Radcliffe's form has been excellent since her return from injury

Team GB won two golds, took six medals in all and had five fourth places in Sydney, but retirements and injury have robbed the squad of many of its star names.

Jonathan Edwards and Colin Jackson have retired, Ashia Hansen is out injured and Dean Macey and Denise Lewis are struggling.

The omens are not good. By way of comparison, at last summer's World Championships, Britain finished behind Belarus, Lithuania, Mozambique and the Dominican Republic in the final medal table.

The team will be picked after the Olympic Trials and AAA Championships on 10-11 July, and has to be finalised on 19 July.

In the interim, here are the athletes UK Athletics performance director Max Jones will be looking to for inspiration.

Paula Radcliffe: Guaranteed a place in the squad, European 10,000m champion Radcliffe has now decided to concentrate on the marathon in Athens and will start as Britain's best hope for a gold medal. The reigning world record holder has been in fine form since returning from the injuries which kept her out for most of last season.

Steve Backley: Four times the European champion and three times a Commonwealth gold medallist, Backley was denied Olympic gold by his great rival Jan Zelezny with his final throw four years ago. Now 35, this is his last chance of adding a gold to his two Olympic silvers.

Phillips Idowu: The heir apparent to Jonathan Edwards in the triple jump, Idowu finished fourth in Sydney but is only just making a comeback after a knee operation in 2003. Has the ability to beat current world number one Christian Olsson on his day.

Denise Lewis: The heptathlon has moved on since Lewis' triumph in Sydney, and injury has once again dogged her training. But this great competitor should never be ruled out of the medal chase, even if Sweden's Carolina Kluft will be unbeatable on recent form.

Jade Johnson: Fourth at last summer's World Championships after winning European and Commonwealth silver in 2002, long-jumper Johnson will be looking to continue her progress through the world rankings by snatching a medal in Athens.

Darren Campbell: Continues to set a great example to the rest of the British team by peaking when it matters - at the major championships. Won 200m silver in Sydney and took a shock 100m bronze at last summer's Worlds. Only a fool would write off his chances of another medal - not least as part of the 4x100m relay team.