix it with the world's best.

"Berlin was amazing I'd been to two major championships before in Osaka and Beijing but never run so it was great to be part of the relay team and I ran quicker than I ever have done before," said Barr.

"I want to run 51 seconds again and I'm aiming for a PB. There's some great girls running like Christine and a couple of the Americans but I want to try and pick up a couple of scalps.

"Although I've got the slowest PB on paper, you can always be pulled along I run better under pressure and I'm confident that I can run quicker than I have been.

"It's my first individual 400m for over five weeks so I'm really excited about going out there and seeing what I can do.

"This year has been a bit of a breakthough and I've just got to keep making steps forward."

Barr returns to the North East after deciding to up sticks and move to London to train alongside Ohuruogu and Donna Fraser at the Lea Valley Athletics Centre.

And despite missing out an individual berth in Berlin after being struck down by illness at the Aviva World Trials and UK Championships, Barr insists there is more to come starting on Monday.

"It's always great to come home because the support is fantastic: the North-East fans are always very loyal so I'm hoping for a big cheer," she added.

"The North East can can forgotten about in athletics - it's improving all the time and is in great shape at the moment.

"It has been a great year for me and my training has been fantastic, I'm feeling really positive and everything is going in the right direction.

"I want a PB in Gateshead and then I need to keep taking chunks out of it over the next year until London 2012.

"There's a couple more races I want to do before the end of the season and I need to sit down with my coach and decide where I'm going I still feel like I've got something left in my legs."

Britain's two World Championship gold medallists Jessica Ennis and Phillips Idowu will feature at the meeting, heptathlon champion Ennis running in the 100m hurdles against newly-crowned world champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton.

In the men's 400m double gold medallist LaShawn Merritt leads a quality field including three of Britain's Beijing 4x400m silver medallists Michael Bingham, Rob Tobin and Martyn Rooney.

Tyson Gay, who took 100m silver behind world-record breaking Usain Bolt in Berlin, starts alongside three of the British relay team Tyrone Edgar, Marlon Devonish and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey.

World 200m champion Allyson Felix and bronze medallist Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie will also face off.

More than the Games / Eurosport