ATHLETICS coach John Woodcock celebrated his birthday this week deep in the heart of Africa -- with the news that one of the athletes he is coaching is off to the Olympics.

The Bradford athletics development officer has taken two years leave from his job training local athletes to carry out VSO work in Malawi, a land-locked African nation which is prone to devastating floods and droughts. Part of his work with local youth organisation Yoneco and the Athletics Association of Malawi is designed to help the fight against HIV/Aids.

He helps teachers, youth leaders and volunteers in the Zomba district to develop the technical and organisational skills to hold regular sporting events. His work is being supported by UK Sport and George Bunner MBE, secretary of the English Amateur Athletics Association.

"In Malawi, children are sports mad and will compete if they are given the chance. So sport provides a natural way to introduce HIV & AIDS education," John said.

It is a testing environment for an athletics coach from the UK who is now working with athletes who have nothing except natural ability and a desire to push themselves to the limit.

Kondwani Chiwina, an 800m runner, will be one of a handful of competitors - just two athletes - from Malawi who join the line-up of top internationals in Athens next month.

"It was a tremendous birthday present to learn that Kon has been selected for the national team," he said. "We have been working together since last November and he has improved a full five seconds in that time."

As they prepared for the national trials they found ground staff marking out the shale track with lime and just before the trials were held a rumour among the athletes said the two people going to Athens had already been chosen.

"Kon was a bit down, but I told him to do his talking on the track. He duly obliged, winning the 800m in a personal best time of 1min 51secs, he followed up with a new PB of 50.1 secs in the 400m and completed the 1500m in 3.39 -- all within the space of three hours.

"We also had to contend with smoke from a grass fire that engulfed the track during the trials, but Kon finished with a qualifying time eight seconds faster then the other athlete for 1500m," he said.

This week the Malawi Olympic Committee decided that Kondwani Chiwina would be one of their country's representatives in Athens alongside the 19-year-old female runner Catherine Chikwakwa .

When he arrived in Malawi Mr Woodcock found a country with limited facilities and very little equipment.

"There is a basketball coach but no basketballs for the players to use -- they have hardly anything," he said.

His most promising athlete, Kon, had a pair of running shoes, but there were no spikes to help him get a grip on the rough tracks. During a flying visit to Keighley he bought boxes of spikes to help give him a chance of representing his country in Athens.

And for the young people of an impoverished country sport can be one way of setting themselves on the path to a new life.

At only 19 years of age Catherine Chikwakwa is a Malawian millionaire after picking up 7,000 dollars (nearly £4,000) in prize money at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Italy where she won silver in the 5,000m.

"I just hope Kon can produce another personal best time in Athens and then prepare for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Melbourne in two years time," he said.