Idowu makes British Olympic athletics team

(BEIJING, July 14)-- Triple jump star Pillips Idowu took first place in a qualifying competition organized by the British Olympic Association (BOA), which is set to soon finalize selection of the athletics members of its Olympics team slated to join the Beijing Games, according to the BOA's official website.

Idowu cleared 17.58 meters on his first leap during the UK Olympic trials held in Birmingham from the 11th to the 13th of this month.

Idowu took the gold medal at the 2008 International Association of Athletics Federations ( IAAF) World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain in March with a jump of 17.75 meters, which broke the British and Commonwealth indoor record previously held by his compatriot Jonathan Edwards.

The online version of the UK's Guardian newspaper called Idowu British athletics' best hope for an Olympic gold medal in Beijing.

The 29-year-old seems confident that he can surpass Jonathan Edwards' historic jump of 18.29 meters. "18.40 meters is what I consider being capable of if I get my run through right," he was quoted as saying on the Yahoo Eurosport website.

"It doesn't matter if I do it before or do it there (Beijing) - I have it in my head to win there," added Idowu.