IT"S 'GAMES ON' AS JAMES HEADS FOR HOME!

James Ellington bids farewell to coach John Powell as he leaves the
Portugal holding camp to travel to the London 2012
Olympic Games Athletes' Village in Stratford

Trackspeed1 sprinter James Ellington is heading for home after his 10-day stint at TeamGB's holding camp in Portugal, with the 200 metres heats on Tuesday firmly in his sights.

Coach John Powell will follow his protegee tomorrow (Saturday), and probably hook up with his newly-crowned UK Champion on Sunday at some stage in the Olympic Park.

Preparations for the race of James' life on Tuesday (the heats begin at 11.50am BST) have gone well, and according to his coach he returns home full of confidence.

"It's at this stage of proceedings that all the athlete wants to do is get onto the track and run," said John, "but James still has 3 days or so to wait. He won't be short of things to keep his mind occupied though. The Olympic Village will be a huge experience for him, and as long as he doesn't get too carried away, he'll line up on Tuesday ready to roll."

His coach will be returning home to re-introduce himself to his family after being away almost 3 of the last 4 weeks with the World Junior Championships in Barcelona having ended only a week before travelling out to Portugal.

"It's been a great experience so far all round. To be part of the Team GB set-up is an immense privilege. We have a really strong team this time round, and optimism is rife. I won't have the Village experience, but being at warm-up, let alone in the stadium to watch, will be the experience of a lifetime. I was in Athens for the 200's there, but a home Games is a completely different kettle of fish!"

John also praised the support framework that has wrapped itself around the athletes to date: "The physio's, medical team, and all the support staff have been superb, and I must again thank Head Coach Charles Van Commenee for including me in the team."

Assuming James has a safe passage through his heat on Tuesday morning, he will run in the semi-finals at 2010hrs BST on Wednesday evening.

"If James ends up an Olympic semi-finalist I will be delighted, but if he's lining up on Wednesday night, who knows what could happen," he concluded!

Further images from Portugal below...