Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock says he is relishing the challenges ahead as he looks forward to three action-packed years.
The 21-year-old is the current T44 100m champion after clocking 10.9 seconds in the final at London 2012 to take gold and the Paralympic record in the process.
However, there is no question of resting on his laurels with the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha in October fast approaching.
That will be followed by next summer’s Paralympic Games in Rio before a return to the sight of his finest moment when the World Championships land in London in 2017.
The London Games were a watershed moment for Peacock and he has since followed his win with gold medals at the World Championships in Lyon in 2013 and European gold a year later.
And he says he intends to keep his run of wins going with Doha first on the horizon.
“The winter has been really good to be fair, I’ve had some great training and to be honest I’m really looking forward and just want to get out there now,” said Peacock, who is a BT ambassador.
“There is always something to focus on during the year, last year it was the Europeans and this year we have the World Championships to think about.
“Obviously that is going to be the pinnacle and what ultimately you are long term plan is.
“I’m looking forward to it and hopefully if we can start the season off well then we can end well as well.
“We have three massive years ahead of us with the worlds this year followed by Rio which I’m really looking forward to.
“And then directly after that we have the London 2017 world championships so I think three massive years.”
It will be far-from plain sailing for Peacock if he is going climb atop the podium in Doha and Rio with plenty of emerging talent to push him all the way.
Among the most dangerous is Brazil’s Alan Oliveira who took T44 200m gold in London and, more recently T43 gold at the World Championships in the 100m and 200m.
And with a home crowd behind him in Rio Oliveira will be sure to pose a major threat to Peacock’s chances.
However, Peacock believes the high standard of competition that is currently on show can only be good for the development of Paralympic athletics and hopes to see the trend continue for years to come.
“My main rival is Alan Oliveira and at the end of the day he is the guy that has gone out and run 10.5 so he is going to be a real danger,” he added.
“He is the guy that every single one of us in that line-up is going to want to beat and is the guy we have to keep our focus on and see what he does this year and next and we need to make sure we keep up.
“It’s weird Rio only being a year and a bit away and it seems like yesterday that we were in London and in front of those amazing crowds.
“It’s going to be tough to make sure we are at the best for those three years but I think we have made some good decisions in the sport and it should play out nicely.
“The Paralympics is so strong and it’s only going to get stronger with the youth that we have and showing what they have got.”
Jonnie Peacock and Hannah Cockroft are BT Ambassadors. BT is a long-term supporter of disability sport in the UK.
