IN his darkest moments last year Allyn Condon contemplated not about winning gold medals but whether he'd need a life-saving kidney transplant.

It seemed highly unlikely that Condon would ever step foot on the track again, never mind produce one of the races of his career.

The 27-year-old Sale Harrier spent six weeks in hospital while specialists struggled to diagnose the cause of his acute renal failure.

'From bad to worse'

"Things just kept going from bad to worse," said Condon, a member of England's victorious 4x100m relay squad.

"For two weeks I couldn't eat or drink. In the space of three days I lost a stone in weight.

"Had it gone on any longer my kidneys would have been totally useless. Not surprisingly the doctors said it wouldn't be an option to run again.

"Eventually they discovered one of my heart valves had a leak which was the source of the problem. They told me I could have had it for years.

"Once they found out what was wrong I began to recover quite quickly. But I still never thought about running at this level again and winning gold medals.

'Couldn't really lose'

"I didn't start training again until January. I guess in some respects I couldn't really lose this year.

"I thought I might be able to build up my strength and stamina again to give me a platform for next season. It also looked as though I might not get a run with Dwain Chambers and Mark Lewis-Francis going well. But when they were injured I came in to make the most of my opportunity."

Relay specialist Condon, controversially omitted from the 1998 Commonwealth gold winning quartet, played his part this time transferring the baton to teammate Darren Campbell and the Sale Harrier did the rest.

"It was nerve-racking waiting for the result'' he said.

"When Darren crossed the line I thought we'd won but when I saw the replay I wasn't so sure.

"The worst thing that could have happened was we shared the gold. But I guess that would have taken the gloss off it.

"However, having seen a picture of the photo finish we definitely won the race."

Condon should have another chance to add to his medal tally at the European Championships starting in Munich next week.

Lewis-Francis is almost certainly out with hamstring trouble while there is a question mark over the fitness of Chambers.

"I'm still pinching myself what has been happening plus it would be nice to go to Germany and to get another medal," Condon added.