Collins’ comments come just ahead of the start of the local athlete’s participation on Monday, in the 2011 Pan American Games, being staged in Mexico.

“The world has to know that we [St. Kitts and Nevis] are there and the only way they are going to know that, is if we are number one. Yes, number two and number three get some recognition, but number one is everything. You have to be a winner and I think [the time] is coming where once again St. Kitts and Nevis will be number one and that’s going to change everything again,” predicted Collins.

St. Kitts and Nevis has never won a medal at the Pan American Games but the local sprint icon thinks that the athletes participating in track and field next week are determined to break that trend.

“We are going to do our best to make sure we get it right,” he stressed, during a recent interview with the Government Information Service in Basseterre.

He said that “It’s good that it is not just me alone. Now we have a [medal winning men’s relay team] and hopefully the girls will come onboard and have a female relay team also.”

The 2003 World Champion added that he was pleased with the development of his fellow national athletes and noted that more persons are now expanding their expectations. This has been heightened due to the bronze medal winning performance of the Men’s Relay Team at the Daegu World Championships last month.

The Pan Am Games run from 14-30 October in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Collins, along with sprinters Jason Rogers, Antoine Adams, Delwayne Delaney, Brijesh Lawrence and Tameka Williams will contest events in their respective fields including the 100 and 200 meter races as well as the 4×100 meter relay.

The local athletes will begin competing on Monday, October 24 when the Men’s and Women’s 100m sprint are scheduled.