Athletics: Frost is forging an Olympic dream with his hammer

The invasion of London by the world's top athletes is edging ever nearer, and the form of those individuals hoping to represent their country is therefore critical in the coming months.

Selection committees throughout the world have been poring over times, distances and performances achieved by their nation's would-be stars.

For Edinburgh hammer-thrower Andy Frost, 2011 is a year that continues to bare fruit as he prepares to compete for Great Britain in Stockholm this coming weekend at the European Team Championships. A two-day event, formerly known as the European Cup, will see Team GB lock horns with 11 European countries in one of the most prestigious events in the athletics calendar. Elated to be included in the squad travelling to Scandinavia, Frosts sees it as a challenge to relish.

He said: "Before the season began I didn't really have many goals set out and viewed this as an opportunity for a building process in preparation for the Olympics next year. I started my training a bit later than normal but I've come out and performed really well.

"I threw my personal best at the Loughborough International last month and was victorious in the first British league match of the season in Cardiff so I'm really looking forward to this event."

His current ranking of Great Britain No.?1 pitches Frost, 30, in a commanding position on a national scale. He is, however, professional enough to admit a top-ten placing is the optimum personal target he hopes to take away from the Swedish capital.

But with the final positions defined by an accumulation of scores from all track and field events, Frost believes the GB team has a very good chance of success.

"With regards to the hammer throw, there's going to be six or seven of the world's top ten competing so it's certainly going to be tough. I might be predicted to finish around tenth position so I'm going out there to try and throw as close to my personal best as I can and use it as an experience.

"On paper the team, which includes 100 metre sprinter Dwain Chambers, looks pretty strong so we've definitely got a reasonable chance. The last team championship I competed for was in Portugal in 2009 where we finished third overall so I'm confident this time around."

Frost is no stranger to international competition. Originally from Newport on the Isle of Wight, he represented England at junior level until 2006 where he achieved a fourth place at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. However, the migration across the border to work with coach Alan Bertram saw Frost leave the cross of St George in his wake.

"I actually moved to Scotland in 2005," Frost explains. "However, after living up here for more than five years, there was an option for me to switch on the residency rule. Being based up here and working full-time I just felt it was the right decision to start throwing for Scotland."It wasn't an easy decision because national identity is very important to me but Sportscotland have been very supportive so it has all worked out well."

The prospect of competing in London next year and Glasgow in 2014 is one that sends shivers up Frost's spine.

He anticipates the emotion of walking into the Olympic stadium carrying the hopes of the British nation and admits it is one dream he can't banish from his mind.

He said: "I've certainly got unfinished business at the Commonwealth Games. Two fourth-place finishes in Melbourne and last year in New Delhi is not good enough so I'd like to think I can win a medal in three years in Glasgow. It would be so special. I'd like to qualify for the Olympics next year. Pulling on the GB kit in London would be the ultimate dream - the pinnacle of my career."