Heavy winds are set to be the toughest opponent any athlete faces as International Race Weekend kicks off tonight.

While the organisers have been pre-occupied with falling entry numbers, hopes of avoiding a repeat of drug scandals and negative media coverage, the weather seems to be the only thing the competitors are thinking, or talking, about.

Two Elite Mile runners and seven athletes in total were left stranded in the US after a number of major carriers cancelled their inbound flights due to the high winds that blasted the Island last night.

And those who did make it in were still concerned with the blustery conditions that are set to play a major role in who takes home the Front Street Mile title tonight.

Defending champion James Thie, however, is happy in the knowledge that the wet and windy conditions will suit him best.

The Welshman, who muscled past then defending champion Leonard Muchero into a headwind last year to take top honours, believes he is well-placed to repeat that feat.

?I?ve trained really well the past six weeks and I am fitter and stronger than last year,? said Thie, who admitted to having ?half an eye? on this summer?s Olympics in Athens.

?This is exactly the sort of weather we get back in Britain, so it suits me fine. Last year the last 600 metres was run into the wind and I remember the final stretch being the longest quarter-of-a-mile ever.

?I?ve been putting some good miles in ? if someone beats me tonight they will have run a better race.?

He added that, like last year, he was hoping the Bermuda mile would launch his season with March?s World Indoor Championships in Budapest firmly on his mind.

American Christian Hesch, who finished more than three seconds behind Thie as last year?s runner-up, is also back this year while two Kenyans are keen to challenge for the $2,000 prize on their first visits to the Island.

Elkanah Angwenyi, a cross-country, 800 metre and 1500 metre specialist, will be taking part in his first race anywhere outside his African homeland while compatriot Patrick Nthiwa has raced in the States and is a former opponent of Hesch in the Texas mile.

?I hope the wind will slow down,? said the affable Nthiwa, whose near-permanent smile remained intact throughout his interview despite the howling gales.

?There is a lot of wind ? I don?t think there will be records broken.

?You go into every race hoping to try and win. We are hoping to do well, but I can?t promise anything.?

Nthiwa and his compatriot have been on a number of warm-up runs around the Island since arriving on Tuesday and are both feeling relaxed and confident about the race on an Island they both described as ?so nice, with very, very friendly people?.

Bermuda?s Michael Donawa will be looking for a strong performance in front of the partisan crowd as will the Island?s other representative Terrance Armstrong ? when the winds abate to allow him to come home.

Armstrong?s flight was cancelled yesterday and he?s now due to arrive today.