SPRINTER Richard Buck is looking to make amends for an injury-ravaged 2014 season by targeting this year’s outdoor schedule.

Buck, who hails from Pickering, won gold in the 4x400 metres relay at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow International Match on Saturday.

The 28-year-old City of York Athletic Club ace, who was in the Great Britain squads at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, cruised home on the last leg to complete a time of three minutes 8.90 seconds after being handed a commanding lead by Conrad Williams, Rabah Yousif and Jarryd Dunn.

The Olympian paid tribute to the strong running of his team-mates, and is hoping to run himself into the British team for the European Indoor Championships in March before the outdoor season begins.

“It was fantastic to run with a lead like the one I had. I could have messed up completely and still come home,” said Buck.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to run in front of a crowd like that, and to run it with such a lead is brilliant.

“I’m focusing a lot on the outdoors this year. I missed a good deal of my preparation last year just through not coming back from warm weather training as well as I should have.

“I had to go back and deal with a hamstring injury. Based on that, we’re working a little bit more towards the outdoors but I think the indoors are very important.

“I’m not sure of the stats exactly but I’ve been up there in the Europeans every year, more or less.

“We got a stadium record here last year, another great run out here this year and were European champions two years ago in the 4x400. I want to be part of that team again and to do all that again.”

With so much strength in depth in the British men’s 400m squad, Buck has identified the relay as an area where they can channel their focus towards medals.

And he is keen to make the most of the chances available to him while he can and feels the strong bond among his team-mates puts them in good stead for the future.

“It’s such a short career we get in respect of the rest of our lives so I want to make the most of it,” he added.

“We don’t train together as often as a 4x100m team would but we do know each other very well.

“We spend a lot of time together on the circuit. We stay in contact all the time and we all know our chances of success mainly come with the relay, so I think that’s our focus.

“We all want what we can with our individual runners but four strong individual runners make one hell of a relay team.”

Meanwhile, City of York Athletic Club duo Tom Somers and Scott Lincoln will compete for England Under-20s in the Vienna International on Saturday. Somers will line up in the 200m and Lincoln in the shot put.

• Sainsbury’s is a proud partner of British Athletics. The partnership reflects Sainsbury’s wider commitment to inspiring healthy lifestyles for all, and complements grassroots campaigns such as Active Kids and the Sainsbury’s School Games. www.sainsburys.co.uk