GREAT Malvern’s Liam Killeen enjoyed a trial run of the London 2012 mountain biking course to christen the Olympic venue, and now he’s itching to right his Beijing wrongs at the real thing.

The 28-year-old, a former world silver medallist, arrived at the Beijing 2008 Olympics with high hopes of improving on his fifth place at Athens 2004, only for a nightmare start to end his medal hopes before the race had got going.

Lady Luck was not smiling on Killeen as an early crash ensured he was always fighting an uphill struggle and while he battled back manfully, he could only make up enough ground to reach seventh spot.

That effectively meant that had he not crashed, Killeen, the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion, would have been among the medals but with less than 500 days to go until London 2012 he’s desperate to make sure lightning doesn’t strike twice. Killeen was present at the grand opening of the London 2012 mountain bike course at Hadleigh Farm, Essex.

He said: “In Beijing it was a pretty unlucky crash at the very start of the race which put me dead last.

“It was a medal-winning ride but, at the end of the day, I didn’t get a medal because I didn’t have the best of luck.

“But this time, if things go to plan, then I’ll be in contention. There’s not long until the Games now so everyone is thinking about it. There's the extra motivation of it being in London and being able to ride the course really whets the appetite.

“In elite level sport you’ve got to get a bit of luck on the day but you also make your own luck.

“It’s not a straight forward sport as things can go wrong on the bike and people can crash in front of you, there’s always something going on. If anybody comes to watch this event then they will be impressed.”

The London 2012 mountain bike course has not been without its hiccups and back in 2008, the original site Weald Country Park, also in Essex, was deemed too easy by the world cycling governing body.

But Killeen believes everything has now been put right and he’s licking his lips with anticipation ahead of putting the course to the test in the heat of battle this summer.

He added: “The course is very good for spectators and tough for us riders.

“It’s a little shorter than most per lap but, in terms of the physical demands, it’s up there with the toughest courses out there.

“There’s a test event later this year (July 31) and that will be important preparation.

“It’s always different just practicing on the course to when you’ve got a number on and are surrounded by other racers so it will be a good opportunity to test it out for real.”

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