The 24-year-old from Gloucester was coached by David Farrow from June 1999, when he was 13, until they parted company in May 2005.

The athlete sued over three weeks of high altitude training in South Africa in 2004 when he allegedly sustained stress fractures which left him unable to train or compete from October 2005 until November 2007.

In 2004, Davenport had a successful summer on the track, culminating in him coming seventh in the final of the 400 metres hurdles in the World Junior Championships and breaking the UK Junior record.

In the autumn, he competed in a range of events up to 3,000m, until going to South Africa with Farrow that October.

In 2005, he continued to set personal best times and, in March, won a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay with Britain in the European Indoor Championships.

But, by the time he took up a place that autumn at Loughborough University, he claimed he was experiencing back pain and later needed two bouts of surgery to unite the stress fractures.

Davenport told Justice Owen in London that when he told Farrow about the significant pain he was experiencing in South Africa, the coach dismissed his complaints as symptomatic of a lack of motivation and said there was nothing wrong with him.

He said that Farrow ought to have advised him to have the condition investigated which would have led to it being treated conservatively with rest.

Farrow, who denied liability, was emphatic that no complaint of persistent back pain was made in the autumn of 2004 and that, if it had been, he would have immediately referred Davenport for treatment.

His case was that the stress fractures pre-dated the training in South Africa and were probably of much longer standing.

Farrow, from Cheltenham, is the former coach of European junior champion Emily Pidgeon and Olympic runner Kate Reed.

He has had his UK Athletics coaching licence suspended since 2007 after he was found to have abused his position of trust with a senior athlete.

Farrow said: "This case should never have been brought [by Davenport]."

He said it was "outrageous" Davenport had brought the case against him after he had helped him for free for six years.

Farrow said: "I developed him to world-class level and he gained his first senior Great Britain vest at the very time he alleges he was suffering.

"It was further disappointing to find he was being supported in his claim for money by another ex-athlete of mine, Emily Pidgeon.

"I am gratified the judge has preferred to believe the evidence given by my experts and numerous members of the training group at the time."

Dismissing the claim, the judge said there was no doubt that Farrow was becoming exasperated with Davenport and did not consider he was showing the commitment necessary to achieve his potential.

But, he concluded, on the evidence, that it was "more likely" that the stress fractures happened before October or November 2004 and Davenport had failed to prove otherwise.


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