2008 Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu insists even a world title will not make up for his Beijing heartbreak.

Idowu dominated the triple jump throughout 2008 only to be pipped to the gold medal in the Bird's Nest Stadium by just five centimetres.

Even though it was a major improvement on his performances in Sydney (sixth) and Athens (three no jumps in the final), Idowu was devastated to be denied Olympic gold by Portugal's Nelson Evora.

And adding the world outdoor title in Berlin in August to his world and European indoor crowns will still not erase the pain of coming so close in Beijing.

"Winning in Berlin would not make up for not winning in Beijing," said the 30-year-old.

"Losing is never acceptable. I don't expect to lose and there is never a good enough excuse. Nothing will ever make up for it. I cannot go back and change it. I have to just keep moving forward."

Asked how long after Beijing did his thoughts turn to Berlin, Idowu added: "When they put the medal around my neck.

"I have to look ahead. That competition was over so I have to look forward to the next one. I am just glad I am in a new year and I get to improve on anything I have done in my career."

Despite turning 30 at the end of December - something he jokes he would have liked to keep quiet - Idowu believes he can still improve and even break the 18m barrier.

And to help achieve that goal, the Hackney-born athlete has made the major sacrifice of leaving his beloved London to move to Birmingham for training.

"I have been in Birmingham since November but my family and a lot of my friends are in London," Idowu added.

"It's not home, I'm not settled in 100% but it is for the greater good. Once I have been to the track and trained and gone home and eaten, I am generally doing the same things I would be doing if I was in London. It is getting used to the fact that I am away from London and the area.

"I made some difficult decisions last year which people at the time thought was wrong. I changed coaches, but I had a belief in myself and I knew what was going to work for me. I went ahead and we had a really successful summer.

"I have always been committed to trying achieve the best and if I don't think something is working for me I am going to change it. What I am doing now I believe works.

"Being 30 does not make a difference to me. I thought I would have to buy a sports car and date 21-year-old blondes or something like that!"

Idowu has yet to decide if he will defend his European Indoor title in Turin in March, but already has one eye on 2012 and competing on home soil in the east end of London.

"I plan to compete in one or two indoor meetings, hopefully Birmingham, to see how the work I have been doing over the last couple of months is coming together," he added.

"After that I will make a decision about whether or not I want to defend my European title. I would like to defend my title, I don't want to just hand it away to someone, but my main goal this year is the World Championships in Berlin.

"If I feel I can go there (Turin) and I am in great shape and it is not going to take too much out of me then I will go and do it.

"London feels like it is a long time away but it also fuels my fire. It just means that I have four years to make sure that it is not possible for me to make a mistake and pick up every single medal that it is possible to pick up between them.

"A lot of people think me being 33 by the time of London I may be beyond performing at my best but I feel that only now have I started reach the potential that people have been talking about for the last six years."

# Phillips Idowu is a member of the Aviva GB & NI Team and is preparing for the 2009 season at the Aviva UKA Warm Weather Training Camp in South Africa.