Croydon’s James Dasalou is confident of taking the 100m challenge to the top Americans this summer

European 100 metres champion James Dasalou is predicting even better things for 2015.

The Croydon Harrier, who won his first major outdoors title in Zurich last August, believes that his first full winter of hard training without interruption from injury for a couple of years will give him a platform to challenge for bigger honours, including a world championships medal in Beijing later this year.

That means managing to reproduce his sub-10sec performance – the mark of real world-class sprinting – with greater consistency.

“Last season I had an injury which delayed my progress from what I did in 2013,” Dasalou said this week. “This year there’s been no injuries, it’s been plain sailing and building on from what I did last season.

“I want to be even more consistent than I have been in previous years. Things are looking really bright for me this forthcoming year. I started off in South Africa in January doing some warm weather training. I was doing some work with the biomechanist and it’s been showing that I’ve been in better form and shape than I have been.

“I’ve been working on technical aspects so I can become a more efficient runner and run my 100 metres more efficiently. It’s going really well right now,” the 27-year-old said.

Dasalou gave a glimpse of what might lay before him when, in his one and only outing at 60 metres indoors this winter, he produced the second fastest time by a European all season.

“I didn’t do indoors this year. I really wanted to but I’ve done three indoor and outdoor seasons back to back. I just felt like I needed to take a bigger break as I was competing at the back end of September.

“I wanted to start a bit later so I could have a bigger block of winter training which will hopefully help me for my outdoor season.

“Last season for me was just getting out there a bit more, being in the Diamond League events and competing against the best people in the world.

“I had the Europeans which is a building block for taking on the world. We all know the world championships is a different level. Last season was good and I finished off with a win at the Continental Cup. It’s always good to end the season on a high.

“I just want to continue from where I left off last year and competing at the top end high level and exposing myself to the quickest guys in the world.”

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