Bath Bullet Jason Gardener recalls GB’s famous 4x100m triumph at Athens 2004 in 'Heat of the Moment', a new book that offers a revealing insight into some of the most remarkable moments in Olympic history...

Jason Gardener still remembers the eerie sense of calm on the coach as the team made its way to the Olympic Stadium for the final.

He had never known such an air of confidence before such a coil-springed event but it was there in the whole team. In Marlon Devonish, the most laid back of the foursome anyway; in Mark Lewis-Francis, the youngest and most vulnerable; Darren Campbell, the elder statesman and usually the most talkative; and in Gardener himself, the technician, the thinker in the team.

With the exception of Lewis-Francis, the British team had been running together most of their lives. Gardener and Devonish first met as teenagers and had developed a close friendship on the way to the top. Gardener and Campbell's relationship was more fractious but they had mutual respect for each other's ability.

Long before Athens, the core of the team, augmented by Lewis-Francis, had committed themselves to winning the gold medal in Athens.

In practical terms that meant sacrificing some of their individual ambitions for the sake of the team, trying to coordinate complicated schedules. Emotionally it meant committing to a distant but attainable goal.

"For me and Darren, this was a last hurrah," Gardener recalled. "This was the last chance to fulfil our dreams."

It did not look promising in the semi-finals. The British had come second and their baton-changing was a fraction off-key.

On the track after the race, Gardener gathered the team together and told them to be positive. "We can win this," he said.

On the day of the final, in Gardener's mind at least, that belief had grown into an almost inexplicable certainty. They could win this. Little things were telling him so.

In the warm-up area, there were two tracks, one on higher ground than the other. Instinctively, the British warmed up on the top track from where they were able to look down on their American rivals.

The Americans were late into the call-room before the race. They were always late. It was part of their psychological strategy, a way of making the other finalists feel inferior.

But this time the ploy backfired. The Americans arrived to find the British team being photographed with some of the Greek volunteers, laughing and joking as if out for a Sunday stroll.

No one noticed the Americans' entrance but Gardener was reminded of a strange meeting he'd had the previous day with one of the Greek track officials.

"The British will win, I tell you," the official had said. "You are going to beat the Americans." To this day, Gardener does not know the name of the official but he would like to thank him for his conviction.

Another sign or another coincidence? When Gardener was handed his baton, Britain's baton, it was coloured gold. He sneaked a look at the Nigerians in the next lane, no, they had a blue baton; the Americans' baton was a different colour again.

By the time Gardener settled into his blocks to run the anchor leg, he felt an overwhelming sense of destiny.

They have never had a reunion to remember their victory, nor ever truly stopped to celebrate the moment or catch each other's memories. One day, maybe.

What matters is that, for 38.07 seconds on a warm night in Athens, they were the fastest team in the world.

Heat of the Moment: 25 extraordinary stories from Olympic and Paralympic History is edited by Andrew Longmore and published by Wiley, official publisher to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Copies available now, priced £14.99. See http://eu.wiley. com for more details.