It is often said that age is just a number and veteran sprinter Kim Collins continues to prove just that.

The former world champion, who enjoyed a successful unbeaten campaign on the indoor circuit last year, signalled early intentions that he is out to repeat the feat in 2016.

Collins, 39, continued to defy age and looked in good shape when he opened his outdoor season in fine style at the eighth staging of the GC Foster College Central Hurdles and Relays in St Catherine on Saturday.

The 11-time World Championships veteran clocked a fast 6.53 seconds in a maximum positive 2.0 metres per second wind speed to win the men’s 60-metre dash. The winning time was technically a new record as the event was being contested for the first time since the meet’s inception in 2008.

Despite not being close to his personal best of 6.47 seconds set at the Pedro’s Cup in February last year, Collins expressed pleasure with the performance.

“This was my first race and I think I did exceptionally well; I have never opened that fast before, but the outdoor is a different element as opposed to indoor. But it was a great execution and these young boys always coming to dethrone me, so I had to be on point and run really well,” the proverbial ‘Ageless Wonder’ told the Jamaica Observer.

“I have to take it one day and one meet at a time; at my age you want to make the best of every opportunity like today (Saturday), and whenever the next meet comes. I am trying to do the best I can every time I step on the track, so for me every time I race I want to do my best,” he noted.

“So we will see what the year has in store (and) I want to make the best of it. We had a great season last year,” Collins said.

The Kittian, who holds his country’s national record in the men’s 100m (9.96s) and 60m indoor (6.47s), as well as the World Masters record in both events, is now running without a flag.

This followed a disagreement with the country’s team officials at the 2012 London Olympics where he was sent home for staying in a hotel with his wife.

Dismayed at his treatment, Collins has announced he would never run for his country again, bringing down the curtains on a career which saw him win gold medals at the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.

The iconic sprinter, whose 6.53-second clocking could also be considered a world-leading time this year, pointed out that he is now enjoying life with his wife/coach Paula Collins.

“I have my wife and coach doing an exceptional job with the old man, so I am very thankful that we can work together and work well. I have been coming here (Jamaica) for 21 years as my wife is Jamaican, so I am technically Jamaican myself. So I am enjoying it very much (as) I live here and I am just blending with the culture,” he explained.

Collins was the 100m champion at the 2003 Paris World Championships and the bronze medallist behind Jamaican Yohan Blake at the 2011 edition in Daegu.