Lausanne, Switzerland - The World 110m Hurdles record holder Dayron Robles, of Cuba, was in Lausanne at the end of last week for a press conference of the Athletissima meeting, of which he will be one of the main attractions on 7 July.

Athletissima is a Super Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.

Robles who has opened his season with two victories - Thessaloniki on 8 June  (13.30 sec) and last night in Ostrava (13.04 sec) - gave the following interview in Lausanne:

“After winning the Olympic title in Beijing last summer, it was a little 'difficult' when I returned to Cuba. Usually, my country wins several gold medals at the Olympics, but not in 2008. Therefore, all the attention was focussed on me, and I had to protect myself from that.”

“Last winter, I got an injury at the indoor meeting in Lievin. That was hard to swallow, as I had had a good winter preparation and had big ambitions. I had felt a little tightening before my injury, but nothing uncommon which I should have seen as a warning signal.”

“I will have many competitors this season, and I respect all of them. Of course, I am looking forward to Liu Xiang’s comeback. That will only push the level of our discipline to the top. But there are also many young newcomers, and that’s good.”

“My main goal this season is of course to win the World title in Berlin. This goal is really close to my heart. In terms of performances, I will again strive for as many sub-13 seconds times as possible.”

 “I didn’t change anything in my preparation this year. But, of course my injury made me lose about one month.”

 “I don’t know where my limits are. But I always try to improve. It is very difficult to run a perfect race, it depends on at least ten factors.”

“In 2008, I was in a very good shape at Athletissima. Unfortunately, I did a mistake and touched a hurdle. But I would be very happy to break my own World record on the track where Xiang Liu had broken one.”

 “When I’m not running, I do lots of other activities. I enjoy listening to music, going out, dancing. I am trying to have a life as normal as possible for somebody of my age (22 years). I am also studying at the University, which also takes me some time”.

 “When I stroll along the streets in La Havana or in Guantanamo, people often come up to me and speak to me, but it remains nice. But sometimes, I put on my black sun glasses and pass by.”

Pierre-André Pasche (Athletissima) for the IAAF