Baulch and his fellow Welshman Iwan Thomas, who ran 44.66 at altitude in South Africa earlier this year, are the two runners Black is taking most notice of at the moment, despite Du'Aine Ladejo's prediction that he will win the final in a time around 44.80."Anyone can talk it," Black said "You have got to perform it And this season, Jamie and Iwan have performed. Enough said."Black believes the 400m event has changed significantly in the last two or three years, becoming more sprint based. Accordingly, he has worked this winter at lowering his 200m best.And when he assesses his domestic rivals in Birmingham, the first man he picks out is a converted sprinter, Wales's 23-year-old Jamie Baulch, who lowered his 400m best to 44.97 last Friday. "People in this country have always known that if they were going to make it in the 400, they would have to run fast.

Now we have six people who could beat 45 seconds this weekend But let's be realistic If you can't do that, you are not world class Michael Johnson runs 43.50. "I also think our relay win in the '91 World Championships had a big impact. I think a lot of people will have thought: `That looks like a lot of fun. But he points to Britain's record in the European junior championships, where he, David Grindley, Guy Bullock and Mark Hylton have contributed to a run of six successive 400m titles, as evidence of a continuing tradition of success."Success breeds success," he added.

I'll have a go at that'."He himself has played his part, setting high standards in the event for 10 years. When you can run in pain and still do pretty well, it is a hard thing to judge, and it was one of the big decisions in my life. I said to myself: `I really want to walk away from the Olympics happy, because that's what the Olympics should be about.' Since I came back in '94, everything has been geared towards that."To that end, despite equalling his best of 44.59 last year, he took the risk of putting this season in jeopardy when he underwent an operation before Christmas to remove a torn cartilage from his knee. But now I am running without pain for the first time in nine years, and that is a wonderful feeling, I can tell you."Not all of his domestic rivals will arrive in Birmingham this weekend in the same happy position, but at least they will all be there - because they know they have to be, given the level of competition.Black views Britain's current glut of 400m talent as "a cyclical thing". The Swiss surgeon Roland Bieden had been recommended to him by Sally Gunnell, but he knew he was still taking a risk."It was a dodgy operation," he said "I could not be sure it was going to work. "I missed '88, and even though I ran 44.71 in 1992 I walked away not enjoying it. As he admits, there were times when he seriously thought he was finished as an athlete.

But back he came again, to earn individual silver and relay gold in the 1994 European Championships and a place in the following year's World Championship final His only concern now is to make the Olympics and run well "I have never had a good Olympics," he said. He was not fully fit for the 1992 Olympics, had another operation and in 1993 he went down with Epstein-Barr virus, which debilitated him to such an extent that he was unable at times even to pick up a book and read.That was the lowest point for Black. And the nice, middle-class doctor's son, who had abandoned the prospect of a medical career to concentrate on his special talent, began to wise up.He returned to further glories - a second European title in 1990, world silver in 1991 and a triumphant gold in the relay But injury and illness were never far away. At 20, he seemed big and strong and talented enough to ride any challenge.But he wasn't. Soon he began to encounter the injuries which go with the territory of one-lap running, missing the 1987 World Championships and 1988 Olympics.Medical opinion varied over how to rid him of the pain and frustration that was beginning to dominate his thinking; without money coming in, he had to put his house on the market; his car sponsors ever so politely requested their car back.If it could happen to Black, the athlete who had it all going for him, it could happen to anyone. At 6ft 2in, and with classic, blond English good looks, his effect on the female population soon prompted his training partner Kriss Akabusi to call him "Sex on Legs", a phrase which stuck.