Athletics: Fergus in the fast lane

FOUR young men who will have a major influence on the future of British sprinting gave notice of their intentions for 1993 at the Birmingham Games on Saturday.

Darren Campbell, Jason Fergus, Allyn Condon and James Baulch, who won the world junior sprint relay title four months ago, took stock of their prospects by competing individually in the opening indoor event of the season. And although Campbell, whom many see as Linford Christie's successor, underlined his huge potential by winning the 200 metres, he had to give best over 60 metres to Fergus.

No question, Fergus finished the day the more thrilled. He accepted that Campbell, who finished three places ahead of him to take silver in the individual world junior 100m, had shown he was top junior. 'But everyone has their dreams,' he said. 'I've raced him four times before today, and he's beaten me every time. So I would like to think that today is a breakthrough.'

Fergus's preparation for the event at Birmingham's national indoor arena was hardly out of the coach's handbook. Having discovered that he was rooming in the same hotel as Condon and Baulch, he stayed up until 2.30 in the morning chatting to them in the lounge.

'We hadn't seen each other for a while, and we just couldn't shut ourselves up,' Fergus said. 'The way our personalities are, I don't think that we are going to get really hyped up about beating one another. We are going to stay friends.'

It will be interesting to see how that hope stands up over the next few years. Certainly there was no ill-feeling on Campbell's behalf at the end of an afternoon when he also retained his 200m title. But as he ruefully rubbed his legs - which were still stiff and aching after recent training on the dunes at Bournemouth - Campbell reflected that he had only been one hundredth of a second behind Fergus. Their times of 6.79 and 6.80sec were both personal bests.

It may have been Fergus's first victory as a senior, but the step up was hardly likely to bother him after the bewildering events of last September, when he and his sprint relay colleagues were called up to represent Britain at the World Cup in Havana within a week of their victory in Seoul.

Against opposition which included the former 100m world record holder from the United States, Calvin Smith, and Robson Da Silva, of Brazil, they finished fourth, with Fergus bringing the baton home.

'Havana was a tremendous experience,' Fergus said. 'The best part of it was being around some of the top athletes in the world. It was great. I thought to myself, 'I'd like a bit more of this'.'