LONDON, England — Veronica Campbell Brown, who will be chasing a historic third straight Olympic gold medal in the women’s 200m next week, is under no illusion that she will have to work hard to add another individual gold to her already impressive collection.

While acknowledging her build-up has not been the best, Campbell Brown said her mental focus and trust in God, along with the hard work she has put in this season will be her main focus as she seeks medals in both the 100m and 200m races.

Campbell Brown has season bests of 10.82 seconds in the 100m and 22.38 seconds in the 200m.

At a press conference put on by her shoe sponsors Adidas at the Westfield Mall near Olympic Park, Stratford, London yesterday, Campbell Brown said winning a third gold in the 200m will be “absolutely difficult”.

“I have put in all the work and I know it will be absolutely difficult for me to claim victory here (in the 200m), but anything can happen and I prepared well and so I just have to keep my mental focus right and make sure I get my race together,” said Campbell Brown, who won in Athens on 2004 and defended her title four years ago in Beijing, China.

Execution will be the key to winning she said. “It will come down to execution and mental focus. I will go out there and give it my all.”

Given her workload of running both the 100m and 200m races and the relays, Campbell Brown said her first priority is getting through each round, one at a time. “I don’t want to be overwhelmed with all that I have to do and I find the best approach is to go day by day, round by round and stay focused on what I have to do.”

She dismissed the fact that she lost her last three major preparation races coming into the Olympics, both finals at the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Senior Championships and a race in Luzern, Switzerland two weeks ago, as having any indication of what her form is right now.

“I have trained hard this season and not because I had a few races that did not go too well, I am not going to allow that to deter my confidence or allow that to make me feel any less confident,” she told the press conference. “I put in all the work and so all I have to do is keep my focus.”

Campbell Brown said one of the biggest part of her race was her mental preparation and that she relaxed by listening to “a lot of gospel music and reading my Bible and watching television”.

The two-time IAAF World Indoor 60m gold medallist said it was “absolutely important to get your mind ready; if you can’t get your mind ready you may end up not performing as well as you can because although we prepare hard the biggest part of preparing well is that mental preparation”.

A positive mental attitude, she said, was also important. “Try to be positive and keep my eyes on the prize and not be distracted by things around me,” she said. “I am very spiritual… I find a lot of comfort reading the Bible and focus on what I have to do, things that my coach and I have been doing throughout the season and just be prepared for anything.”

Unlike her American counterpart Allison Felix, who said she will only be running the 100m to get ready for the 200m, Campbell Brown said both races are very important to her. “I am very serious about both events and both will be very tough and I will take it round by round and the objective is to get to the finals where anything can happen.”