If Frankie Gavin had been a sprinter you could bet your mortgage he would not have run out of his lane in a major championship, or naively false started or been so rusty that he couldn't take the baton in a straightforward relay manoeuvre.

Yes, England's sprinters could learn so much from Gavin and his four England teammates, Don Broadhurst, Stephen Smith, Jamie Cox, and David Price who won Commonwealth Games gold on a final night of power and glory in the boxing hall.

About humility and dignity. Above all, about preparation.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail is the aphorism which sums up the disappointing performances from England's sprinters, in particular, which saw so much soul-searching at the top of the sport this weekend.

The talk was about lack of hunger, being content with mediocrity, failing to have a proper coaching system in place.

In short, the exact opposite of the boxing squad run by the superb Terry Edwards, whose fighters have brought a professional zeal, if not pay packets, to the boxing hall this past fortnight.

Shining like a beacon among them has been Gavin.

No disrespect to the rest of the golden boys and in that we should include Ken Anderson of Scotland, but Gavin is in a league of his own. Or in league with Khan if you listen to Edwards.

According to Edwards, Gavin, who sparred with Amir Khan before the Athens Olympics, has the potential to be as good as the Olympic silver medallist, who is currently carving his way through the professional ranks with as much aplomb as he used to batter his amateur foes.

To many, comparison with Khan would be a millstone guaranteed to weigh down a potentially brilliant career.

Not with Gavin, who took apart his lightweight opponent, Giovanni Frontin from Mauritius, with ruthless precision.

He was 10-1 up after the first round, 16-3 in front at half-way and if then his low hands style and confident demeanour allowed himself to get a little too embroiled in a slugfest then the adrenalin understandably must be pumping as a fighter closes in on a gold medal.

The final score was 23-9 and Gavin's hands were in the air a good five seconds before the final bell rang.

Not showboating. No disrespect to his opponent, just unbridled joy and relief that the gold was his and that he had not let down his big pal Khan.

"It doesn't bother me mentioning me in the same sentence as Amir Khan," says Gavin. "Just look how good he is. To have my name mentioned on the same level as him shows what people think of me. They think I'm that good.

"When I last spoke to him he said he had every confidence of me winning gold and he's seen me get better and better since leaving the amateurs and there's no reason why I can't follow him and do what he's done."

No reason considering Gavin's ambition remains taking Olympic gold in Beijing, a dream coach Edwards reckons is realistic.

"He has an extraordinary talent," said Edwards. "In Bejing he will be one of our better hopes. He's got a good eye, fast hands and a boxing brain. In this last year he's matured magnificently."

If only the same could be said for the sprinters, who have earned a different reputation in the athletes' village among competitors from the minority sports.

Such as the following observation from gold medal cyclist Rob Hayles.

"The track and field people act as if they own the athletes' village," said Hayles. "The way some of them act maybe you need a bigger ego to be in track and field.

"We are just happy getting on with what we are doing. We sit quietly in the corner and show what we can do on the track as opposed to talking about it."

Gavin and co. do the same in the ring. As good as gold you might say.