SOUTHAMPTON AC sprint ace Oli Bromby has felt on top of the world ever since returning from the National Indoor Age Group Championships in Sheffield.

And with good reason.

Incredibly, his 60 metres time of 6.79 seconds catapulted him to the top of the global indoor under-18 rankings for 2015, while his 200m time of 21.56 ranked him second in the world behind fellow Brit Toby Harries (21.46).

Those two runs netted Bromby double bronze at Sheffield in the under-20 men’s sprints – quite an achievement considering the Taunton’s College student does not turn 17 until the end of this month and has two more years left in that age-group.

It wasn’t until the day after competing that Bromby discovered his 60m time had made him the fastest under-18 on the planet this year.

“I didn’t have a clue until my 200m coach said to me ‘yeah, by the way you’re ranked number one in the world!’ ” he smiled. “It’s pretty amazing, but if I could get number one in the world outdoors that would be an even bigger achievement.

“In the 200m at Sheffield I went from 21.85 to 21.56 indoors and if I could take 0.3 of a second off my 100m time outdoors that would be crazy!”

At around 5ft 9in tall, Bromby is towered over by some of his fellow competitors but, as the late Todd Bennett proved, it can pay to be a pocket rocket.

At the peak of his career, Southampton sprint ace Bennett held the world indoor 400m record and won an Olympic 4x400m relay silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

“When I look at myself I feel quite tall, but then I stand next to the under-20 sprinters and feel tiny,” said Bromby. “But I seem to beat most of them, so that’s fine!”

Bromby’s achievements in Sheffield earned him an indoor international vest against Wales last weekend, but he turned it down to concentrate his efforts on training for the upcoming outdoor campaign.

If all goes well, the Shirley-based speed machine could be revving up for a couple of long-haul adventures later this year.

His two big goals are to qualify for the World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia (July 15-19) and for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa (September 5-12).

Bromby is already working overtime to get there. He trains Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Southampton Sports Centre track under the watchful eye of coaches Gary and Sara MacDonald-Gray, does circuit training at Cantell School on Mondays and strength and conditioning work on Wednesdays with James Grant’s high performance team at Southampton Solent University Although equally gifted over 100m and 200m, Bromby prefers the explosive nature of the shorter sprint. He was crowned English Schools’ intermediate boys’ champion at Birmingham last summer, equalling his personal best of 10.68 seconds.