BURY's former Olympic Commonwealth Games sprinter Barrie Kelly tells Phil Thorp how Manchester proved itself on the world stage

LOOKING back over an amazing eleven days of Commonwealth Games action it's just a pity a few more gold medals weren't cast.

I'd have given them to the Manchester City Council, the organisers, the amazing band of volunteers and above all the spectators all of whom made the Games a resounding success.

Working in Manchester I experienced first hand the superb organisational abilities of everyone involved and no credit is high enough for their hard work and application.

My first taste of the sporting action started on the first Friday when I went to see the athletics at the City of Manchester Stadium.

But I really wasn't ready for the experience that was to follow.

It was the first time I had been into an athletics stadium since I finished competing 29 years ago and, seated halfway down the home straight, all the memories of my sprinting exploits came flooding back.

I was really choked and would have given anything to get my spikes on burn up that 100 metre track.

Maybe it was the atmosphere, the warm summer evening or the length of time I'd been away from a sporting venue like this, but my mind went back to Jamaica where I competed in my first Commonwealth Games and balmy nights in Athens and Budapest for European competition.

The experience didn't repeat itself on the following Tuesday when I returned to the stadium but I definitely felt the call of the sport once again on that first night.

As for the 2002 Games I was delighted to see that there was no racial intimidation and the only things competitors were exchanging were addresses rather than insults.

That's always been the case with the Commonwealth Games and happily it seems to remain so.

Of the competitors the highlights for me was the performance of England's Paula Radcliffe in winning the women's 5,000 metre gold and the Nigerian blind sprinter Adekunle Adesojo breaking the world record.

I believe it was a massive plus point for the Games that they allowed disabled athletes to compete cheek by jowl with able bodied ones and they have shown the way forward.

This is especially relevant as athlete of the games was 18-year-old South African disabled swimmer Natalie Du Toit who after losing a leg in an accident last year won gold in both the 50m and 100m freestyle multi-disability events and reached the 800 metres final in the able-bodied competition.

I was also impressed with England's young 800m runner Charlotte Moore who has a marvellous career ahead of her if she carries on improving and thoroughly enjoyed the Australia v New Zealand netball final.

The tempo that game was played at was astonishing - it was war out there!

On the final day the Triathlon caught my eye and the fitness of the men and women who compete in that event defies belief.

I'm sure they must switch off their brains and let their bodies take over while they are competing because if they thought about it half way round they'd think "what the hell am I doing this for?"

On the down side I was amazed that Canadian sprinter Kim Collins was allowed to keep his 100m gold medal after testing positive for a banned substance.

He said he'd taken something for his asthma but surely he'd been tested time and time again at this level so why didn't he have the foresight to inform the authorities what he had taken.

In my opinion, in sport, there should be zero tolerance as far as drugs go and reinstating him could open the floodgates to further abuse.

Looking at the English track and field situation there are clearly some yawning gaps.

Quality mens middle and long distance runners - always a strength of ours - are nowhere to be seen.

There are no Coes, Ovetts, Crams or Fosters any more and that's something that we could do with addressing.

But investment into sport, particularly swimming, is paying off in lots of areas however we have still a long way to go before we can compete with the Australian academy system.

We also need youngsters to get interested in sport more.

Too many I spoke to over during the Games said they weren't interested in them.

It must be frustrating for sports teachers who see a lot of talented youngsters throwing their ability away through apathy.

If they put down their computer games they might see just what a lucrative world sport is nowadays and the opportunities are there.

Come on, let's have someone from Bury representing England at the next Games at Melbourne in 2006, that would be brilliant!

Finally it's ironic that the success of Manchester's Commonwealth Games isn't likely to result in another bid to hold the Olympics in 2012.

The International Olympic Committee have made it clear that London, and only London, will get the nod for a British bid.

What a shame. Manchester deserves another crack at the 'big one."

They've proved the knockers wrong once and can do it again!