Kent sprint starlet Adam Gemili has revealed that he is targeting a time of under ten seconds in the new year.
The world junior champion at 100 metres received a boost earlier this week as he was awarded elite-level lottery funding following a string of impressive performances during 2012, including a semi-final run at the London Olympics.
Gemili told the Daily Mail that expects to go faster than his personal best time of 10.05sec next season.
He said: “With a full winter training, working on my technique and staying injury free it could happen.
“Competing in London has done a lot for me. Winning the World Juniors was amazing, being in London and going against the real deal, Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake, it was nerve-wracking.
“But it just showed me that it’s not impossible to get to the level they’re at.”
The 19-year-old is gunning to become the youngest man to break the ten-second barrier, a record currently held by Blake at 19 years and 196 days.