DANNY Talbot has explained why he pulled out of the final of the 400m at the Sainsbury’s British Indoor Championships in Sheffield, writes Kevin Fahey.

The Trowbridge Tornado had clocked a personal best of 47.84 seconds in the heats of the event followed by 48.54 in the semi-finals on Saturday but then, following discussions with coach Dan Cossins, opted not to take up his place in Sunday’s final.

“I felt the first two rounds went well but then I was handed lane one for the final,” said Talbot.

“Running from lane one means you get a really tight bend in Sheffield and I did not want to risk getting injured, especially as my result in the 400m did not matter that much.

“So we decided we had already had a good training day on Saturday and opted to quit while I was ahead.”

For Talbot, the decision to tackle the 400m was an experiment that may ultimately lead one day to a permanent move to the quarter-mile, but for the present, his focus remains on the 200m and qualifying to run that at the World Championships in Beijing this summer.

“We are off for a training camp in America in just six weeks’ time and it is important that I go there fit and healthy to take advantage of the camp,” added Talbot.

“That is going to be a great opportunity to train really hard and I didn’t want to risk getting injured before going out there.”

As for a possible step up to 400m in the future, Talbot admitted he hadn’t been put off by his experience.

He said: “For the first five minutes after the race, I hated it. But I was really pleased to run 47.84 and got out of it what I wanted.

“It certainly hasn’t put me off. I really wanted to run the final on Sunday and I was gutted when I was given lane one.

“It was good to get out of my comfort zone and I will probably give it another go outdoors sometime this summer but for now, it is definitely back to the 200m.

“That is the event I love and all my training has been geared towards that. But hopefully, the extra training I have been doing for the 400m will help my strength for the 200m, especially when you have to run three rounds of the 200m in consecutive days at the worlds.

“That is one of the main reasons why I gave it a go for the indoors and I will come back to it but now it is all about the 200m.”