Olympic relay champion Mark Lewis-Francis has accused Colin Jackson of damaging athletics with his 'crazy' remarks about Britain's medal hopes at London 2012.

The sprinter, who is due to race twice in his home city of Birmingham in coming weeks at the Norwich Union Grand Prix on February 17 and at next month's European Indoor Championships, told The Birmingham Post that Jackson could be discouraging young competitors with his criticism of the sport.

Darlaston-born Lewis-Francis was responding to comments made by Jackson when the former hurdling world champion claimed it would take a 'miracle' for a home athlete to win gold when the Olympics are held in this country in less than six years.

Last month Jackson slammed UK Athletics and the current crop of contenders when he told the national press: "The Beijing Olympics will be too soon to see any difference and it's even going to take a miracle for anyone to win a British gold in track and field at the 2012 Games in London.

"We'll get gold medals in other sports but maybe not track and field."

But Lewis-Francis, who will be 30 and potentially in his prime at the London Olympiad, thinks Jackson is being counter-productive when he voices such concerns.

"To say that is pretty crazy, it does not help the sport," Lewis-Francis snapped. "He is taking hope away from the youngsters that are coming through and trying to be the next Colin Jackson.

"He doesn't know who's going to be competing in 2012. Craig Pickering has come out and shown he can perform with the seniors," he said in reference to the 20-year-old who set the best time in the world over 60 metres a few weeks ago and was the highest placed European at the Sparkassen Cup when that mark was eclipsed last Saturday.

Lewis-Francis also believes that Jackson should be more positive in his comments about developing talents.

"He should be encouraging because there are youngsters coming through and the standard of the sport is definitely improving.

"He of all people should know that the best thing to give an athlete is encouragement.

"He was an amazing athlete but what he is doing now is trying to do down the sport, he should be doing something to give something back."

To be fair to Jackson, he is working without payment to help Welsh athletes Rhys Williams and Tim Benjamin build on promising careers in the 400metre hurdles and 400m respectively.

Nevertheless Lewis-Francis, who could only finish fifth in his heat in Stuttgart in yet another disappointing outing in the nascent indoor season, wants Jackson to be mindful of his massive reputation when he chooses to speak out.

"If you are going to give an opinion, make sure it is a positive one. People do listen to things he says because he is a legend, especially people that do know the sport, it can damage athletics."

But there were crumbs of comfort for the region's athletes when Nathan Douglas, who trains at the High Performance Centre in Perry Barr, set a new indoor personal best for the triple jump.

Although he recorded five fouls in his six attempts, his 17.14m was good enough for second place in Germany.