Menkov targets European Athletics Indoor Championships

Aleksandr Menkov has no doubts about what he is going to do in the winter season. Unlike compatriot, Anna Chicherova, who is going to give it a miss to concentrate on the home summer IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Menkov is going to use the European Athletics Indoor championships as a springboard to summer success: 'What would be the point in missing the indoor season?

Without winter competition, it will be hard in the summer. I am definitely going to take part in two meetings, the European indoor championships and Russian Winter,' Menkov told Russia's AllSport.

Menkov is celebrating his Diamond League trophy and $40,000 cheque which gave him a lift after a poor Olympics: 'At the very beginning of the season I decided to take part in certain stages of the Diamond League, but then my coach, Sergey Mochalov, and I decided to sacrifice the League for the Olympics. As a result I missed a couple of meetings, but then everything turned inside out!'

Menkov arrived in London as one of the favourite for a medal after his excellent 8.24 to win the Russian trials. But in a competition that did not quite ignite, Menkov fizzled out more than most and ended up in 11th with a mediocre 7.78: 'In general I did well in all the meetings except for the Olympics. As I understand it, I missed my big chance. London was the only time in my whole season when I did not get over 8m. I arrived at the Olympics in good shape even though I still sensed there was a little something left over from early season injuries. After the Games, I rested, recovered, got my head together and came back.'

It took Menkov a week to recover from his disappointment and then he started to train again. On resuming competition after the Olympics, he had three straight wins in Birmingham, Berlin and Brussels ending on a high with his lifetime best 8.29 to lift the Diamond League trophy in the Belgian capital.

'The competition in Brussels started with three fouls, but I was not too bothered because there were only eight of us and I knew there was no danger and they were close fouls. So afterwards I felt really pleased, though I can't tell you what was going through my head before the competition.'

Nonetheless, after winning bronze in the World Indoor Championships and eight wins on the circuit, Menkov is still unable to hide his disappointment at not doing better in London: 'Nothing compares with the Olympics, but the bitterness of failure in London has been sweetened somewhat with this [Diamond League trophy]. It's a fact.'