Andrea Bliss (right) and Delloreen Ennis-London - file

THE brilliance of Usain Bolt, Melaine Walker and Shelly-Ann Fraser at the Beijing Olympics is already serving as an inspiration to other national athletes.

Many are now looking to repeat the great showing at next year's IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

One athlete who will be hoping to make a mark next year is former St Jago High school hurdler, Andrea Bliss. After being selected to the Beijing Games as an alternate in the 100 metres hurdles, she is highly motivated and thinks 2009 will be a great year for her.

Great experience

"Although I did not get a chance to compete in Beijing it was a great experience for me as I saw what it was like to compete at the highest level and this was really an eye-opener for me,'' said the former Girls' Championships Class One 100 metres hurdles champion.

Bliss knows that this will not be an easy task as she will first have to finish in the top three at the Jamaica Trials next June before she can think about Berlin. With veterans Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Delloreen Ennis-London who were finalists in Beijing and Vonette Dixon who reached the semi-final at the same Games still around, Bliss will have to finish ahead of at least one of those athletes before she can be assured of a spot.

No easy task

Although all three athletes are in their mid 30s they are well set to continue their excellent run. Bliss is wary of the fact that it will be no easy task but stated that she will be ready to take them on.

"Honestly I am not thinking of them because every year is a different year and the past years have been their years of joy and come next year it could be mine," she continued.

The 28-year-old Bliss who now is training in Pasadena, California under the guidance of former top American 110 metres hurdler Larry Wade, stated that her training has started well and she has shown improvement since she began training with Wade last year.

"I have a lot of confidence in Wade," she said.

Other top Americans in this camp include sprint hurdlers Candice Davis and Dominique Arnold along with sprinters Carmelita Jeter and Rodney Martin.

Personal best

Bliss who has a personal best of 12.83 seconds knows that she will have to better this time if she is to make the national team as both Foster-Hylton and Ennis-London are consistent sub 12.6 hurdlers and Dixon is consistently clocking sub 12.8 seconds. "I know that I will have to run somewhere around 12.6 or better if I am to make the team but I am extremely confident that I can do that next year," she said.

Bliss who graduated from the University of Florida in 2004 with a first degree in Tourism stated that she was on target to do well last year but the death of her coach Tom Jones along with working part-time affected her performance.

Jones was the former head coach of Florida University and was also the coach of olympians Kenia Sinclair and Novlene Williams-Mills.

Kerron's motivation

In closing, Bliss stated that she is using the performance of one of her teammates to also motivate her.

"At the 2004 Olympic Games, Kerron Stewart went there as a reserve on the relay team and did not compete but used that experience four years later to lift her performance. She returned this year and ended with silver in the 100 metres and bronze in the 200 metres. Hopefully I can do something similar," she continued. With no part-time job to affect her and now a full-time professional athlete, Bliss says she is now ready for the big time. "I feel very confident and I will be ready next year and my message to all is not to underestimate Andrea Bliss because I will be there," she concluded.