SOPHIE HITCHON will have to break her British record again to be a medal contender in the women’s hammer competition – but believes she is up there with the best in the world.

The world junior champion will be bidding to reach Friday night’s final when she competes in qualifying this morning from 10am.

The Burnley athlete will be the second Blackburn Harrier to compete in the Olympic Stadium this week, after Holly Bleasdale took sixth place in the pole vault on Monday.

Hitchon broke the national record for the third time this year in April and admits the only way of getting close to the Olympic podium will be to throw another personal best.

If the 21-year-old threw to her best mark of 71.61m, she would have been crowned European champion last month but finished 11th in the final with a below-par performance.

However, Hitchon is confident of peaking at the right time.

“It is a high standard but I think I am up there with the best in the world,” said Hitchon.

“Hopefully I will be able to replicate what I did at the Europeans.

“The aim there was to finish in the top 12 and I did, and it is the same goal for the Olympics.

“It is going to be a higher standard at the Olympics obviously and everyone wants to perform well but I honestly think I could be up there with them too.

“The season has gone well and I am hitting peak form at the right time. We have learnt over the past few years what works for me and what doesn’t.

“The plan for the Olympics has all been sorted and we all know what we are doing and I’m confident of performing to my best.

“We have started our phase of training after the Europeans and I think I am going to be in great form coming out of that.

“But it will take a personal best to finish in the top three – by a long way.”

Hitchon, who only took up the sport in 2007 after training to become a ballet dancer – an experience she believes improve her technique – is under no illusion attempting to medal at London 2012 will be her toughest assignment yet.

Britain has never won a hammer competition at a global senior event and Germany’s Betty Heidler, 28, set a new world record with a massive throw of 79.42m last year.

With Hitchon still clearly far from her prime, she is wise to be treating the London Games as an enjoyable learning experience.

“I think the top three is quite a long way off for me now and hopefully at future Olympics the goal will be to reach the podium,” she added.

“But at the minute the goal is just to make the final and there is going to be a battle to get there. Hopefully I will be able to bring my A game on the day.

“I think it will definitely be more of a learning experience for me. You have to be realistic and I won’t be in contention until the next few Games. Right now it is just about enjoying the whole experience.

“I have always wanted to be great at something in my life; even when I was younger I aspired to do something great but didn’t quite know what it would be then.

“But representing Team GB at the Olympics in your home country is amazing and I don’t think anything will top that.

“I didn’t know I was the first to qualify and it was a great achievement when they told me I was the first one.

“My Mum and Dad are going to come down and hopefully they won’t get lost in the traffic!”