Blake

LONDON, England:

Considered by many to be the main threat to Usain Bolt's Olympic ambitions, world 100m champion Yohan Blake has downplayed his rivalry with his training partner, but warned that it's "every man for himself" when the 100m and 200m competition starts here in a couple of days.

The 22-year-old, who was speaking at a press conference hosted by his sponsor adidas, at the Westfield Mall in London, was a picture of confidence as he fielded questions from more than 150 media professionals.

Blake, who got the better of Bolt at the Olympic trials in Kingston a few weeks ago in both the 100m and 200m, underlined that he remains close friends with the triple Olympic champion and world record holder, but that when both of them face each other at the starting line, there will be no place for friendships.

"Usain and I are always friends, we always joke around in training and for us it's always fun. When we are training it's all about fun, but on the day it's business," said Blake, who is currently the fastest man on the planet with a season and personal best time of 9.75.

good chemistry

"Win, lose or draw we are still going to be friends so we are just keeping a good chemistry going into the Olympics, but when we line up it's all business, it's each man for himself.

"It's not about beating Usain, it's about getting the gold," Blake said.

Blake took the 100m gold medal at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, last year after Bolt was disqualified for a false start. He later posted the second-fastest time over the 200m, 19.26, which is only bettered by Bolt's 19.19 word record, to cement his status as one of the world's premier sprinters.

"I am not focusing on Usain, I am thinking about good race execution on race day," Blake maintained. "When you focus on other guys you may not get the job done. My philosophy is just to aim high and work hard, and on that day we will see what happens."

"All I do is try to have fun, it's never about seriousness or going to the line straight-faced, I just try to get myself comfortable. I don't need to scare the other athletes, when I run it scares them already," Blake laughed.