AT THIS time of year you'd expect Steve Lewis to be forgetting all about

turkey - but the Stoke-on-Trent pole vaulter is doing anything but,

insisting the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul will be the perfect

way to prepare for London 2012.

The 25-year-old was left with nowhere to go last season as, having put

his hand and knee injuries behind him, he finished ninth in a

high-quality final at the World Championships in Daegu in August.

That performance, that saw Lewis equal his campaign's best on the big

stage, left him buzzing but with the season almost at a close, it was

straight back into winter's training and not competition.

But rather than dwell on his disappointment, Lewis, who claimed

Commonwealth Games silver in 2010, has set about honing his skills under

the roof with the intentions of improving upon his sixth place two years

ago.

"I have had a really good break and some thinking time and I have been

getting my head right and the preparation for that and I am raring to

go," said Lewis - speaking at the Aviva School Sport Matters Awards.

"I am over a month into my winter training now and everything is going

well and my hand is feeling good now too. I had a bit of a scare a

little while ago when I snapped another pole and that was another day in

hospital I didn't really need.

"But everything is fine and I recovered well from that and I am training

hard and working at getting stronger and hopefully doing the business

when the time comes.

"I will aim to do the world indoors to get going for London and that is

the one I am aiming at now. And then after that I will shut it all down

in preparation for London.

"I feel really confident right now and started back in training with

such great ideas and I am so far ahead of where I have been at this time

at any other year in my progression and it is kind of exciting."

Having won the Aviva World Trials & UK Championships this summer, Lewis

firmly established himself as Britain's No.1 pole vaulter, but during

the indoor season, it was a different story.

Struggling with his injuries Lewis could only manage third at the UK

Championships behind Max Eaves and Luke Cutts and as a result he did not

get picked for the European Indoor Championships in Paris.

But Lewis is adamant he cannot afford to let himself worry about his

rivals.

"It's me against the qualification height and that's the first thing and

for me it is jumping against the bar and that is the main thing," he

added.

"I want to win the nationals, which is the trials and then move forward

and just focus on my own progression because something I think you can

focus too much on is what other people are doing and at the end of the

day it is me versus gravity."

The Aviva and Daily Telegraph School Sport Matters Awards recognise

outstanding achievements in school sport across the country, and are

part of Aviva's wider commitment to support the next generation of

British sporting talent. For more information go to

aviva.co.uk/athletics