Athletics

Sally Gunnell will return to Britain's team with a 400 metre in the indoor match against France in Glasgow on 24 February, her first appearance in an international vest since the World Cup at Crystal Palace at the end of the 1994 season.

Gunnell wrote off the following year because of a heel injury which needed surgery. Of her enforced absence, Gunnell said: "Not being part of that special team atmosphere was one of the hardest things about it."

Gunnell suffered the first disqualification of her career in her second comeback race in Birmingham last Saturday for running out of lane. Yet she remains positive above her recovery. "The important thing was that I ran a competitive race," she said. "I'm delighted with the way things have gone so far."

Britain have named eight new faces alongside seasoned internationals such as Gunnell, John Regis and Tony Jarrett. They include a fresh 1500m pairing of AAA champion Terry West, of Morpeth, and Thames Valley's Adam Duke. Birchfield's Victoria Sterne, tempted back to the sport after seeing what her contemporary Kelly Holmes has achieved, makes her debut after winning the AAA 800m title.

Donovan Bailey's new world indoor 50m record is being questioned by a US official. The Canadian sprinter was clocked at 5.56sec in Nevada at the weekend, breaking the record of 5.61 set by Manfred Kokot, of East Germany, in 1973 and matched by the American James Sanford in 1981.

However, Bob Hersh, the chairman of US Track and Field's men's records sub-committee, has viewed a video recording of the race. "Unfortunately, the tape is not absolutely conclusive in that it does not show the gun. But it does show that Bailey was out of the blocks way ahead of everyone else and when that happens with a field as good as the one in Reno, it's very likely because he jumped the gun."

Hersh said no decision has yet been made on whether US Track and Field will submit the record to the International Athletic Federation for ratification.