Ato Boldon of Trinidad will attempt to distance himself from one of track and field's more unenviable labels in Athens over the next two days. In his last two major championships, he has picked up three bronze medals, including one from the 100 metres championship in the last world championships in Gothenburg.

Now the 23-year-old extrovert, who qualifies easily for any list of the sport's better talkers, aims to show that he no longer deserves to be known as one of the sport's more consistent losers.

"Only one guy can win the title and I don't think I did myself any harm, either in Gothenburg or Atlanta where I finished third in both the sprints. But just in case, there are still some who doubt my ability to make it to the top station on the podium, I aim to set their minds at ease. "I've done my time as a minor player. Now I intend to show that when it comes to the big test, I've got what it takes. And I will. The records certainly support that show of confidence.

While Olympic and world champion, Donovan Bailey, went chasing cash, notably in that controversial showdown with Michael Johnson in Toronto, Boldon set about the challenge of establishing himself as a genuine title contender, in a manner which brooked no real argument.

In a season in which much of the glory has gone to the distance men - notably Daniel Koeman in that astounding two-mile record run - Boldon has proved himself the fastest over both 100 and 200 metres this summer. And he will be hoping his girlfriend's predictions continue to come true. "She rang me before I raced in Eugene and said she had seen a vision what time I would run," Boldon said yesterday. "It was 9.92 seconds and that's exactly what I ran. She's rang me while I've been here and said it's happened again. The time is 9.76 seconds." That is 0.08 faster than the world record Bailey set in Atlanta last year when winning the Olympics and would eclipse the 9.79 Ben Johnson ran at the 1988 Seoul Olympics before he tested positive for anabolic steroids and was banned. Championship competition imposes a different range of priorities, however, and when he gets on the blocks for the heats of the 100 metres this morning, he will be grimly aware of the test of character it represents.

For one thing, he will be re-engaging Bailey, a proven championship competitor, whose response has seldom been less than adequate on the days it mattered most. The naturalised Canadian has been suffering from what is thought to be a viral infection and significantly, perhaps, did not present himself for a scheduled press conference here.

Yet, the word from his handlers is that he is now restored to full health and ready to re-establish himself as favourite to keep his title by the time they present themselves on the start line for the final tomorrow evening.

At his best, the temperamental American, Maurice Greene is also capable of some explosive running but the bigger threat to Boldon and Bailey, however, may emanate from the popular Namibian, Frankie Fredericks, who delighted so many with his 200 metres win at Stuttgart four years ago.

These are the first world outdoor championships to carry cash prizes and in addition to the £40,000 which goes with each individual title, there is a glittering bonus of more than £60,000 to be won for a world record. That will certainly heighten the pressure now and Bailey, for one, is not over confident of collecting the bonus.

"Sure, it would be nice to pick up the extra cash but my priority is to get over the finish line first," he said. "And I'm certain, that goes for the others as well."

Neil Ryan of Nenagh, will be Ireland's representative in the 100 metres and will be encouraged by the fact that he has been drawn in what appears to be one of the easiest of the 13 heats. To progress to the second round, however, he must run close to his personal best of 10.46 seconds and that will be the great spur for him.

Roman Linscheid will be in action in the hammer championship this morning with little hope of qualifying for the final from Pool B and later in the day, Tom McGuirk, one of the American-based members of the team, opens his challenge for the 400 metres hurdles championship.