OLYMPICS-bound Richard Buck reckons he can run at least half a second quicker – but will fit in only one more competitive race before he takes to the track in London.

The 25-year-old City of York Athletics Club runner’s fine form saw him selected as one of the eight members of the Team GB 4x400 metres relay squad which will go for gold at the Olympic Stadium, and he believes there is still more to come.

Buck clocked yet another sub-46 seconds run at last week’s European Championships in Helsinki, where he claimed the sixth medal of his career when leading home the 4x400m team to a silver medal.

Having found consistency, the former Pickering schoolboy is keen to keep himself in good shape and that means avoiding the complications that hindered his Olympic plans four years ago.

Buck was looking good for a spot in the relay team at Beijing but a virus picked up a couple of months before the Games prevented him from taking a meaningful part, and, having learned from that experience, he is keen not to push himself as hard this time around.

“When an athlete clocks lots of consistent times, they can usually drop half a second or as much as eight tenths if they get the right conditions,” Buck explained.

“I definitely feel I am in a good position to go and run faster.”

Buck declared he would rest his legs between now and then, however. “I am not going to be able to jump straight back into racing just yet,” he added.

“I have come back (from the Olympic trials and the Euros) and my body is not ready to go yet.

“I am going to do a bit of training and look for one more race before I join up with the Olympics squad.

“I have a lot in place to combat what happened (in Beijing) and I am not going straight back into training. I am not going to push the body too hard. I have to give it time to come round.”