Abi won't get flustered

Abi Oyepitan is determined not to crack under pressure when she makes a special piece of British sprinting history in tonight's Olympic 200metres final.

Competing at her first Olympics, the 24-yearold will become the British women to contest a final over the distance since Kathy Cook finished fourth at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Britain's male sprinters have regularly picked up medals over 200m in the last two decades. But after getting into Olympic finals in the 1960s and at the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Games, British women have rarely made an impression in the sprints.

The final, the climax of tonight's action at the Olympic Stadium, will be by far the biggest race of the London athlete's career. She has produced the best running of her life on the way to the final and said: "I cannot imagine what it is going to be like because I have never been there. But I'm going to be relaxed now. I was nervous going through all the rounds but I think I am going to enjoy it more than anything else."

Last night she finished second in her semifinal in 22.56 seconds, just 0.06sec outside of the personal best she set in the first round.

The recipe for success had been a good night's sleep and a bath. She said: "I slept really well, had a nice bath and hopefully it will be the same tomorrow. I probably won't sleep at all though because it's the Olympic final but I don't care."