MORE than 1,800 miles separate Hexham and Athens and, in athletics terms, the two venues might as well be a world apart.

But, in the space of three sprints, three jumps, three throws and a final trudge round the track, decathlete Dean Macey spanned the gap between deepest Northumberland and the greatest stage of them all.

Three years ago, Macey had the world at his feet after winning a bronze medal in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

The only problem was that his feet weren't really ready to withstand the rigours of being a world-class athlete in the most testing discipline of them all.

Neither were his hamstrings for that matter. Or his elbows, Achilles, groins or any of the other parts of his body that contributed to a devastating three-year injury lay-off.

For 36 long months, Macey has spent more time hanging around hospital wards than the cast of Casualty and Holby City put together.

But, with the Olympic Games less than a month away, the Londoner has finally found his fitness at the most opportune of times.

The only problem was that fitness alone wouldn't book him his plane ticket to Greece. Without the necessary qualifying standard, Macey's long road to recovery would have led him to a dead end.

So, with the selectors due to announce their final squad for Athens later today, Macey had one chance of achieving the 7,700 points needed for Olympic qualification.

And, in the weird and wonderful world of sport, that chance had to be taken in Hexham.

The market town's International Meeting of Combined Events might have a wonderfully grand title, but it's fair to say that it's more Sunday League than Golden League.

In fact, for much of yesterday, it resembled a school sports day as hundreds of youngsters ran their hearts out in front of demanding parents and sympathetic schoolmates.

But, in the middle of it all, stood a man with two World Championship medals and a realistic chance of making it three in Greece next month.

Hexham had never seen anything like it and the queues outside the town's Tynedale Athletics Park at 10am yesterday seemed to suggest that the word was out.

Indeed it was, but the word was sale and it referred to the giant Safeway that shares a car park with the running track and leisure centre. Cut-price Bold had trumped Macey's pursuit of gold.

Spectators gradually began to arrive though - they numbered a heady 60 by the middle of the afternoon - and, by the time Macey's second day of competition got underway with the 110m hurdles, the trackside was lined with fans eager to get a glance of the star attraction.

They had to wait longer than expected, but that was down to the kind of technical glitch that can affect any major athletics meet. The hurdles were the wrong distance apart and the starting line had to be marked out with white tape.

Admittedly something of a concern but, when Athens might not even have its Olympic stadium built on time, hardly something to ruffle the faithful band of local volunteers.

And what a band they were. Willingly giving up a weekend of their own time to further Britain's Olympic dreams, Hexham's finest did the town proud.

"Can you warn number three," shouted the starter after false starting one of the juniors in their hurdle event.

"Do you mean number 13 Bill," asked his partner. "No the lad next to him in the green vest." Who needs flashing lights and computer-generated replays when you've got technical wizardry like that?

Quick out of the blocks, Macey won his hurdles heat in 14.88 seconds to maintain the steady progress he had made on the first day.

He was looking in even better shape after his first attempt at the discus cleared the 46-metre mark, enabling him to pass on his final two throws and rest his weary limbs.

Thankfully, those limbs were never in danger of seizing up over the two days of competition, although pulses quickened when an air ambulance landed on the infield on Saturday afternoon.

All eyes turned towards Macey but, with the Hexham track doubling as the heliport for the nearby hospital, the only drama was an elderly lady being flown in for treatment.

It was a weekend when injuries were at the forefront of everyone's mind - Denise Lewis was on site receiving treatment for her ankle problem - and, to the untrained eye, the pole vault looked like an event designed to inflict pain.

But Macey sailed over his second attempt at 4.40m and, following a solid enough throw of 55.42m in the javelin, the Canvey Islander was left needing just 632 points from the final event of the day.

Easier said than done of course when that last test is the 1,500m but, after three long years of recuperation, the 26-year-old wasn't about to let things slip away in his final four and a half minutes of competition.

Athletics is a sport of fractions, but rarely can 22 seconds have meant so much as he sprinted home to finish with a flourish.

"It's a fairytale story," said Macey, as he conducted his post-race interview while standing in a wheelie-bin full of ice. "Ten days ago I didn't know if I was going to Athens or not.

"You can never be 100 per cent certain of what's going to happen. I was nervous on Friday night and I was scared.

"But now I'm back and it feels fantastic. It was painful out there, and I've got to admit that I honked up a couple of times after I finished, but it's good to hurt again."

The pain will die down, but the warm glow of success will remain with Macey as he builds himself up for Athens.

Decathletes are finely tuned performers but, every now and then, even they must bask in what they have achieved.

"Everyone tells me Hexham is a sleepy town," laughed Macey. "Well it's not going to be very sleepy tonight."