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SPEED ACE: Mbulaeni Mulaudzi. Picture taken from www.beeld.com

 The plan is to bring the world title back to South Africa 

The injury resulted in Mulaudzi failing to defend the World Championships 800m event in Daegu, South Korea, last August.

Mulaudzi won the event in Germany in 2009 when Caster Semenya became the first black South African woman to clinch a gold medal in the history of the competition.

"It's good to be back," says Mulaudzi while going through his paces at the University of Johannesburg athletics stadium

"The injury has healed properly, which allows me to train without having to worry about pains," he says.

"I have decided to start my competition in Europe and the US at the IAAF indoor meetings next month.

"I will use the indoor meets to sharpen myself for the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul (Turkey) in March.

"The plan is to bring the world title back to South Africa," said Mulaudzi, who won the world title on his debut in 2004.

He went on to win silver medals during the championships in 2006 and 2008.

The last time Mulaudzi competed was in June last year before his Achilles tendon injury put the brakes on his dream of a second successive World Championships title.

"The bigger picture for me is the Olympics, I look forward to doing well in London in July.

The Olympic gold medal is the only one missing from my cabinet," Mulaudzi adds with a chuckle.

A big fan of Kaizer Chiefs, Mulaudzi is one of the top athletes South Africans will pin their hopes on at the 0lympics.

Others include jumper Khotso Mokoena, Semenya, hurdler Louis van Zyl, marathon runner Stephen Mokoka and javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen.