By Sarah Holt

Tomlinson holds Britain's indoor and outdoor long jump records

In March, West End actress Lucia Rovardi told him he had to come home from the World Indoors with silverware - nothing less would do.

Tomlinson, 26, duly won silver - his first medal at a major championships - to prove that when his missus asks nicely, he jumps to it.

"She was happy with my medal from the World Indoors," Tomlinson told BBC Sport. "It's hung around a picture frame now."

The couple have every reason to be in good spirits. After a career blighted by injuries, Tomlinson is fully fit and finding his form.

The British number one opened his season with a new British indoor record of 8.18m, and at the World Indoors he was just 2cm short of taking gold from South Africa's Godfrey Mokoena.

Could Tomlinson's personal happiness be a major contributing factor to his improved performance?

"I think it's absolutely crucial to be honest with you," Tomlinson said. "But a lot of people underplay that.

"If you're happy and enjoying life, and you have a positive attitude, then you always have a better chance of producing your best.

"We got married in the afternoon so I got up early and did some training. I would only have been sitting around otherwise!

606: DEBATE Can Team GB count Tomlinson as one of their main medal contenders in Beijing? SH

"I haven't got married for the sake of my athletics. I'd like to think it has helped though."

A tweak in his coaching set-up is also helping Tomlinson get himself in the right kind of shape as he aims to qualify for a second Olympic Games.

The Middlesbrough athlete has been coached by Peter Stanley, triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards's former mentor, since he was a teenager.

And now he's now joined Lloyd Cowan's sprinting group, which includes 400m world champion Christine Ohuruogu.

"I started working with Lloyd this winter to improve my speed," said Tomlinson, who has a 100m personal best of 10.69 seconds.

"I train alongside a good little group at Picketts Lock and, of course, it helps any long jumper if they can run faster.

"Peter's technical knowledge and planning is as good as any coach in the world and with my extra speed and strength, I'm confident I can be jumping personal bests quite soon."

Mrs Tomlinson is playing Buddy Holly's wife in the musical Buddy

Tomlinson, who has an outdoor PB of 8.29m, will need to start producing lifetime bests if his Olympic ambitions are to become a reality.

He is all too aware that on the home front Greg Rutherford, Nathan Morgan and Jonathan Moore have all jumped over eight metres this season.

None of the four have landed the Olympic qualifying standard of 8.20m, which means to guarantee selection Tomlinson must win the Olympic trials on 11 July or nail the qualifying mark before the British team is named eight days later.

"The long jump in this country is starting to hot up. It's by far the strongest it's ever been," he said.

"It's a good thing for the event but whether it's a good thing for me I don't know. It certainly puts more pressure on me.

"I like to jump under a bit of pressure but I know I've got to go out and perform well."

If Tomlinson is selected for Beijing, he will be up against gold medal favourite Irving Saladino, whose world-leading mark of 8.73m is a huge 34cm further than his closest rival.

"I was at the meeting in Hengelo when he landed that and the rest of us were like, 'Woah this is serious,'" said Tomlinson, who finished fifth at the Athens Games.

"He is out-and-out favourite but behind Irvine there are lots of contenders, and there's no-one in particular who I would class as better than anyone else - and certainly not miles better than me.

"The silver medal from the World Indoors has given me more confidence.

"I'm more experienced, I've got myself healthy and I have been able to go down the path I would have liked to have gone down a couple of years ago [if it wasn't for injuries].

"The long jump is so technical that it takes time to pull it all together so you often get the best results when you are slightly older, like Jonathan (who won Olympic gold aged 34)," the 26-year-old said.

"People keep saying, 'Will you be around for London 2012?' - and I just laugh, and say I'll still be going in 2016."