Lewis-Francis lays claim to European place

Mark Lewis-Francis is almost certainly assured of claiming the 100 metres place in the Great Britain team for next weekend's European Cup final after yesterday recording the year's fastest time by a Briton.

Lewis-Francis clocked a solid 10.17 seconds at the Bedford International after an under-par performance in Lucerne in midweek.

And the young Midlander looks set to chase a third European Cup title in Poland after his main rivals for the spot, Darren Campbell and Jason Gardener, had disappointing outings in Germany. Gardener, running for the the first time since claiming the World Indoor 60m title in March which preceded a double hernia operation, finished third over 100m in Erfurt while Campbell failed to make the final.

That suggests it will be a case of the selectors rubber-stamping the participation of Lewis-Francis before the final composition of the side is announced tomorrow.

Lewis-Francis said: "It was all right. It wasn't great. It was only my second race this summer. I feel like I'm raising my game with each race and I hope I get the spot for the European Cup."

Lewis-Francis then anchored the GB 'A' team to a 4x100m relay victory in 39.22secs.

Following the drugs suspension of Dwain Chambers, all British sprint relay performances achieved last year were erased.

The squad needs to prove itself again as one of the fastest 16 nations in the world to earn a place at the Olympic Games.