EAST Lancashire’s only medallist at the last Olympics, Colne cyclist Steven Burke has already visualised what he wants from London 2012.
The date will be August 3 and the venue the newly built London Velopark, where the 23-year-old currently looks set to represent Great Britain in the team pursuit.
When the time arrives, they will almost certainly be favourites for gold and Burke’s goal is simple, if not lacking in ambition.
“To win the race and hopefully break a world record with it,” he said.
“I think there’s a very good chance we will.
“That would be the ideal day. You think about it quite a lot. It spurs you on and gets you excited.”
At the age of just 20, Burke claimed a surprise bronze medal in the individual pursuit in Beijing in 2008, as part of a Great Britain cycling squad that swept all before them.
With the individual pursuit now scrapped from the Olympics, he will revert to his more favoured team pursuit in 2012.
His place in the four-man team is not yet confirmed but he has been part of the set-up for some time, with Ed Clancy, Bradley Wiggins and Gera-int Thomas looking likely to complete the quartet.
The chance to challenge for two medals in London remains an ambition, too, although Burke faces fierce competition to secure a place in the omnium.
“I’ve put my name in the hat for the omnium but I haven’t ridden the events in the new format and they’re a lot longer now,” he said.
“I just need to test myself in a World Cup in the winter and see how I go, then decide whether I want to take that up as well.
“There’s only one place for Great Britain so it’s hotly contested. There’s Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas and maybe a couple of others, maybe Mark Cavendish.
“It would be awesome to go for medals in two events but it’s going to be really hard to get into both.
“As long as I’m in the team pursuit I’ll be happy.”
Burke secured bronze in the team pursuit quartet at the recent World Championships and will now use the road racing season to prepare for the World Cup series at the end of the year.
But his focus has always been on 2012, ever since it was announced that London would host the Olympics six years ago.
“Winning on home turf is always a good feeling and to do that at the Olympic Games would make it extra special,” he said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing.”
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