GWENT'S Olympian star Christian Malcolm overcame his illness setbacks to cruise through his 200 metre qualifying round in convincing style this morning.

Newport's Malcolm was floored by kidney failure in the build up to Athens but bounced back to clock an impressive 20.62 from lane eight to finish second in his heat, ahead of 100m favourite Asafa Powell.

British teammate Darren Campbell also clinched his place in the second round by finishing fourth in his heat.

Campbell did not look his best as he clocked 20.72 seconds in a heat won by American Shawn Crawford.

He also left the track clutching his hamstring.

Chris Lambert does not qualify after pulling up in his heat.

Meanwhile, Welsh sprinter Matt Elias looks set for a dramatic call into the men's 4x400m relay squad with the news that Daniel Caines has flown home.

Caines had been injured even before he ran in the first round of the men's 400m on Saturday night. And the Englishman, along with fellow Brit Malachi Davies crashed out after only one round at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

So with Caines gone Elias, who is in the TeamGB relay squad could now become a major part of the team, having only expected to make up the numbers.

Caines himself said on Saturday that he was a shadow of his former self and cited his knee injury as the reason. He said: "On my day I can compete with these guys, I know that for a fact.

"But when you are injured then it is very hard to keep up with them. I don't like to make excuses but how many guys out there have had 20 cortisone injections in there knee before running. So I'll have to see how it reacts now before making a decision on the relay."

There was more bad news with Tim Benjamin emerging as a serious doubt after complaining of illness after coming last in his semi-final on Saturday night.

"I've had problems with my hamstring but that wasn't a factor on Saturday.

"For some reason I just had no energy, so I'll have some tests to see if there is anything medically wrong with me."

So that makes Elias' presence in Athens even more important and his close friend, Welsh 400m legend Jamie Baulch has backed him to make his mark in Athens.

He said: "I hope that Matt gets involved, he is the perfect man to replace Daniel in the relay.

"He'll run a brilliant leg and might even add something extra, he'll be fresh and he's shown in the past that he loves relay running."