Richard Buck runs for the GB relay team in Saturday's Europa Cup

North Yorkshire athlete Richard Buck equalled his personal best time for the season in retaining his Northern Championships 400m title.

The 21-year-old from Pickering posted 46.23 in cold and windy conditions in Manchester that were far from easy.

Buck told BBC Radio York: "I opened the season in 46.23 in Geneva but they were fantastic conditions for me and it was a very competitive race.

"This run was a lot better and I take a lot of confidence from that."

Unlike in Geneva, there was no serious threat to Buck winning the event.

"I've never normally run as well in bad conditions," he said, "so the real boost for me is mentally, knowing that I'm in such good shape that I can run well in good conditions or poor conditions."

After spending two or three years "there or thereabouts," Buck's form over the last six months has been outstanding.

"It's really been a fantastic breakthrough for me," he said. "The last six months saw me take the British number one spot indoors, at the World Indoor Championships.

It obviously means that the selectors are considering me for the Olympics already Richard Buck

"That was a huge learning curve for me because I'd never been to a major senior championships as an individual runner.

"So far, early season form shows that I'm looking in strong contention for the Olympic squad."

The City of York runner returns to the Great Britain relay squad, where he first made his name, for the Europa Cup in France on Saturday.

Buck added: "I think they're wanting to run potentially an Olympic relay team there, so I'm thrilled to have been picked for that because it obviously means that the selectors are considering me for the Olympics already."