ATHENS: When American sprinter Shawn Crawford and his opponents lined up at the 200 metre dash during the Athens 2004 Olympics, they received a harsh round of boos from the mostly Greek fans in the packed Athens Olympic Stadium.

On Monday Crawford returns to the same track, and this time he expects the Greek spectators to be more polite.

"I recall a lot of things about the Athens 2004 Olympics. It was my first Olympic Games and the first time I won a gold medal.

"I also recall lining up in the 200 and listening to all the Greek fans boo because Konstantinos (Kenteris) wasn't in the race," Crawford told a press conference Thursday to promote Monday's 12th IAAF Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria 2009.

The fans then were angry that their fellow countryman Kenteris was not allowed to participate in the face after a doping violation and took it out on Crawford and the other contestants.

Crawford went on to win the race in a still personal best of 19.79 seconds and give the USA a gold medal but now the 31-year-old sprinter says he is looking ahead to the World Championships next month in Berlin.

"I just want to concentrate on outdoing my previous performances. I'm grateful and enjoyed the Athens 2004 Olympics, but I'm looking forward to obtaining the best I can get out of myself. I'm trying to live up to my potential.

"I have the potential to run a better time than I'm run before. I'm excited to be back in Athens where I had great success and hopefully the same this Monday," he added.

Joining Crawford on Monday at the Tsiklitiria event, which has produced four world records in the past, will be athletes who have won a total of 138 medals in Olympic and world championships and will be participating in 18 events in the Athens heat.

"I like the hot weather here because it means less warm-up time. I feel the hotter it is the faster I run. I hope to produce pretty good times in both the 100 and 200 metres. I think this will help me boost further my confidence for Berlin," Crawford said.

American teammate LaShawn Merritt two weeks ago equaled his own world season-leading mark in the 400 metre winning the U.S. Championships in 44.50 seconds and will be the favorite to win that event at the Tsiklitiria.

His personal best in the event is 43.75 when he won the gold medal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

"I feel great coming from winning the national championships. I hear the Athens Olympic Stadium has a great track and I'm looking forward to running a season's best on Monday. My main focus is to be in top shape for Berlin," said 22-year-old Merritt.

Merritt's main opponent on Monday in the 400 metre race will be fellow American Jeremy Wariner, who has a personal best of 43.45 seconds from 2007 and is the World Championships defender in the event.

The two are bitter rivals but have not met on the track so far this year.

"Jeremy is a major competitor. Every time I line up I count nobody out because I know they train has hard as me. I never take anybody lightly. My main focus is winning the race," Merritt said.

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell Brown, holder of a dozen Olympic and World Championship medals, will be in the women's 100 metre race - she is world champion at the distance - while Russia's Gulnara Galkiva, world record holder and Beijing 2008 Olympics champion, will be the one to beat in the women's 3000 meters steeplechase.

The Tsiklitiria meeting will also feature women's polevault standouts Russian Svetlana Feofanova, who has broken the world record seven times, and American Stacy Dragila, who has broken the world record six times.

The javelin features Latvian world record holder Vadim Vasilevskis and the recent U.S. Championships winner Michael Rodgers will be competing in the 100 metres.

- AFP/yt