July 31st, 2012 -- The former 100m world champion is desperate to add an Olympic medal to his collection that includes a World Championship 100m gold, Commonwealth Games gold and two World Indoor Championship silvers.
Collins made an appearance at the Ridlins Athletics Track in Stevenage on Monday to meet the British media with the rest of the Saint Kitts and Nevis team, who are holding a pre-Games training camp in Watford before the main event begins.
On his lifelong ambition of winning an Olympic medal, the 36-year-old 100m, 200m and 4x100m sprinter told the Comet: “It’s that one thing that you’re chasing all your life.
“Considering I have won medals in everything except it, it is the one that I’ve been chasing and continue to chase, it [the Olympic Games] really means a lot.
“So many people from so many countries, so many sports, come together and everybody wants to have that Olympic medal.
“When you are a collector, and there is one thing you need, but you don’t have it, you want it.
“Considering this is my fifth Olympics, if you have five chances you have to get it at least once.”
Back in 1996 Saint Kitts and Nevis made its debut as a nation at the Olympic Games and Collins was the sole male competitor in the team.
After then appearing at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games he is still looking for that elusive medal.
Collins is hoping to put a disappointing 2008 Beijing Olympic Games behind him. He only made the 100m semi-finals in China and was sixth in the 200m final.
Ahead of London 2012, he said: “I’m looking forward to it considering what happened last time, I didn’t have a great time.
“I’m just going to take in one race at a time and get to the final and hope for the best.”
Collins was in action on Friday night at the Samsung Diamond League in London, and he clocked 10.19secs in the 100m semi-final to qualify for the final, however he did not race it.
“I had a little pain in my groin,” he revealed.
“I didn’t run the final because I didn’t want to make it worse.
“At this point so close to the Olympics you don’t want to take any chances, so I did the right thing.”
American Tyson Gay went on to win the final in a time of 10.03secs.
When discussing the men’s 100m at the forthcoming Games it is unaviodable not to mention the fastest man on earth, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt.
Collins said: “I have raced him [Bolt] many times, but I mean he’s the champion and everybody comes for him.
“If you are another person in the race everyone will be focusing on him and nobody else ‘cos he’s the champion.
“We get the question all the time ‘have you ever raced Usain Bolt? Have you ever beat him?’ we all want to say ‘yes’ before he retires.
“So if he’s around for the next five, 10 or whatever years once you have raced him you want to beat him at any point, even in the rounds.”
Collins enjoyed one of the greatest races of his career on English soil in 2002.
He clocked a personal best 9.98secs, breaking the 10-second barrier, to collect the Commonwealth Games 100m gold medal in Manchester.
Will he complete his collection in England and add an Olympic medal to it at the fifth time of asking?
Well we will all find out within the next month.
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