Uruguayan athlete Andres Silva said on Friday that he wants to reach the semifinals in the 400m in the Olympic Games.

Silva, 21, who is considered the hopeful of the Uruguayan sports, has qualified for the Olympic Games with a standard mark of 45.89 seconds, which was obtained in last year's continental championships.

"To pass from heats to a semifinal would be the greatest for me," Silva said.

Silva is now recovering from a muscular contraction due to the "aggressive" work in the training.

"My passion to get to the semifinals is raising and, although I'm not worried, I start to be curious about my conditions, and I keep training and running," Silva said.

"For moments it is like if I saw myself in the semifinals," Silva said.

Silva's coach Andres Barrios has added that the showcase performance of the athlete could be seen in London 2012.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2008)