Top 5 athletes to watch out for in 2011

Here, I   predict five athletes who could make a real impact in 2011...

Kaliese Spencer (JAM) – (400m hurdles) “I’m really impressed by Kaliese Spencer and I have her marked down as a future Olympic champion. She trains in Asafa Powell’s training group and I was very impressed seeing her finish second behind Lashinda Demus in Rome last year. She ran 53.33 last season and is a genuine gold medal threat at other championships. Barring injury she’ll be the next Olympic champion. She is built for the event with long legs. Very slick over the hurdles and she just runs the race very well. There are things she can improve on still because she is so young, but she does run the race exceptionally well.”

Martyn Rooney (GBR) – (400m) – “I think he’s learned a lot about his event over the past couple of years and I think now he understands himself and what he needs to do to make things happen at the World Championships. I think his consistency of performance has improved and I think we’ll see more of that next year. If he can run 44.5-44.6 more next year then he can really threaten that British record of Iwan Thomas. He is at the sort of age when everything can fall into place. He may find his body is strong enough to shrug off the injury niggles and really realise his potential.”

Greg Rutherford (GBR) – (Long Jump) – “Similar to Martyn I think Greg has always had the potential. Two or three years people asked me who to look out for at the 2012 Olympics and I always said Jessica Ennis, but the other one was Greg Rutherford because he is immensely talented and I believe he is someone that will make a big breakthrough next season. Technically he’s very sound he enjoys what he is doing and that is also a very important factor.”

Kirani James (GRN) – (400m) – “Still aged only 18 Kirani is one of the world’s most exciting one-lap talents. He has already recorded 45.01 for the 400m and is the reigning World Junior and World Youth champion. He is from Grenada one of the smaller Caribbean islands but I’m sure following the success of Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas he will be desperate to make a mark and raise the profile of his island."

Darya Klishina (RUS) – (Long Jump) – “You could say she has already arrived having jumped 7.03m this year, but she is still aged only 19 so she has huge potential. Often to reach your peak in the long jump you need to peak into the event but she is some way short of maturity, so there is still room for lots of improvement. I’m excited by her prospects at the World Championships in Daegu.