Newport's Christian Malcolm is right where he wants to be in terms of preparation for the Olympic Games, according to his coach, Jock Anderson.

Malcolm was - as reported in later editions of the Argus yesterday - confirmed for the Great Britain squad after finishing second in the 200m trial final on Sunday in Manchester.

He will take his place in the squad alongside Olympic silver medallist Darren Campbell and Chris Lambert who pipped him in the final of the trials.

But Anderson believes Malcolm will be at his sharpest in time for Athens and may well be the pick of Britain's track medal hopes.

He said: "We feel a great sense of relief that Christian came through the trials in good condition and in the Olympic squad.

"All that counts is getting into the team and getting yourself booked onto that plane.

"Christian ran great in the heat for the 100m on Saturday (he narrowly missed out in the final of the 100m) but from then on he was tired and not feeling quite right.

"This didn't surprise me at all because it was freezing cold in Manchester and it was a lot easier to pick up an injury.

"So, under the circumstances we were just looking to get Christian through the weekend which we did.

"Now we will step up the preparation for Athens and do a bit of extra work to help develop Christian's sharpness.

"He will run in Birmingham a week on Sunday and then we will go to Cyprus and start getting acclimatised for Athens.

"Christian knows he can run quicker than he did at the trials and we are still confident that he can be the number one 200m runner.

"I was a bit surprised that Darren Campbell was given the opportunity to double up but I am really pleased they picked him for the 200m as well as the sprint.

"The three boys (Malcolm, Campbell and Lambert) have no mud between them, they all get on well and help each other.

"Just like the last Olympics no-one seems to really be talking up Christian's chances a great deal and that is fine with us, in fact we love it that way."