CITY of York Athletic Club sprinter Richard Buck is looking to make amends for an injury-ravaged 2014 season by targeting this year’s outdoor schedule.

Buck – who was part of the Great Britain squad at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games – won gold in the 4x400 metres relay at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow International Match at the weekend.

The 28-year-old cruised home on the last leg to clock a time of three minutes 8.90 seconds after being handed a commanding lead by Conrad Williams, Rabah Yousif and Jarryd Dunn.

The Olympian paid tribute to the strong running of his team-mates, and is hoping to run himself into the British team for the European Indoor Championships in March before the outdoor season begins.

“It was fantastic to run with a lead like the one I had. I could have messed up completely and still come home,” said Buck, speaking at the Sainsbury’s event – a partnership with British Athletics that builds on Sainsbury’s support for the 2012 Paralympics and recognises that sport can unite and inspire children of all ages and abilities.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to run in front of a crowd like that, and to run it with such a lead is brilliant.

“I’m focusing a lot on the outdoors this year. I missed a good deal of my preparation last year just through not coming back from warm weather training as well as I should have done.

“I had to go back and deal with a hamstring injury. Based on that we’re working a little bit more towards the outdoors but I think the indoors are very important.

“I’m not sure of the stats exactly but I’ve been up there in the Europeans every year, more or less.

“We got a stadium record here last year, another great run out here this year and were European champions two years ago in the 4x400. I want to be part of that team and to do all that again.”

With so much strength in depth in the British men’s 400m team, Buck has identified the relay as an area where they can channel their focus towards medals.

And he is keen to make the most of the chances available to him while he can and feels the strong bond among his teammates puts them in good stead for the future.

“It’s such a short career we get in respect of the rest of our lives so I want to make the most of it,” he added.

“We don’t train together as often as a 4x100m team would but we do know each other very well.

“We spend a lot of time together on the circuit. We stay in contact all the time and we all know our chances of success mainly come with the relay, so I think that’s our focus.

“We all want what we can with our individual runners but four strong individual runners make one hell of a relay team.”

Meanwhile, City of York Athletic Club duo Tom Somers and Scott Lincoln will compete for England Under-20s in the Vienna International on Saturday. Somers will line-up in the 200m, while Lincoln will line-up in the shot put.

  • Sainsbury’s is a proud partner of British Athletics. The partnership reflects Sainsbury’s wider commitment to inspiring healthy lifestyles for all, and complements grassroots campaigns such as Active Kids and the Sainsbury’s School Games. www.sainsburys.co.uk