Lewis-Francis is the world junior 100m champion

British sprint star Mark Lewis-Francis will compete in the Irish Indoor Championships at the Odyssey Arena this weekend.

Lewis is looking for races in the hope of securing a place in the British team at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

He was recently beaten by compatriot Jason Gardener in Glasgow and faces a battle to secure a place in Birmingham with Dwain Chambers also keen to compete.

Lewis-Francis, then only 18, turned down the opportunity of competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Instead, he ran at the World Junior Championships in Chile where he took the 100m gold.

A year later, he was timed at 9.97 seconds for 100m at the World Championships in Edmonton only for the mark to be ruled out because of a faulty wind gauge.

Last July, he clocked 10.04 and seemed set for a thrilling battle with Chambers at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

However in the final, both he and Chambers pulled up with muscle injuries which allowed Kim Collins to claim the gold.

His best indoor time this season is 6.59 seconds which he set when he was pipped by Gardener in Glasgow.

Lewis-Francis' rivals at the Odyssey Arena will include Ballymena & Antrim sprinter John McAdorey.