Intro:

Australian hurdler Sally Pearson, Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova and Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang speak ahead of the World Indoor Championships which start in Istanbul on Friday.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Sally Pearson, Australian hurdler:

"At the moment my body is in really good shape, training is going fantastically. So, all I really need to do now is stay uninjured and look after myself and who knows what will happen."

SOUNDBITE (English) Sally Pearson, Australian hurdler:

"I've had this question quite a lot, about pressure and how I'm handling it. I always say that if you're in good shape and confident then there really is no pressure because it's pretty much what everyone … the pressure that people are putting on you is what you want to do anyway, you want to win.

You never step out on the track to come second, you step out there to win so I don't really feel the pressure at all because I'm confident in what my abilities are and what I can achieve.

SOUNDBITE (English) Tatyana Chernova, Russian heptathlete:

"Here (in Istanbul) is pentathlon in indoor competition but I have strong events in the summer, this is 200 meters and javelin. So I have reserves for Olympic games for London. And if I show here good results, in each event, it will be great for my first day because I lost 100-150 points to Jessica (?) after the end of the first day and if I do this pentathlon better in my life it will be very good for my summer season."

SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdler:

"Up until now, I've been keeping high standards for myself and I have trained well. Now we can see that I just broke my Asian indoor record. I think I am doing well, and I'm in good condition. My body is doing well and training is good. So I think it's important for me to keep training to do well in the upcoming competitions."