CHEPSTOW’S Jenny McLoughlin admits she will have to pull out the best performance of her fledgling career to date if she is to medal at the IPC World Athletics Championships.

The 19-year-old sprinter has travelled to New Zealand for the championships, which start today, following a promising 2010 that saw her claim 100m and 200m bronze at the Paralympic World Cup and silver in the former at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

McLoughlin will line up in the T37 100m and 200m again in Christchurch, where she will renew her rivalry with fellow Brit Katrina Hart, while also joining forces with her for the 4x100m relay.

The Chepstow sprinter finished behind Hart at both the Paralympic World Cup and Commonwealth Games last year but insists she will have to be on red-hot form just to medal let alone beat Hart.

“I think I will have to run out of my skin to get on the podium because there is going to be some tough racing but you never know what might happen,” said McLoughlin.

“I am pretty confident and going to the Commonwealth Games gave me a lot of confidence. It was a great experience and I know I’m in good condition at the moment.

“I would probably say the 200m is the one I prefer, you have to get a good start in the 100m and there is a bit more leeway in the 200m and I think I run a good bend as well.

“Katrina is going to be out there and I think we do push each other on. We both want to do well and that is good for the team but we both do our own things and just meet on the track.

“But aside from Katrina I race with the other girls I am going to come up against all the time. I did at the Paralympic World Cup and in Delhi and now at the worlds.”

McLoughlin – a former Chepstow Comprehensive School pupil – has been fine tuning her preparations at an Aviva-funded holding camp in Auckland prior to moving on to Christchurch.

The Chepstow sprinter will begin her campaign tomorrow with the 200m.

And with the worlds the last major event before the London Paralympics she has vowed to leave nothing in the tank.

“The Aviva-funded preparation camps are an essential part of my preparation for major championships and I have a good bit of training since arriving,” she added.

“The World Championships will definitely determine a lot come the London 2012 Paralympic Games and will have an influence because they are the last major championship.

“I think I have got to focus on this at the moment but I do dream about 2012 because I want to go there and compete but I have to focus on the World Championships.”

l Aviva has been supporting British athletes since 1999. To find out more about Aviva’s athletics sponsorship, go to aviva.co.uk/athletics