The Dutchman has identified Dwain Chambers in the 60 metres, Phillips Idowu in the triple jump, Jenny Meadows in the 800m, Jessica Ennis in the pentathlon and the men's 4x400m relay team as potential medallists in Qatar.

Van Commenee said: "It is all about London.

"We aim at London although on the way we need to win medals as well."

The team of 38 for Doha has been hit by a combination of injuries and the event not fitting into athletes schedules but van Commenee insists that the event is still an important stepping-stone in the build-up to the Olympics.

He said: "Athletes have three year plans and we have quite few who are preparing for London and Doha doesn’t fit in their plans.

"I am not looking here at the team result - it is not relevant.

"I am looking at individual progress between [last year's World Championships in] Berlin and Doha.

"We will have five strong medal contenders and we always have a few who knock on the door.

"It is not really important how many medals [we win].

"I want to see if Jenny Meadows can handle pressure and deal with expectations.

"If a newcomer like [high jumper] Vicky Hubbard will stand up or break.

"I am very interested in how [long jumpers] Greg Rutherford does or Chris Tomlinson.

"Normally we win between one and five medals and have only exceeded this once.

"The medal tally at these Championships is not a reflection of the state of the sport - I am interested in how every individual performs towards the Olympics Games in London.

"I won’t have the same perspective at the European Championships [at Barcelona in August] and will be looking for medals, but it doesn’t tell us anything about how strong we are globally and ultimately that is what counts.

"I understand we need targets and outdoors is probably more interesting because every athlete is aiming to do well in Barcelona." 


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