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Black quits on a high

Unlike Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who hung up her boots with a gold in the heptathlon at the Goodwill Games last month, there was no golden farewell for Roger Black.

However Black, who with Linford Christie must rank as Britain's best known athlete, quit the track with a performance he could hold his head high over, as he appeared for the last time at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium.

Black, who announced his retirement after being left out of the British team for this month's European Championships, finished third in his last race over 400 metres. However, he could have no complaints as he was beaten in the run-in by his former relay team-mates, Mark Richardson and Iwan Thomas.

Drawn inside them, Black, 32, was level after 300m and led by a metre coming into the home straight. The 12,000 crowd leapt to their feet in anticipation of a famous victory, but Black's legs, which carried him to two European titles, and World and Olympic silver medals, lacked the pace necessary to hang on to the lead.

Black took the field to a standing ovation, and left to squeals of delight at his performance. "I've had a great 13 years," he said. "You'll never hear me complain about my lot. What has happened in the past week will become a distant memory compared with all the good times I've had."

Richardson's win came in 45.05 sec. He said: "It was an honour to have been a part of Roger's last appearance on the track. He's been at the top for 13 years and it's taken the rest of us a long time to catch up."