Despite admitting the possibility of being affected by fatigue, Olympic 400m gold medallist Melaine Walker, pleased with a narrow win at the National trials on Saturday night, believes she is back on track for the IAAF World Championships in Berlin.

A close finish in the 400m hurdles finals saw Walker crossing the finish line in 54.70 seconds just ahead of teammate Kaliese Spencer (54.71s). Spencer was a few metres ahead coming down the stretch with Walker closing fast behind her.

Rested and ready

"I am pleased with the time. It shows that we are actually getting there," Walker said. "Last year I did a lot of running and it has probably taken a toll on my body. But by the time Berlin comes around I will probably be rested and ready to run again," she added. According to the hurdler, coming off the turn and being a stride away she was never worried. "If I can stay close until I get over the last hurdle I know I will run my way through," she said.

She expects it to be tougher going into the World Championships but she is preparing herself mentally for it.

Not easy

"The more I can show my toughness the better it is for me. I know going into this year's World Games its not going to be a piece of cake. It's going to be a hard race and I want to be mentally ready for it," Walker said.

If faced with a challenge to run harder at the World Championships, the athlete is ready to do so. She indicated that last year four top athletes were missing from the line-up and she is looking forward to proving herself with them in the mix this year.

"They are always the persons I look up to as an athlete. Now I am in the position where I have to challenge them to beat them. When I do that, then I will feel much more proud of being a winner than just getting a gold medal," Walker said.

She remains positive that the hamstring injury she suffered earlier this year is getting better.

"By the time we get to Italy, where we can relax and do things right, all pain and worries should be gone," Walker said.

Spencer was also happy with the time, as her main aim coming into the competition was to run a personal best.

"I came out here to do my best so I was one of the athletes I thought would do very well. My teammates have also been training very well so I expected that to happen," she said.

Spencer and Walker are both training partners and it was expected that going into the race it would be a first or second-place finish for either of them.