OLYMPIC Games hope Jared Deacon steps up his competitive build-up in this weekend's North East Track and Field Championships at Gateshead International Stadium.

The 28-year-old Tynesider, who has returned to his home-town club, South Shields, also competes in the British League with Trafford and was in action last weekend after a spell of warm-weather training in Portugal.

But the area championships have been underlined in his competition diary as the start of his bid to win selection for Athens and he will be going for a sprint double in the 100m and 200m, though he might also decide to run over 400m.

Deacon has been one of the UK's most consistent performers over the past few years, winning 4x400m gold medals in the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.

Deacon and UK record-holding long-jumper Chris Tomlinson are the North-East's main contenders for places in Britain's Olympic Games squad following the retirement of Tyneside-based star triple jumper Jonathan Edwards.

But there are several young, up-and-coming athletes in the region who have their own international targets this summer, including Wearside pole-vaulter Mark Christie, who is back in action after surgery on both legs. The 19-year-old former Gateshead Harrier, who now competes for British League outfit Sale, has been blighted by knee injuries for the past four years, but he overcame the discomfort last year to win the AAA junior and Scottish senior titles.

But Christie - on the World Class Potential Programme after a clearance of 5.llm last summer - underwent an operation in January to increase the flow of blood to his calf muscles and is now well on the way to recovery.

The two-day North-East Championship programme gets under way at 9.30am today with the 10,000m. Tomorrow's programme starts at 10am.