PHILIP COLLINS will set himself the target of beating his national record of four minutes 35.5 seconds when he competes in the preliminaries of the 4,000 metres track pursuit cycling championship this morning.

Collins, born in Dublin but currently living in Manchester, is one of a only a small number of athletes who have voiced enthusiasm for Atlanta's weather. A four week acclimatisation programme in Florida has helped, but whatever the reason, he is optimistic about his chances of qualifying for the final group of eight.

"Even if I say so myself, my times out here have been remarkable and nobody is more surprised than me," he said. In training this week others have been struggling to break four minutes 50 seconds while I have been under 4:35 a couple of times.

"That is three seconds faster than I expected to be going at this stage and, even if the corners are fairly tight, I'm happy with the track. In the sense that I'm basically out here to get experience for the next Olympic Games, a place in the last eight would be a huge bonus and I think I'm riding well enough to be in with a chance of getting it."

Among those with whom he has trained since arriving is Tony Rominger and the Swiss rider, one of Sean Kelly's more trusted friends, reckons that the Dubliner will do well.