You got a bit aerated after breaking 45 seconds for the first time at Crystal Palace three months ago. However, if I stay healthy over the winter I'm confident of going for gold in my Welsh vest. I listen to hip-hop, it helps take my mind of the enormity of the task ahead. Have you bumped into Mark Lewis-Francis yet now he has joined your training group in Windsor? How do you think he's going to get along next season? Yeah, of course, we're close friends and have been since our junior days together. I've been showing him around the area and he seems to be enjoying the challenge We even walk our dogs together (Jada and Patch). As for next season I think he's going to be outstanding and will build on his collection of medals! More to the point, how are you going to get along next season? You said after the Ivo Van Damme meeting in Brussels two months ago that you could win the Commonwealth title at the Melbourne Games in March - do you stick by that now you've been named in Wales's team for the Games? The European Champs remain my main target for 2006 but, of course, I will be taking the Commonwealths very seriously. And as for uni drop-outs, Roger's done pretty well for himself without a degree We have a lot in common.
We come from a similar background - Roger's dad was a doctor - and we've suffered from a lot of injuries. University partying didn't quite support it! I'd like to go back and finish my education one day. Talking about athletes who chose sport over their degree, Roger Black [who gave up a place to read medicine at Southampton University] has been helping advise you over the last year. What's the most useful advice you've had from him, and how similar or different do you feel you are? The main thing is all the mental preparation he helps me with, because when I met him I wasn't as confident in my abilities as he and my coach Tony Lester were. It would probably be something in the health and fitness industry. All 400-metre runners say theirs is the toughest event going. Why? Because we're all lazy sprinters at heart, we just couldn't make it over 100m! I wouldn't like to tell Paula Radcliffe that my event is tougher than hers! Did you feel bad about dropping out of university, especially as your dad's a professor? After that question, I do now! In all seriousness, for me it was not an option because to be the very best at what I do you've got to give it 100 per cent; that means absolute commitment in training and lifestyle.
But he too was a shadow of his former self, struggling with a shoulder injury.. If you weren't an athlete, what would you be? I'd probably have set up my own business. I'd like to see how it would develop if I channelled all my efforts into it like I do with my athletics. If you need more aspirin, if you need more ice, this is the time you get it and you don't ask questions."Clemens is not the only Astros warrior fighting in vain against anno Domini. The 37-year-old Jeff Bagwell, designated hitter on Saturday, has been a symbol of the franchise for 15 years.