Sprinter Xavier James desperately wants a place in next summer's team travelling to the Athens Olympics.

And he's determined to put in the hard work which he feels could book his ticket.

A clear example of James' perseverance came to light one night this week.

Late on Monday evening, after 10 p.m., while most of his fellow athletes were likely at home preparing for bed, James was braving the cold and damp conditions at National Sports Centre, putting the finishing touches to another rigorous training session.

Such is the 27-year-old Southampton resident's determination to represent Bermuda in the world's premier track and field event in Greece next August, either in the 100 or 200 metres, he's prepared to go the extra mile.

A teacher at Gilbert Institute during the day, James says he has no choice but to continue his training “after hours”despite the fact that he's often alone and, without the help of floodlights, running in the dark.

“You simply have to do what you have to do whether the work is hard or not. You make goals to reach a high standard and in order to accomplish them you have to sweat it out regardless of the conditions,” reasoned James.

After turning in less than successful performances at the World University Games in South Korea and the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic earlier this year, James took a short break, vowing to come back with a carefully planned training schedule, starting in November, which would see him concentrate on his physical conditioning before turning to work on the track.

And he appears to be on course.

James recently moved his preparation up a gear, admitting that his schedule over the next few months would be hectic, involving strenuous workouts and a full commitment towards training here on the Island.

Once into the New Year he hopes to travel to international indoor track meets in both Canada and the United States to put his fitness to the test.

“It involves so much but at least I know what I have to do in order to get ready, that's one thing in my favour,” said James.

“I certainly am not going into this blind, I know I have to get into top competition in order to meet the standards and therefore my goals will be to strive to enter meets that will involve some of the best runners in the world.

“Things are not that bad at night at the Sports Centre, there is not much lighting but I am able to make out and get full use of running on the track which is the important thing right now.”

While getting into top physical shape, James must also come to a decision about which of the two sprint events he will ultimately concentrate on.

He previously made it clear that it was his intention to run either the 100 or 200 but not both.

And he doesn't hide the fact that right now he's leaning towards the shorter distance which has an Olympic qualifying time of 10.26 seconds.

However, a final decision will be based on his performances at the indoor meets early next year.

In the meantime, he'll continue his night-time sessions at the Prospect stadium.