Sprint hurdler struck global gold in Germany in August 1993 with the ultimate bonus – a world record of 12.91

My build-up to these championships was pretty flawless, really. It went from two years previously, when I had no injuries at all during the winters. That’s such a blessing and over 1991, 1992 and 1993, I had an 18-month block of training that really made a difference.

My only problem ahead of the worlds was when I had to pull out of the Weltklasse meeting in Switzerland because I damaged my back. I had to leave Zurich to come home and get treatment, but that was the only thing that that went wrong during that whole World Championships campaign.

I felt I was the favourite. Literally, I could win at any time I really wanted to and it didn’t even feel too difficult so there was no fear factor. I was also training with the second-best high hurdler in the world in Mark McKoy at that time, so when you are working every day with the person who’s the next best, then you know exactly where you are – it makes life pretty comfortable for you. My confidence was sky high.

I’d come seventh at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 but I knew that an injury created that issue. I knew exactly what the problem had been. It also helped that my training partner won and that I knew exactly what I could do and was capable of, so it was just waiting for the injury to go away and then get back on the field of play to really show what I could do.

My timings were good all summer. I’d run 12.97 in Sestriere into a pretty stiff headwind and that meant I had a sense of how I could run things in Stuttgart. You want to pace yourself through a championships as well as you possibly can. You don’t need to go flat out all the time, especially during warm-ups.

That’s the crucial thing, because that’s what exhausts you more than anything else. The race is minimal – it’s the preparation for the race which takes up all the energy.

I knew Tony Jarrett would probably be my closest rival. Both of us were in really well-established training groups, which helped us both. He was in London and I was in Wales and I think that sense of good preparation within a team was crucial in getting us ready. Then we just would clash at championships but I wasn’t too anxious about it.

On the day of the final, Steve Smith and Dalton Grant were outside my room playing basketball, which was quite hysterical because I could hear them having a good time and then Darren Campbell was around constantly, looking after me, taking me everywhere and making sure I was okay for lunch, etc.

There were a lot of people around giving me tonnes of support because they wanted me to win. It was nice to see that, every so often, people were popping in the room to see if I was okay.

It was because of what had happened the previous year [at the Olympics]. They all wanted to make sure that my mind was in a good place. Fatima Whitbread came in to see me, Daley Thompson dropped by, Tessa Sanderson gave me a hug – all these great champions coming to talk to me and make sure that I was in the right place.

When we got out to the track, I just told myself: “Try to be as effective and efficient as I can. And don’t think.” It all went smoothly, but I didn’t really know how perfect it was until I had crossed the line. You’re going: “What’s happened there?” Then the clock tells you it’s gone much better than you even imagined.

READ MORE: Did British athletics peak at Stuttgart 1993?

My coach Malcolm Arnold was actually happy with it. It was the first time I had seen him smile for about four weeks. Me too.

To win my first World Championships and break a world record in this same package was pretty special and unique. It’s something you always try to do – to go to a major and produce your very best. I didn’t just produce my very best, I produced the very best the world had seen, so that makes it an exceptionally great race and a great memory, too.