Kaliese Spencer

Four-hundred metres hurdler Kaliese Spencer is brimming with confidence and optimism for the rest of the season, after setting a world-leading time of 54.20 seconds at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix Meet last Sunday.

"Sunday's victory was a confidence booster for me, knowing that I opened up with a good time and seeing that two of my main competitors, Melaine (Walker) and Demus (Lashinda), finished behind me, that has motivated me." Spencer said in a recent interview.

"Running that time has shown that I am in great shape, but it was not a perfect race, as there was a lot of shuffling approaching some of the obstacles, which will be corrected as the season goes by," she added.

The former World Junior champion in the event has shown tremendous improvement over the past two seasons in what has become her pet event. Spencer ran a personal best of 53.33 seconds last year in Zurich, and was crowned Diamond League champion in the event. But, despite the breakout season, Spencer does not believe she is under pressure to maintain her impressive record this year.

"There is no pressure for me. I know that I have trained very hard and all I have to do is to execute what I have done in my workouts and as long as I continue to do so, I will continue to do well," she said.

Spencer was behind Demus for the majority of the event, but found top gear in the latter stage of the race.

That late kick could be attributed to the athlete having run several 800 metres early season, but she does not believe it was a major factor.

"That is the way I normally run my races and I am able to finish strong, but running the 800 metres was very good."

With so much early season promise shown, many speculated that Spencer could be the top quarter-miler this season.

However, at the Jamaica International Invitational, she finished behind Novlene Williams-Mills and Rosemarie Whyte. Despite that, the hurdler is considering doubling at the Jamaica National Championships next month, but remains undecided.

"Not sure about that (doubling), this will be a decision between my coach and myself," she said.

"In that race (JIII meet), I was trying something new by going out slower than usual, but it did not work."

Spencer's next flat 400-metre race will be the Adidas Grand Prix meet in New York in early June.