Britain ushers in new wave

Norman Fox assesses emerging talent as the world championships loom

A MONTH from the world athletics championships in Gothenburg and Britain's hopes rest on some creaking bodies, one or two troubled minds but a whole lot of new-found optimism. While this weekend's trials in Birmingham may be far removed from the recent American and Kenyan equivalents in which potential gold- medal winners could not even make the teams, at least Britain's search will reveal a new depth of emerging talent.

He would never let on but when Linford Christie reappears on home ground in the trials, he may well have some worries. He keeps saying that defeats are unimportant as long as he sets good times. But defeat is defeat and does no more for an athlete's mental sense of well-being than a long-running dispute with the British Athletic Federation. We are told that is now over, which begs the question: "What was it all about?"

From a public relations view, the saga was a fiasco with the sport wounding itself at just the time it needed to rebuild after the drugs affairs and the loss of sponsorship. Nobody outside the Nuff Respect organisation (representing among others Christie, Colin Jackson and John Regis) and some representatives of the BAF really know why athletics seemed more involved in a dispute than preparing for the world championships.

Christie's remark that it was not about money merely added to the mystery. If it was not about money it had to be about the BAF expecting leading British athletes to sign a contract committing them to appear at all five major meetings under their jurisdiction. Had both parties made that clear from the outset a lot of harmful speculation would have been avoided, more sympathy afforded the athletes and the BAF would have retained credibility.

The fact remains that the federation is much too stretched financially to continue promoting so many meetings. The outcome was that, however entertaining, and, from Britain's point of view, encouraging, Friday's meeting at Crystal Palace may have been, it lacked the quality of the Lausanne event two days earlier. For instance, the 100 metres there would have graced an Olympic final. The fact that Christie, who finished only fourth in Lausanne but in another good time, said he was unable to run at Crystal Palace because he was tired added insult to the many injuries at present being nursed by many of the potential British world championship team.

It will be recalled that not long ago Christie was saying that running every three or four days was never a problem because he could "sleep on a tightrope". A more plausible reason for his non-appearance on Friday could have been that the BAF's offer for the season remained much as it was for last summer, so Nuff Respect may simply have dropped Christie out of the running for the Palace event.

The absence of Colin Jackson, who had already come to an agreement with the BAF, was worrying since he is obviously struggling with a virus and may have lost confidence. Although, like Christie, he should have no difficulty in winning in Birmingham and so gaining automatic qualification, his form this season suggests that his biggest race is going to be against the days left before Gothenburg.

As things stand, Britain's world championship gold-medal hopes remain modest but all the better for the sudden emergence after years of erratic performances of Jonathan Edwards in the triple jump. He too is slightly injured but achieving 17.69 metres on Friday showed that at last he is becoming consistent. Of course, Christie can never be underestimated on the important occasion but he is clearly going to be pushed by the Americans Dennis Mitchell and Mike Marsh who beat him in Lausanne. So with Jackson's past superiority eroded and Regis so far unimpressive, Britain will be hoping for the unexpected, just as they did in the Europa Cup in Lille.

Edwards looks as if he will go to the world championships as the best triple jumper and Roger Black's splendid 400m in 44.59sec in Lausanne indicates his restored strength. Unhappily, Britain's depth in the one- lap event may be needed rather than boasted about because a hamstring problem has delayed Du'aine Ladejo's training and Mark Richardson is also injured. But against all the worries can be set the magnificent progress of Kelly Holmes - whose 800m win over a high-quality field on Friday in the fifth fastest time in the world this year concealed reserves still untapped - the rise of Paula Radcliffe, who is moving ahead of Yvonne Murray as Britain's number one over 5,000m, and Steve Backley's timely return to form in the javelin.

While Holmes has become a potential world championship gold-medal winner, her sights are more firmly on next summer's Olympic Games in Atlanta. By then she should be at her peak and also a better athlete tactically. For the moment she is undecided whether she wants to continue with the 800m or concentrate entirely on the 1500, which she finds a more natural distance.

Either way her potential is enormous and her confidence never better. She talked on Friday about "when" she wins a medal in Gothenburg, not "if". Almost as an aside on Friday, she mentioned that two days earlier she had won the 400, 800 and 3,000 metres races for the Army in the Services Championships.