Just the mention of the words Australia and Commonwealth Games brings a smile to Debbie Ferguson's lips but the Bahamas sprint queen is not prepared to boast about how many medals she will win in Melbourne in March.

The 29-year-old dominated the sprint events in Manchester four years ago as she won the 100 metres, the 200m and was a member of the victorious 4x100m team in the relay.

Team Bahamas won four golds in Manchester - Laverne Eve also claimed the women's javelin - but Ferguson's heroics are only second in her most treasured memories.

Her number one highlight came in the last major multi-sports event to be staged on Australian soil when she anchored the Bahamas relay team to a memorable gold medal in the 4x100m in the Sydney Olympics of 2000.

Olympic gold, even in a team race, is such a precious commodity it still just pips her Manchester tour de force as Ferguson's track highlight.

"I honestly have always said that Sydney comes first and Manchester second," Ferguson said.

"I had never competed in England in an event like that (the Commonwealth Games) and I ran a Games record in the 100m (10.91sec) and nearly did in the 200m.

"It was so well organised, the weather was good and it was a spectacular meeting for both me and the team."

However, Sydney remains the highlight and when Ferguson anchored her team to victory - Pauline Davis-Thompson, Chandra Sturrup and Sevatheda Fynes were the others - it prompted a booty-shaking lap of honour from the quartet from the Caribbean island archipelago of just more than 300,000 people.

In fact the Team Bahamas performance in Sydney ensured it finished on top of the "per capita" medals table in Sydney when the size of a country's population is taken into account in relation to the number of medals it has won.

"I'm definitely looking forward to going back to Australia," said Ferguson.

"There's the atmosphere, the fact that people are so knowledgeable about the sport - it doesn't matter that it's a different city.

"I just wish it was a bit later in the year."

The decision to hold the events in March has disrupted the preparations of many track and field athletes who like to peak towards May and June.

Ferguson made her seasonal bow on January 28 and was not pleased with a time of 7.37 seconds in the 60m at an indoor meet in Boston.

It is concerns about the timing of the Games that prevent the sprinter from predicting how she will perform at the Melbourne Cricket Ground or even to say whether she will defend all her titles.

"To talk about winning titles would be premature," said Ferguson. "I would love to be there and at this point I am more concerned at my health and taking things one day at a time - it's not realistic yet to talk about winning titles."

Since 2002, the Bahamas have been upstaged by neighbours Jamaica on the world stage as the biggest force in women's sprinting and lost their Olympic title to the 'Reggae Girlz' in 2004 in Athens.

Jamaica also produced the outstanding sprinter of those games in Veronica Campbell who won the 200m gold as well as featuring in the relay team - Ferguson took the bronze in the 200m.

With Fynes and Sturrup still competing - Davis-Thompson quit after her Sydney success - Ferguson believes the Bahamas can successfully defend their Commonwealth crown against their rivals - Tamika Clarke was Davis-Thompson's replacement in Manchester.

"I honestly feel that with Chandra and Sevatheda and myself and hopefully someone else we can have a good chance of winning," said Ferguson.