Athletics: Black stays bold after bleak period: Mike Rowbottom on an Olympic athlete's struggle to regain the peak of his powers following major surgery

IF THE sight of Derek Redmond hobbling to an anguished finish in lane five was one of the most distressing images of last summer's Olympics, the look on the face of his fellow 400 metres runner, Roger Black, after his less dramatic exit from the semi-final, ran it close.

Redmond, who had already lost years of his career to injury, suffered a traumatic physical breakdown just as he seemed on the point of realising his potential.

For Black, the experience of Barcelona was more complex. Unlike Redmond, who had approached the Games in the form of his life, he knew he was not physically right, and had no chance of being so.

After he had seen the 19-year-old David Grindley sweep past him and on into the final, setting a British record in the process, the double European champion accepted the result graciously and reflected proudly on the fact that he had been able to run a time of 44.71sec. He had a look of relief, too, that it was all over. And a look of terrible, deep disappointment.

His coach, Mike Whittingham, who nursed Black back to running after a serious foot operation four years ago, recalls the stress which this habitually sunny and pleasant athlete was under in the weeks leading up to the Olympics.

'By the time I took my pre-Games group to Monaco, Roger was in a terrible state,' he said. 'I have to confess that he was awkward and difficult to manage. He didn't know whether to make an excuse and say he was not going to the Olympics, or try to say very little and hope he could get to the final on 85-90 per cent fitness.'

Four months ago Black finally addressed his longstanding problem - a restriction of movement in his right hip stemming from a misalignment of his legs - directly, going under the surgeon's knife for an operation which he hoped would grant him access to the peak of his powers.

Speaking yesterday at the McDonald's sponsorship launch, Black was looking forward to six or seven years of running clear of the condition he likened to a nagging toothache.

'Athletics is not just about winning races, it is also about living your life in athletics,' he said. 'It is no fun waking up and knowing you are not right. I wanted to relieve that pressure. Now I feel I have had an enormous weight lifted off me. I have been back in training for three months, and I have a freedom of movement in my right leg that I have not had since 1986.'

Black has been filling in his time recently by presenting television sports news for BBC South, but next month all that will come to a stop when he leaves for a 12-week training trip to the University of Irvine, California.

His first competitive outing is likely to come while he is out there. Then it will be back to these shores for the summer season and the real test of his ambitions: 'I can talk about what I want to do. We will have to see what happens in May.'

Whittingham counsels caution. 'I think Roger has a time in the low 44's at the back of his mind and that is his personal challenge. But having major surgery always carries a danger. The consultant will always tell you they can take a problem away but very often they can create a new problem by leaving scar tissue.'

That is something Redmond, who has had three Achilles tendon operations in his career, could tell Black all about. Redmond had another cleaning-up operation a month ago.

But Black has his mind on other challenges in a year which is likely to see the domestic 400m competition reach new heights with the likes of himself, Redmond, Grindley and Mark Richardson around.

'It is going to be more difficult to make the team this year than ever before, although I really don't think about these guys while I'm training.

'If I run 44.2, and someone beats me on the day running 43.8, then great. He's done well. But I want to be the No 1 in Britain, and that's what I intend to do. Whatever happens, though, I want to look back on a long career. And it doesn't all have to hinge on the Olympics.'

McDonald's two-year sponsorship deal will be worth more than pounds 2m to the sport over the next two years, providing support for the Young Athletes' League and the traditional end-of-season meeting at Sheffield.