IF ROBERT Tobin's nail-biting wait for Olympic 4x400 metres relay selection comes good today, it will mark an incredible leap up the international track ladder for the Southampton University 400 metres man.

The only other major Championship the 20-year-old has been involved with previously was the World Junior Championships in Jamaica, where he bowed out injured in the heats.

After gatecrashing the big names to finish a surprise fourth in the weekend's AAAs/Olympic Trials at Manchester, Tobin was back at his home in Old Basing yesterday nervously awaiting the first wave of selections for Athens.

His chances have been boosted by the dismal failure of many household names to make Sunday's final, which only served to underline the desperate decline of British men's 400m running since golden years of Hampshire duo Roger Black and Iwan Thomas.

The lack of quality was so dire that track and field's top brass allowed an American athlete to gatecrash the battle for a British Olympic place.

Totally out of the blue, Malachi Davis, a Californian with an English-born mother, was allowed to compete in Manchester, having only received his British passport last Thursday.

As one of the athletes on the fringes of relay selection, Tobin stood to lose more than most if the American barged his way into the reckoning.

But Davis's inclusion brought the best of the young north Hampshire sprinter who finished second to the American in the heats, clocking a personal best of 46.17 seconds and beating experienced international Jamie Baulch for the first time.

And while the TV commentators were convinced Davis had finished fourth in the final, replays showed that Tobin's last-ditch lunge for the line had edged the controversial Californian - both athletes clocking 46.47.

Tobin reflected: "It was a bit strange that he (Davis) entered so late and that none of us had a clue about him.

"I suppose it played on my mind a bit that he could run me out of an Olympic relay place, but I was just as worried about everyone else!"

Although Tobin ran a fast first 100m in the final, he eased off too much down the back straight, making life difficult for himself.

Running blind in lane eight didn't help and he reflected: "It was only when they all came flying past me that I saw them and it shocked me a bit.

"It was supposed to be my relaxation phase, but I overdid it and lost speed.

"It was a great weekend though, and going straight from the World Juniors to the Olympic Games in two years would be unbelievable."