THERE is nothing like getting your excuses in early.

And if there are going to be gold medals handed out to British athletes at London 2012, it might be in the ‘best reason for not winning the medal I was expected to’ event.

Anyone who spent any amount of time watching the Aviva Olympic athletics trials in Birmingham on the BBC at the weekend could be excused for feeling dizzy with deja-vu of the whole experience.

It seemed that almost every other sentence uttered by Steve Cram and his commentating cronies referred to some injury problem an athlete was suffering.

For example, Jenny Meadows wasn’t fit enough to attend and was looking to Helsinki, Lisa Dobriskey didn’t perform well as she was returning from injury, and then Andy Turner goes and cuts his finger in the final of the men’s 110m hurdles.

And that was just a snapshot of a Great Britain athletics squad that was supposedly battling for Olympic places, but was actually providing a scene that appeared more akin to an outpatients department at a hospital.

But it is not fair to tar everyone with the brush of being lycra clad hypochondriacs as sprinter Dwain Chambers thoroughly enjoyed his win in the 100 metres and has made it clear that he wants to run in the Olympics whatever mishaps may befall him.

But while the born-again drugs-ban guy beats down the door to be selected, there seems to be a lack of eagerness to join him on the start line.

Totally eschewing the ‘he’s got a bit of an injury’ approach, star sprinter Adam Gemili’s coach Michael Afilaka argued his ward was not mentally ready for the “cauldron of the Olympics” and revealed the 18-year-old was an “emotional wreck” after qualifying.

So Gemili is physically fit enough and quick enough, but we are now being told he is not mentally tough enough to go out and try and win an Olympic medal – at this point am I the only person to whom the word ‘mollycoddling’ instantly occurs?

At a similar age to Gemili one Usain Bolt was planning his first assault on an IAAF World Cup final which would produce a silver medal, so why was the Jamaican able to cope with the pressure while Gemili is not?

I would hazard a guess that it is not actually down to the athletes themselves but to the coaches, who appear to be very keen to cover their backs should their charges fail to deliver.

Now if these people were coaching ‘getting your excuse in early’ courses the Great Britain team would be world-beaters and end up drowning in gold medals.