MARLON DEVONISH, winner of the men’s 200 metres title at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham on Saturday, runs for the Coventry Godiva club. Godiva, please note. And next year, if he keeps his word, Great Britain’s No 1 sprinter this winter could become the city’s most celebrated nudist since the great Lady’s eleventh century bareback ride.

“If I achieve that,” Devonish said, referring to winning the 2004 Olympic gold medal in Athens, “I will be running around the streets naked.” It’s a big “if”, as even he admitted, knowing how much tougher the Olympics will be. “It all fell into place here,” Devonish said. “John Capel hurt his hamstring, Shawn Crawford got disqualified, and Frankie Fredericks decided not to come.”

Capel is co-holder of the United States record, a mark he shares with Crawford, who was the defending world champion until he was eliminated in the semi-finals after stepping out of his lane. Fredericks is the world record holder but, most critically, neither was Kostadinos Kederis, the Olympic, world and European outdoor champion, from Greece, in the field.

Devonish, though, seized his opportunity. An outstanding junior in the mid-Nineties, he had found the transition to the senior ranks difficult but, in the past nine months, he has won a European Cup title and medals at three international championships. After his European Cup triumph last summer, he finished second in the Commonwealth Games, and third in the European Championships.

Dominating the race from the start, Devonish took advantage of the high banking of the outside lane which he had earned from being quickest semi-finalist. He recorded 20.62sec, finishing a metre ahead of Joseph Batangdon, from Cameroon. It was not the Briton’s quickest of the season and it was the 20.51 he recorded last month which tells him that sub-20 seconds outdoors this season is on.

“John Regis ran 20.48 indoors and sub-20 outdoors,” Devonish said. “I have run 20.51 so I should be able to get close to sub-20 but that is not my main aim. I will be out to win races and get medals. If the times come with it so be it.”

Having become the first Briton since Regis in 1989 to win the indoor world title, Devonish hopes he can follow his tracks to the world outdoor podium.

The tale of Lady Godiva’s ride is probably apocryphal but those who peddle it say that she did so after her husband, who was in charge of Coventry’s finances, said he would reduce taxes if she rode bareback through the streets in celebration of God’s work. Devonish may not enjoy a tax reduction for any similar act but at least winning the Olympics would help pay off his mortgage.

Although born in Coventry, Devonish has taken out a substantial mortgage on a flat in Langley, Slough, where he is near to the training group of which he is a member. He said he would take some of his $40,000 (around £25,000) prize to reduce the debt. “I will use a percentage of the money to pay off some of the mortgage after the taxman takes his cut,” he said.

Winning the Olympics would enable him to clear it, if he had not done so already by taking the outdoor world title in Paris. After a short break he will spend six weeks training in Florida for the outdoor season. Paris is the interim goal, Athens the main one. “To be Olympic champion is the pinnacle, isn’t it?” Devonish said. What happens after that may be a question of taste.