DANNY Talbot says he’s learned the hard way that only success in major competitions will hold any long-term clout in the athletics world.

Last year, the Trowbridge Tornado became a national champion by winning the 200m at the British Championships but that success didn’t translate to the biggest stage, with the 24-year-old finishing seventh at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and failing to make the final at the European Championships in Zurich.

Talbot returns to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium today looking to defend his British Championships title but admits that he’s aiming to reach his peak far later this summer, with August’s World Championships in Beijing looming.

“People only really care about what you do in the big competitions - I learned that last year,” said Talbot, who trains at the University of Bath.

“I was seventh and the Commonwealths and then went out in the semis at the Euros. It only really matters what happened in the major competitions.

“The World Championships are so late this year that our plan has to be to try and peak a lot later. There’s eight weeks from the British Championships to the worlds, and that’s a long time to hold a peak.

“I haven’t run the qualifying time (20.50 seconds) yet but I’m not worried about that because I’ve done a lot of running in to headwinds this year. The conditions haven’t been right yet.

“Some people try to do a double-peak but that’s a really hard thing to do, so I’m going to try and peak for the worlds if I can.

“The worlds are huge and if I can perform well there, make the final and get near the medals, then that will be a huge stepping stone ahead of the Olympics in Rio next year.’’ “It has always been my ambition to win a medal at the World Championships and Olympics and do that you have to beat the best sprinters in the world.”

Last year, Talbot blazed past the likes of Adam Gemili, James Ellington and Delano Williams as he claimed victory in Birmingham and despite looking to the future, the Trowbridge ace is still putting his all into attempting to claim a second successive title.

He said: “It’s my only title and I really want to try and defend it. You have to run fast to win there and maybe I’ll even run the qualifying time there.

“I feel in the best shape I ever have done. I had a virus earlier in the year, which I raced through, and I’ve only really been fit and healthy for three or four weeks.”

The men’s 200m heats get underway this evening at 7.30pm.