11:58am Wednesday 14th July 2010
Harrow's Marilyn Nwawulor insists her rivalry with Britain's double world youth champion Jodie Williams will give her the edge over the opposition at next week's World Junior Championships.
The 17-year-old set a new lifetime best of 11.65 when she chased home Williams – who crossed the line in 11.28secs – to finish second at last month's trials and secure a trip to Moncton.
Williams has had an astonishing start to the season clocking the fourth fastest under-17 200m time ever and smashing the British junior 100m record to limit Harrow AC sprinter Nwawulor's time in the spotlight.
And after spending all summer playing second fiddle on the domestic circuit the St Dominic's Sixth Form College pupil is desperate to see what the rest of the world has to offer.
"I have the World Juniors coming up now and that is what I am concentrating on really," said Nwawulor.
"I haven't had too much experience racing against the international girls but I have been racing against Jodie Williams and she is pretty much an international by herself.
"Racing with Jodie is a great experience and she spurs me on to go faster. She is a really good athlete and it is good to race against her because she is so fast.
"As well as doing the 100m in Canada I am also part of the relay squad and we have a pretty strong squad going out there and I think we have a really good chance of getting a medal in that – as long as we can hold off the Jamaicans and Americans."
Nwawulor warmed up for the world juniors in style by holding off the challenge of Georgia Lamothe to claim 100m gold at the English Schools' Championships in Birmingham in 11.89seconds.
And despite establishing herself as one of Britain's brightest sprinting prospects, the Harrow ace has refused to put all her eggs in one basket.
"I am pleased to get the win but my time wasn't that great and I would have liked to have gone faster," added Nwawulor.
"Compared to my personal best I am a lot faster than that but I have to be happy to walk away with the gold medal.
"It was my fifth year and for the last few years I have been coming second so it is great to finally get that gold and this year is by far the best year for me."
Lloyds TSB Local Heroes is an initiative in partnership with SportsAid providing support and funding to over 270 of Britain's most talented developing athletes on their journey to London 2012 and beyond. To find out more about Lloyds TSB Local Heroes visit www.lloydstsb.com/localheroes
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