Despite the rise to prominence of young Grenadian sprinting sensation Kirani James top local quarter-miler Jermaine Gonzales believes Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt is still the man to beat, come this year's London Olympic Games.

"For LaShawn to be out for two years and come back late last season and run 44 seconds and be so competitive, that shows you how good he is. He has run 43.75 before, and at 25 he is still pretty young. He is quick and strong and I think he is the man to beat, more so than Wariner or James," Gonzales told The Guardian in their London 2012: Olympic Diaries.

The 19-year-old James took gold at last year's Daegu World Championships, with a time of 44.60, coming from behind to beat Merritt who clocked 44.63 for the silver medal. However Merritt has a personal best of 43.75, clocked at the Beijing Olympics in China in 2008. The quarter-miler, however, served a two-year ban after testing positive for a banned steroid Dehydroepiandrosterone, which he claimed was due to the use of ExtenZe, a male enhancement product. While Gonzales believes the athlete is lucky to be able to compete at the upcoming games, he harbours no ill will towards the athlete.

"I'm not the kind of person who could hold a grudge against LaShawn for his drugs ban. We talk a bit when we see each other. He's not a close friend, but he isn't an enemy either. I think he's privileged to have got that chance to run in the Olympics and World Championships again after he was banned," Gonzales said.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who was injured for a good part of the 2010 season, returned to compete at the 2011 games, but missed out on a medal as he finished in fourth spot.

"At the World Championships last year I thought that I was going to get a medal, even though I had no background training. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, which is tough to take. So basically this year I just want to make sure I get that medal," Gonzales said.

"My background training is pretty much over. I'll be running in my first meet of the year, a 4x400m relay, at the end of this month. I'm looking forward to doing some hard racing."

LaShawn Merritt