Black is Black

Roger Black, 32-year-old Olympic silver medallist, made the decision everyone had been expecting since Monday, when he was overlooked for an individual 400m spot in Budapest, by announcing he will retire after the British Grand Prix in Sheffield on Sunday.

The first two - Iwan Thomas and Mark Richardson - were guaranteed places in the team but the selectors picked the third spot at their discretion. Black finished fourth in a season's best 44.71 secs, just 0.03 behind Solomon Wariso and admitted he was left in a "state of shock" by the decision to choose Wariso over him.

"I am devastated and also mystified how the selectors have come to this decision and shown so little understanding of me as a performer," said Black, Britain's team captain.

It was the second consecutive year Black had controversially been left out of the team.

In 1997 he had not been given the opportunity to recover from illness to stake a claim for a place in the World Championships team. "I guess three hundredths of a second are worth more than 13 years," he said. "I believe my performance on Sunday demonstrated a major return to my Olympic form but the selectors have at long last defeated me. "The only goal I had set myself this year was to be European champion. I am angry that I have not been given that chance.

"I still can't understand their decision. Solomon wanted to be in the 4x400m relay team but have a crack at the 200m. When you have a guy who does not even want to run the event and a guy who desperately does I don't understand it. I think I deserved my chance."

Black is Britain's most successful ever one-lap runner with a string of medals behind him, including gold from the 1986 and 1990 European Championships, while Wariso is an unproven performer at the top level who crashed out in the first round of the European Indoor Championships in Valencia in March when he was the hot favourite.

Black will continue training until August 8, the deadline for European Championship entries, just in case an opportunity presents itself. But he does not expect that possibility to materialise.

Having passed up an almost certain gold medal in the 4x400m relay, Black will be in Budapest as a commentator for BBC. "I have a responsibility to the team as captain and to the 4x400m relay team because some of my greatest memories have been as a member of the relay team.

"But in the end my No 1 responsibility is to myself. The boys don't need me to win gold so I'm not letting anybody down. This decision is not about other people."

Max Jones, the chairman of the selectors, last night paid tribute to Black but said he stood by the decision to leave him out. "The recovery of 400m running in Britain and why it is so strong now is due to Roger because he put so much into athletics," he said. "But I believe when you make a decision then you have got to run with that."

In the short-term, Black's decision is good news for British athletics because it is sure to add several thousand to the crowd figure at Sheffield's Don Valley on Sunday. But there will be no rematch with Wariso. He injured his knee in his moment of triumph at Birmingham and is waiting until Stockholm next Wednesday to run again.

Duncan Mackay for the IAAF