If double Commonwealth silver medallist Adam Gemili stays fit then anything is possible, according to former sprint star Christian Malcolm.

Gemili could be a legitimate contender for a place in the Olympic finals over 100m and 200m and last year claimed silver at Glasgow 2014 – finishing behind Kemar Bailey-Cole of Jamaica.

Gemili is one of five British men to have run sub ten seconds after he clocked 9.97 during the Diamond League in May.

However, when the 22-year-old crossed the line he pulled up with a hamstring injury that forced him out of the World Championships in Beijing.

But Malcolm believes if Gemili, who also won 4x100m relay silver at Glasgow 2014, can stay healthy in the build up to Rio then he can be one of the country’s brightest stars.

“Unfortunately for Adam he had an injury that wiped his whole season out and Richard Kilty also had an injury that hampered his season,” he said.

“I think all Adam needs to do is be fit. The guys have all progressed this year and Adam is no different.

“I’m sure that Adam can come back strong form injury and keep putting down quick times.

“I wouldn’t write Adam off at 200m as well because I think he and Zharnel will push each other very close.”

While Gemili might have broken the all-important ten-second barrier Malcolm knows that to push on and win medals Britain’s top stars will need to go quicker.

Of the current crop of sprinters three have gone below the threshold with James Dasaolu and CJ Ujah holding personal bests of 9.91 and 9.96 respectively.

But with the world record at 9.58, Malcolm is keen to see some more strides made from the country’s finest.

“We want guys to get under sub ten but the sport has moved on so we need guys to go quicker.

“The fact is 9.99 didn’t make the final this year which shows how different it is to my era.

“If you ran 9.99 back then you are in the final but now you might not be so you have to go quicker.

“But they are all doing it together and they are all pushing each other which helped my generation on.

“Back then we had Darren, Dwayne, Jason, MLF and Marlon and we were all there competing and trying to push past that barrier.

“We weren’t concentrating on each other though because we were looking higher at the likes of Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson.

“We were pushing ourselves to catch people like that and that’s what these guys will do over the next five or six years.”

Sportsbeat 2015