Nicole Jeffery
From: The Australian

September 14, 2010 DESPITE an extraordinarily long competitive season, world indoor long jump champion Fabrice Lapierre is determined to lift himself for one last effort to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Delhi next month.

While in Europe Lapierre expressed doubts last month about attending the Delhi Games,

but he arrived back in Australia last week and declared his commitment yesterday.

"Originally I had doubts but I always wanted to get the gold medal," Lapierre said.

"The only problem I had was that it was in October and I don't really want to jump that late in the year because it's normally my off-season and the world championships are coming up next year.

"But I want to win gold medals, including this one. I won the world indoors and I'd love to back it up with the Commonwealth Games and then next year the world titles before the Olympics (in 2012)."

However he confessed to physical and mental fatigue after traversing the world constantly since March, when he won his first world title indoors in Doha.

"It's been very long. I couldn't wait to come home and have familiar surroundings," he said.

"I've done a ridiculous amount of travelling . . . four trips back to Australia, Doha, China, Europe three times, Texas (where he has his training base)."

He is grateful for a couple of weeks at home to recover before he leaves again for Delhi, but he will also have a serious purpose while he is in Sydney.

After a stellar early season in which he was the dominant jumper internationally, he developed run-up issues in the last month of his European season.

He fouled out of the Diamond League meet in Zurich and then struggled again at last week's Continental Cup meet in Split, Croatia.

"I had six fouls in my last Diamond League meet, which has never happened to me before. And then I had the opposite problem in Split, when I couldn't hit the board," Lapierre said.

"I just have to work on my run-up and get more consistent before the Commonwealth Games."

He hopes to work out some of his technical issues at tomorrow night's Athletics Allstars meet at Sydney Olympic Park, where the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, will also make an appearance.

Both Lapierre and world discus champion Dani Samuels, who will challenge Olympic champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton, will have their last competition there before leaving for the games.

"There's no pressure this week. It's just me out there putting on a show for my friends and family," he said.