THE Commonwealth Games may mark the end of a long season for Laura Turner, but the Northolt sprinter insists she is relishing a return to the championships where it all began.

Turner burst into the national consciousness after joining forces with Kim Wall, Emma Ania and Nina Onuora to claim 4x100m silver at the 2006 Games in Melbourne.

The 28-year-old, who finished fourth in the individual final, has since gone on to represent Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the European Championships in Barcelona this summer.

And with the scheduling of the Games extending her current season into its seventh month, Turner admits she's calling on the memories of that glorious summer to fuel her through to Delhi.

"It's really nice to be going back to the Commonwealths because the first time I did it was four years ago and it was my first real big champs that I ran the 100m," said Turner.

"It was probably the first time

people really got to know who I was because I came fourth in the 100m and I got a silver in the relay.

"It was the breakthrough championships for me so it's really nice to

be going back to the Commonwealth Games and I'm hoping to do a little bit better this time. It has been a very long season. I started competing back on April

17 in Mount Sac because I was injured and I wanted to race myself fit, so I have been competing constantly all year.

"It is starting to tell at the end of the season and things are being taped up but I'm in one piece and I can train every day so we're fine."

A bridge collapse was the latest disaster to befall Delhi's ill-fated Games, which had previously been blighted by problems ranging from an outbreak of dengue fever to fears of a terrorist attack.

But despite a number of high-profile withdrawals, Turner expects the standard of competition in India to be stronger than that of July's European championships - where she failed to make the final.

"It's hard to know what to expect when I get out there because the Commonwealth Games for me is just like the World Championships minus the Americans," added Turner. "It is going to be really, real-ly tough. It just depends on which Jamaicans and which Trinidadians turn up, so I'm just going out there to try and run three consistently fast races and see what happens.

"After Barcelona, I trained for about four weeks with no races just to get myself refreshed again. I've had a few races in the last couple of weeks and they've gone pretty well so I'm looking forward to what the next couple of weeks holds for me."