WITH world records broken and a glittering fourteen year international career behind him, I would have reckoned that Steve Backley would be ready to hang up his javelin writes Richard Mulligan

Next week he will almost surely be on the way to reclaiming the Commonwealth gold that he has previously won on two occasions.

The Cambridge Harrier is without question the most successful man from these shores to ever take on one of the most physically demanding field disciplines.

But delving deeper into his career and it is not hard to see why Backley has kept at his sport well in to his thirties, and why retirement is not even an option for him at present.

There is still much to be done to cement his legacy in athletics history, most prominently the fact that, despite being ranked consistently in the world's top ten at his chosen event since the 1980s, he has yet to take an Olympic gold.

Not many make that grade - the ultimate accolade in sport - and that desire burns brightly for Backley.

He has come close, with a bronze and two silver medals, including at the 2000 games in Sydney, when he was again pipped by Czech Jan Zelezny.

Exactly two years away from Athens, Backley is not short of inspiration to push himself at the Commonwealth Games, and next month in the European Championships in Munich.

"Each individual athlete sets a new target for themselves," says Steve. "I will approach the Commonwealths hoping to win because I was beaten last time, so I want to reclaim my medal.

"I have won every European Championships since 1990 so I will be going to Munich wanting to keep that run going. Another goal is to keep ahead of the young throwers who want to beat myself and Jan so badly - we're the old guys now and they are hungry.

"After that, I think my desire to win the Olympic title speaks for itself."

Backley's demise as a world beater was prematurely reported last August when he failed to qualify for the final of the World Championships in Edmonton.

Already a thirtysomething, his loss of rhythm was seen as the end of the road by some, but for Steve it was always just a bad day at the office.

His form has been good this year and he approaches Manchester, Munich and beyond, full of confidence.

"The Worlds were just a blip," he says. "That kind of disaster has never happened to me before and hopefully won't happen again. I've moved on I've certainly no plans to retire just yet. I think the only time to stop is when I stop competing for medals, and I'm still pushing at the moment.

"I'm favourite for Manchester because I'm ranked well ahead of the field, and will set my stall out there for my attempt at the Europeans.

"But when I do finally retire, I'm sure that I'll remain in the sport in some capacity.

"I'd like to get involved in coaching, I feel it would be unfair of me not to share the knowledge that I have picked up through the years with other people.

"Coaching is very important in bringing kids through in this country. For me, problems have arisen from the fact that athletics has never really grown from it's amateur days, people are unwilling to pay big money for coaching."

Backley himself went in to the unknown as a youngster, with British men having no real history of success in field events.

"When I started out I wanted to be a distance runner like Seb Coe and Steve Ovett," he recalls. "But I soon became too big, and by that time I had been inspired by Fatima Whitbread and Tessa Sanderson.

"I took it from there really, and amazingly I was ranked number one in the world at 20-years-old. I set my third and last world record at the age of 22, and after that things went a bit pear-shaped with shoulder injuries.

"But I stuck at it, and the most satisfying point in my career so far came when I became the world number one again in 1997."

Backley is disappointed that he will be competing in Manchester without friend and javelin rival Mick Hill, but is looking forward to Manchester's hospitality when, in seven days time, his event is done.

He says: "I'm going to be completely focussed until I compete, but it will all be about enjoyment for me after that.

"It will be great to soak up the atmosphere in the athletes village, and you never know, I might even sample some Manchester beer."