CLERMONT, Florida — Jamaican ace sprinter Veronica Campbell Brown is set to open her outdoor season this weekend at a meet at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

While she did not say which event she would be running, the two-time Olympic gold medallists hinted she could be tackling the 400 metres.

“I don’t want to say what the event is yet, but it’s not my event; I’m stepping up a bit,” she said with a big laugh.

She rarely runs the quarter-mile, but opened her season in Knoxville, Tennessee, last year by clocking 52.77 seconds and has a personal best of 52.24 established in 2005.

In an interview with the Observer during an Adidas photo shoot in Clermont, Florida, where she is based, a relaxed Campbell Brown said she plans to take part in a few small meets in Florida before tackling and major international meet.

Campbell Brown was one of five athletes who took part in the photo shoot, including Americans Tyson Gay and Jeremy Wariner, Croatian high jumper Blanca Vlasic and British heptathlete Jessica Ennis.

While the Jamaican star revealed that she will compete at the Jamaica International Invitational in May, she said she is undecided on which event she would compete in.

“Yes, I will be there but I have not decided what event I will run there yet; it is still open,” she told the Observer.

Campbell Brown, who won the IAAF World Indoors 60m gold medal in Doha last year, has raced once this season, winning the 60 at the Milrose Games in 7.11 seconds, but said that was enough for her.

Asked if she was ready for the outdoor season, she quickly responded: “I have to be; this is a Championships year,” adding that “training is going well and I’m satisfied so far”.

She said she had planned to race indoor twice, “but I ended up just doing one and it went well”, she told reporters.

Running indoors, she said, helps to prepare her for the outdoor season and she told the Observer her goals at the Madison Square Gardens race were met.

“It was a good race and I’m pleased with the result. I competed well and I was satisfied. My goals going to New York was executing and winning the race. Time was not a big concern for me. In the 60m, technique and execution are key,” she explained.

After a good 2010 season where she was ranked first in both 100 and 200m last year, running a personal-best 10.78 seconds at the Pre-Fontaine Classic in Oregon and her second-best time in the 200m, 21.98 seconds done at the Adidas Class in New York, she was asked if she could top that performance this year.

“It’s a Championships year and if I get to Daegu and do very well, that would top it,” she said.

“I’m very conservative and I don’t like to make predictions or talk about times. The best thing I can do is to train hard and stay focused and hope for the best,” she said.

The two-time national double sprint champion said: “I know the competition will be fierce and it’s not going to be easy for whoever wins any event in Daegu, but my objective is to work on execution and make sure that whenever the time is right, I’m ready to compete well.”

Given the World Championships will be held later than usual — in late August to early September — Campbell Brown said the priority was “to keep training hard and doing everything I possibly can to stay healthy and make sure I’m ready for Trials, as that is the first hurdle to cross to make sure I make the team”.

Campbell Brown, who moved back to Central Florida last year after spending a year in Atlanta, said making the Jamaican team will not be easy.

“My number one goal is to stay healthy so I can execute each training session so that I will be in the shape I want to be at Trials… to make the team won’t be easy and a big part of that will be to stay healthy,” she explained.

Likewise, she said identifying any one major athlete who should do well at Trials would be just as hard: “The Jamaican Trials is always unpredictable, you never know what to expect.

“You have new people emerging every day and you will turn up at Trials and see people you’ve never seen before and they are ready to run fast, so I just have to keep an open mind and know it is going to be competitive…

“I don’t underestimate or take anybody for granted; I’m going there focused on me and… what I have to get done,” she ended.