Johannesburg - South African sprint canoeist Alan van Coller jetted off to the Athens Olympic Games with a typically modest but confident comment. "I could not be better prepared", said the 36-year-old Bryanston sprinter.
The typically quiet and modest star of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where he raced into the 500m K1 final, will spend two weeks in Hungary on a final training camp before returning to Athens to start his challenge for Olympic glory.
"All of us train to win", said Van Coller. "I am no different. However I know that I am going better now than I have ever gone in my career", he said.
Van Coller became the first South African paddler to break the elusive one minute thirty eight second barrier for the 500m K1 when he broke that barrier twice at the last World Championships in Gainesville.
Since then he has raced into the 500m K1 final at the Olympic qualifier in Poland, where he was well placed in the top three until the closing stages, and was within a few paddle strokes of the winners, all of whom are genuine Olympic medal contenders.
In the process he proved that he is on a par with paddlers that have been international pacesetters during the past season. "I am really excited", said Van Coller. "I have prepared well, and all that remains is to put in a good performance at the time that counts", said the former marathon star who turned to sprinting six years ago.
Van Coller and his coach Nandor Almasi have deliberately opted to stay away from Athens, and the bustle of the athlete's village, to prepare in the quiet Hungarian countryside.
"The Hungarian team will be training at the Szeged course as well", said Van Coller. "It will give me time to shake off the jetlag, and get used to the warmer weather, and then it is just a short flight to Athens from there", he added.
The only break in this routine will be a flight into Athens to attend the opening ceremony. For Van Coller the pride at representing his country at the world's greatest sporting spectacle is almost overwhelming, and he insisted on not missing the emotional moments marching onto the track with the rest of the team.
"I have picked up a bit of a cold, but in actual fact the timing is quite good", said Van Coller. "I will use the travelling time to shake off the cold, and settle down at the camp. I must admit that I am really looking forward to the warmer weather", said Van Coller.
