CLOSE RUN DASH FOR MALCOLM.

Byline: By Bob Cyper South Wales Echo 

Christian Malcolm finally won a AAAs title yesterday - by the thickness of his running vest.

Cardiff AAC's sprint star was given the nod in the 200mfinal by the judges who studied the photograph before deciding that he had edged out Olympic gold medallist Marlon Devonish by one one-hundredth of a second.

After various trackside interviews with TV and radio, Malcolm - who has had more than his fair share of injuries and disappointments in the last few years - spared time to have a word of encouragement for deposed champion Chris Lambert, who had to be content with a bronze.

'I know what it's like for Chris,' he said.

'I just told him he would get through the disappointment.

'We all do and we all encourage each other.

'Marlon was disappointed on Saturday when he was disqualified in the 100m for two false starts.

'I won a bronze medal in that race, but I know that it would have been his if he had raced.

'This means a lot to me.

'I have had a few disappointments so when it comes right, it's sweet.'

And he wasn't the only Welsh athlete smiling after the second day of the championship given extra significance as it was also the trial for next month's world championships and England's Commonwealth Games trials.

Matt Elias had made the unusual decision not to test himself in even a low-key 400m hurdles race before the weekend, but yesterday he broke the stadium record, to win gold in 49.67seconds.

'There's a lot more to come too,' he pledged.

Tim Benjamin was also in stadium record-breaking mode, taking the flat 400m title in 45.53seconds, despite a week of illness leading up to the championships.

'I went off too hard,' Benjamin admitted.

'But I'm pleased with the way I still had enough strength in the last 50m to hold on.'

Wales' fourth gold came in the women's discus as Philippa Roles won another AAAs title, although she put the achievement into perspective by revealing that she was on a day off from her job at Clapham Junction railway station when the bombs went off across London on Thursday.

'That really shook me up and I wasn't sure I wanted to compete,' she explained.

'I went into work the next day and it felt really weird to be there when so many people had died the day before.

'I don't want another week like this one.'

It wasn't all gold, although a couple of silver medallists were pretty pleased with their work.

Uwic-trained triple jumper Steve Shalders had possibly the biggest smile in Manchester, despite missing out on a new Welsh record because the wind assistance was beyond the legal limit.

Shalders, who recorded the first 17-metre jump by a Welshman to take some notable scalps in the final and finish second, said: 'It's been a three-year wait to get to 17m and although it's a silver medal it's like gold to me.'

And Hayley Tullett took silver in the 1,500m after a leg injury disrupted her winter training.