He has hung up his spikes but Troy Douglas is remaining very much in athletics.

The former sprinter has been named technical director of the commercial arm of the Dutch national relay team and will be spearheading their charge into the future with an accent on securing sponsorship.

?What I?ll be doing with the commercial team is take them away from the (Dutch athletics) federation but I will work alongside the federation,? explained Douglas, speaking to yesterday.

?I will be using my success and name to help them get more sponsorship and a higher profile while also coaching.?

The 42-year-old Bermudian who competed on the pro circuit from 1989 to 2004 says he will not miss being in the starting blocks as he ?will still be working doing what he enjoys? and is looking forward to charting his adopted country?s path to further track glory.

Douglas was a member of the Dutch 4x100-metre relay squad that belatedly received a bronze medal ? after originally placing fourth - from the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Paris in 2003 after Britain were stripped of their silver medal because Dwain Chambers tested positive for the controversial banned substance THG.

He had hoped to add to that success in his farewell meet ? the Athens Olympics ? but disaster struck in the sprint relay preliminaries with a baton mishap on the final exchange.

As the baton tumbled to the track, Douglas watched in horror as his Olympic dreams evaporated.

?I was the number two runner and I handed off to number three and he was supposed to pass off to number four but it did not happen,? he recalled of the Greek tragedy.

Asked about his reaction in that instant, Douglas confessed a four-letter word flew from his lips.

?The reality hit us and my team mates felt sorry for me. They felt they had let me down. One of the guys cried and another one felt really bad and they said they were sorry it ended that way. They were gentlemen and that?s a quality you don?t see much in athletes.

?I said to them that they didn?t let me down and that I was proud of them and (of) how far we had gotten as a team in the last few years.?

Now, he is aiming to build on that platform and bring more recognition to Holland in sprinting so he may yet reap further rewards though he won?t be on the track.