Moscow, Russia – After a solid indoor campaign in which he won four of five 800m contests, reigning Olympic 800m champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy firmly set his sights on defending his Olympic title in Beijing.

The popular Russian, who turned 27 in April, skipped his usual one or two-month spring leave from training, and just two weeks after his 4x400m Relay duties at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, he began a month-long training stint in Cyprus.

Return to Cyprus for pre-season training

“I had one practice a day, sometimes two, which lasted 2 to 3 hours, recovering after the winter season,” Borzakovskiy said of his routine on the Mediterranean Island, where he put in between 90 and 100 kilometres per week.

“At first I lived about four kilometres from the sea, and then moved into the mountains. I lived and trained for three weeks at 1200-1900m altitude above the sea level. It’s not the first time I went there, and I like the training base very much. They have a good stadium but this time I did not use it, I ran cross instead.”