On Monday, July 15, reigning World Junior 400H record holder Lashinda Demus, 2000 Olympic 4x400m relay pool member Monique Henderson, American Junior 400m record holder Sanya Richards and 2002 U.S. Junior 100H champion Tiffany Ross met with the media in Kingston, Jamaica. The press conference comes on the eve of the 9th IAAF World Junior Championships. Demus, Henderson, Richards and Ross are members of the Team USA 4x400m relay pool. Here’s what they had to say to the media in Kingston.

Lashinda Demus on time prediction for 400mH:

“I would like to get a PR out of my race, as long as I finish safe and without any injuries. As long as I have a good race, I won’t complain about that and I will be satisfied.”

Monique Henderson on training with 2000 Olympic 4x400 relay pool:

“On my team were women such as Marion Jones and Jearl Miles Clark. It was a wonderful experience to see how these experienced athletes’s train and I learned a lot from that. But, I think that this Junior Nationals team is just as fast as the older women, so I think it will be very exciting.”

Lashinda Demus on talk of Team USA breaking the 4x400m World Junior record:

“We came to run to the best of our abilities. We don’t know what we are going to do, we just want to go out there and do our best.”

Tiffany Ross on competing at South Carolina:

“I believe that when you train with the best athletes, that helps you become better. Training with the caliber athletes that we work with at Carolina, I think that it has just made me better as an athlete, individually and team wise. Coming on this team, we have a lot of great athletes like Monique (Henderson), Lashinda (Demus), Sanya (Richards) and several other people that are not here, but are also great athletes. I believe that when you get around great athletes and they all come together and good things come out. That’s what we are hoping to do this week. To have a lot of positive things come out and to represent the United States.”

Demus on future – Olympics, world record, etc:

“I think about all those things and I just take them as they come. Right now, I’m here in Jamaica, so I really don’t have time to think about any other U.S. meet I’d like to be in. When it comes to that day, that’s when I’m worry about what I can do and what I want to do in those meets. Right now I’m just worried about what I’m here to do in Kingston.”

Henderson on being on a World Juniors team after being on an Olympic team:

“The team that I have here in the 4x400 should be as strong as the (2000) Olympic team. The competition is just as well because we have great junior teams from all around the world.”

Demus on being the World Junior 400H record holder:

“I don’t think about me setting the mark, everybody else thinks about it. When I get on the track, I get on to win and compete with the top athletes that are going to be there.”

Ross on competing in Jamaica and the track tradition it carries for sprinters:

“I believe that the United States has just as well a good reputation as Jamaica. It’s two great countries that are going to just go out there and do our best.”

Sanya Richards on her past few weeks:

“I’ve been having a very good season so far and I’m really looking forward to running down here in front of my home crowd. Especially going against the athletes that I’ve been hearing about, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Richards on decision to declare for American citizenship:

“It was a very hard choice for me, but my parents – the decision was basically my dad’s and my mother’s. We all agreed, all three of us agreed to apply for citizenship.”