CHRISTIAN Malcolm will forever go down as one of the most successful athletes to come out of Wales.

The Newport sprinter, who retired from the sport in 2014, won medals at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

However, the only major championship the 37-year-old didn’t quite make the podium at was the Olympic Games.

Fifth place finishes in the 200m finals in Sydney in 2000 and Beijing eight years later was as close as he got to an Olympic medal.

Malcolm was also out of luck when it came to the relay – the Great Britain men’s 4x100m team fluffed their lines in Sydney, Beijing and London in 2012.

And, when Team GB did get it right to win gold at Athens 2004, Malcolm had been ruled out of the Games due to kidney failure.

All four of Britain’s relay teams go to the Olympics in Rio, which get underway tomorrow, with a chance of medalling.

And, in his current role as relay coach, the Welshman is hoping to help the current crop of British stars do in Brazil what he couldn’t quite manage in Sydney, Beijing and London.

“Our relay teams have been doing alright in the last few weeks so I’m happy with things,” he said.

“There were some great performances at the Anniversary Games but it doesn’t mean anything unless you deliver at the Games itself.

“My record in the relay at the Olympics was terrible. I was selected for four Olympic Games and in three of them the team got disqualified, though they were nothing to do with me.

“And in the other one, which we won, I had to pull out of because I was ill in hospital with kidney failure.

“I hadn’t missed a relay between 2000 and 2004 and the guys went and won gold.

“You do think about something like that but now I’m there helping out the team, and hopefully I can help the next generation do well.

“The relays can be a lottery so all you can hope for is that everyone is fit and healthy and they give it their best shot.

“It’s always tough and you’ve got to push your boundaries because you’re going to be up against the Americans and the Jamaicans. You can’t play it too safe.”

Reflecting further on his own Olympic experiences, he added: “I wouldn’t say I under-achieved at the Olympics because I was 21 when I came fifth in Sydney and missed out on a medal by two-hundredths of a second.

“For the next one I was in hospital for 10 days with kidney failure and then in Beijing I got written off after coming back from injury and I still made the final and came fifth again.

“The only one I think I under-achieved in was London 2012 when I should have made the final.”

UK Sport has set the British athletics team a target of seven to nine medals in Rio, with Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford all defending the golds they won in London.

Malcolm feels the talent is there to achieve that goal and he is also confident that by the time the next Olympics come round, in Tokyo in 2020, there will be a greater Welsh presence on the track and in the field.

Seren Bundy-Davies, who goes in the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay, is Wales’ sole athlete in the Team GB athletics squad.

“We’re always hopeful of more Welsh athletes in the team and it’s unfortunate that we’ve only got one in there,” he added. “But it’s not one of those things where I’d say that Welsh Athletics needs to sort it out.

“They’ve got a good crop coming through and there is depth there. Rio has probably come a bit too soon for David Omoregie and Rhys Williams was unlucky not to get selected.

“There is a little bit of a void but next time around we’ll hopefully have a lot more in the team.”