Odean Skeen intends to open his campaign towards this summer’s Olympic Games with a 60m dash in the second American Track League meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas this weekend.

The talented 26-year-old sprinter, whose progress over the years has been stymied by injury, says he is fit and ready to go as he takes his first steps towards booking a spot on Jamaica’s team to Tokyo.

“Everything is fully fit. I am ready to go,” Skeen told Sportsmax.TV earlier today from his base in the United States where he trains under the watch of Michael Ford.

Skeen, who has a personal best of 9.98s, was a high school track star in Jamaica and was seen as the next great sprinter to emerge from the island famous for producing the likes of Usain Bolt, Donald Quarrie, Yohan Blake, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter.

However, hamstring injuries prevented him from fulfilling his potential. At Auburn University, it was an ankle problem that held him back and which eventually forced him to undergo surgery in 2018. The pandemic then disrupted his training and competition schedules but he now believes he is ready to take his first steps back into competition.

“Training is going great. I am getting stronger but I am going to be focusing on execution not so much on time,” said Skeen about his plans for this weekend.

He will be competing in his first race since he ran a windy 10.35s in Prairie View Texas on July 30 last year in the midst of the pandemic.