Athletics: African quest for Budapest heroes

BRITAIN'S EUROPEAN Championship heroes have been given the chance to keep on the glory trail by tackling the world's best next month.

The six men's gold medallists from Budapest and the victorious relay squads have been selected en masse for the World Cup in South Africa on 11-13 September. Britain, whose men qualified by winning the European Cup in St Petersburg last June, will face Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, the Americas, the United States and Germany.

"In the European Cup we were competing against other nations; in the World Cup we will be competing against continents," said Max Jones, Britain's team director. "It is going to be a very strong World Cup, and I think the American team will be awesome."

The men will be chasing the pounds 50,000 on offer to winners in the one-man- per-event competition. Darren Campbell, Europe's new 100m champion, has been named in the 27-strong squad, although he is discussing with his coach, Linford Christie, whether to take part.

Campbell faces his first big test since his victory in Hungary when he lines up against several of the world's top sprinters in the post-championships meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, tonight.

The Belgrave Harrier is expected to face Trinidad's Ato Boldon, who beat him to two junior world titles in 1992 and went on to take the world 200m crown in Athens last year.

"I respect Ato and I think he respects me," said Campbell, who added that Boldon's success was his inspiration when he returned to the sport after a flirtation with football.