Backley majestic as Greene powers on

A javelin throw of over 90 metres from Olympic silver medallist Steve Backley, his first in nine years, proved the high point of an outstanding Norwich Union British Grand Prix here last night, with Dwain Chambers' 200 metres victory in a personal best of 20.31sec coming a close second.

But for two other Britons an evening witnessed by a sell-out 17,000 crowd ended in bitter disappointment as their chances of competing in the World Championships ­ less than two weeks away ­ drained away, something that will be confirmed today when the selectors announce their final additions to the team.

Iwan Thomas, desperate to record a 400 metres qualifying time of 45.72sec after finishing second in the previous weekend's World Trials, failed by just a 10th of a second in a race won by Mark Richardson in 45.22sec. The Commonwealth and European champion, who has seen his last two seasons ruined by injury, squatted on the infield afterwards, shirt and shoes off, contemplating another year of frustration.

The Olympic silver medallist Darren Campbell, who has struggled to overcome a hamstring injury this season, cut an equally disconsolate figure after finishing last in the 200m, lying on the track as the realisation sank in that his only likely participation in Edmonton next month will be in the relay ­ if he decides to take his place up.

Earlier in the evening, Campbell had only managed seventh place in a 100m where world record holder, Maurice Greene, demonstrated his status as favourite to retain his title with victory in 9.98sec, with Chambers second in 10.11.

Backley's final round effort of 90.81, on the same stretch of grass where he had set a world record of 90.98m with the now superseded rough-tailed javelin 11 years earlier, represented perfect timing after the groin injury that caused him to miss three weeks of the season.

"Considering the conditions, that was my best ever throw tonight," said the 32-year-old Sidcup athlete, who has won three Olympic silvers. "When I threw 91.46 in Auckland in 1992, I was throwing in an ideal tailwind of three to four metres per second."

But Backley, deprived of the Olympic title by his perennial rival Jan Zelezny in Sydney, put his performance swiftly into perspective as he reflected upon a 2001 list that shows three men, including Zelezny, above him. "What this does to is offer me that confidence I need if someone throws 90 metres in the world final," he said. "I know I can do it myself now."

Chambers, sporting hair dyed "ruby red" for reasons best known to himself, will also set off for Edmonton with confidence soaring after surprising himself with the qualify of his long sprint after a 100 metres where he was far from satisfied with the quality of his start.

"I would like to do the 200 metres as well as the 100 metres now," he said, although his request was hardly necessary.

Ominously for Chambers and the rest of the sprinters in the shorter race, however, Greene described his outing in London as "a nice, easy race", making it clear that he was growing in confidence for Edmonton.

"I've been training very hard recently, and it's starting to show," said Greene, now minus the strapping which has recently adorned his left knee following tendinitis. "The knee is not too bad now, it's improving, and the faster I run the less pain I feel."

Greene's world champion counterpart, Marion Jones, also had a relatively sedate outing as ­ after being allowed to skip the heats ­ she won the 100m in 11.00sec, well outside her All Comers record of 10.78.

There were resurgent performances elsewhere from three of Britain's leading female athletes. Ashia Hansen, maintaining her comeback in the triple jump after a foot operation she underwent in March, took fourth place in a world class field with 14.07 as Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva offered further evidence that she is favourite for the gold by winning in 14.72m.

Holmes, who had broken two minutes in Friday's Golden League meeting in Monaco, lowered her season's best still further to 1min 58.85sec in an 800 metres won by Brazil's emerging talent Fabiane Dos Santos, who won in 1:57.16, her second sub 1:58 in a week.

Katharine Merry, who missed the trials with the aftereffects of a viral illness, made clear that she is heading back in the right direction as she won her 400m in 50.67sec. "I'm delighted," she said. "But I'm still not as fit as I'd like. Having run 49.59 this season I've set my standards very high."

Jonathan Edwards has also done that this season, leading the rankings with 17.66, and the Olympic triple jump champion responded once again last night to domestic challenges, notably a 17.21m by his fellow Olympic finalist Larry Achike, winning with a resounding 17.29m.

The meeting was punctuated by triumphal messages from Grosseto in Italy, where British athletes were adding to the stock of medals already collected at the European Junior Championships through Mark Lewis Francis and Tim Benjamin, who took the 100 and 400 metres titles respectively on Friday night, and Vernicha James, just 17, who took the 200m in a British age best of 22.93sec on Saturday.

The healthy news for British athletics last night was a silver medal for Goldie Sayers in the javelin, and gold medals for the women's 400m relay and the a men's sprint relay team anchored by Lewis Francis.