Southend Sport
In-form Gianni hoping for PB on international duty
6:00pm Friday 27th January 2012
GIANNI Frankis hopes to continue his blistering start to the indoor season when he races in Slovakia this weekend.
The 23-year-old from Pitsea won the 60m hurdles at the Southern Indoors in a championship record time of 7.76 seconds.
And he is now aiming to go even faster when he pulls on the England vest tomorrow.
“It’s always fantastic to race internationally and I’m looking forward to doing that and hopefully setting a new personal best tomorrow,” said Frankis.
“I was only just outside by PB last weekend and that was far from a perfect race so there are plenty of things I can do to hopefully go even further.”
Frankis narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Championships last summer but that disappointment spurred him on during the winter months.
He now looks in fine shape and is feeling confident after such a good performance at Lea Valley.
“I’ve been happy with my winter training but it’s nice to get a race in which actually shows you’re doing well,” said Frankis.
“But my aim is to now perform well consistently and put myself back on the map.”
Frankis is also targeting a place in World Indoor Championships but for that to happen he knows he must perform at the trials which take place in Birmingham over the weekend of February 11.
“I really can’t wait for the trials now,” said Frankis.
“I’m confident go in to them and I want to go there and do myself justice and get a place in the squad.
“The outdoor season remains my priority and making sure I’m at the Olympics.
“But going in to that on the back of a successful indoor season would be a huge boost and that’s obviously what I’m working towards achieving.”
l Frankis ran a personal best 60m flat at the Newham Open meeting at Lee Valley on Wednesday night, clocking a time of 6.85s.