Hercules Wimbledon young sprint prospect Theo Etienne was so pleased to race in his very first World IAAF status event last Saturday despite being overwhelmed by the occasion.

The 19-year-old from Raynes Park finished sixth in the men’s 60m heats of Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix at the Emirates Arena in 6.77secs.

He came in behind the big guns of former world 100m champion from Saint Kitts & Nevis Kim Collins (6.51secs) and Britain’s current world indoor champion Richard Kilty (6.63secs).

Etienne got his opportunity in the event after posting the qualifying mark of 6.60secs at Jyväskylä Indoor Games in Iceland three weeks ago.

He said: “The run didn’t go well as I planned it to. I felt I got out right, I felt I did everything that I could, but I didn’t put enough intensity to run so that’s why I didn’t get the time that I was hoping for. 

“I reckon I got put off by the occasion because it was a new stage and I’ve never raced in a meeting of that status.

“But I was just happy to run against the elite to be honest. To run with them, in any situation, was just amazing.”

Etienne will now be focusing on rubber-stamping his Team GB place for next month’s IAAF World Indoor Championships at the British Indoor Championships this Saturday.

Sean Safo-Antwi, Richard Kilty, James Dasaolu, Adam Gemili and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey are some of the top names also chasing their tickets, but Etienne reckons the race to qualify for the Championships in Portland, USA is wide open.

More: Aikines-Aryeetey needs to pick up the pace to ensure Team GB qualification

“To be honest it’s anybody’s race so you can’t underestimate or over think it too much so I just got it focus on this,” he added.

“I just need to come into Sheffield with more intensity, more fire, trying to be a bit more focused.”