Max Jones could not have written a better script to bring down the curtain on his time as performance director of Britain's athletics team.

Britain's gold medal in the men's 4x100metres relay final on Saturday night was the perfect send-off for Jones, who is retiring after these Olympics and ending seven years at the helm.

Jones had waited a long time for such a special moment and if he could have chosen any moment at which to bow out then watching Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis storm to relay victory over the Americans would have been it.

"The high of these Games was definitely the 4x100m," said Jones.

"People don't know what we have gone through over the last six years, we have had a constant coaching battle and have had so many highs and lows.

"The relay boys didn't finish in Sydney and then it happened again a year later in Edmonton, and that was probably my lowest moment in athletics.

"Last year in Paris they lost their silver medal after the Dwain Chambers drugs affair.

"It was always my dream to end my career with our 4x100m boys winning the gold medal and if I could have written the final chapter I would have had us beating the Americans in the final by one hundredth of a second. I never thought it would come true but that's exactly what happened.

"We had to be very positive, but deep down inside we knew that if the Americans got their changes right they should win. But in the end we got three very good changes and ran out of our skins and they didn't."

Until Saturday, it had been an anxious time for Jones in Athens with just Kelly Holmes' 800m gold and Kelly Sotherton's heptathlon bronze to show for the team's track and field efforts.

The critics were set for a field day, especially as the men had nothing to their name, but Jones and his team were rescued when Holmes completed a sensational golden double by winning the 1,500m and the men's sprint relay team then earned a third gold.

"At any major Games you live on a knife edge because it can go either way," said Jones.

"There is such a thin dividing line between success and failure and you need a bit of luck on your side.

"Before last night I was thinking back to Sunday and the disappointment of both Paula Radcliffe in the marathon and Phillips Idowu in the triple jump. If they had gone right we'd have been in a great position.

"One gold medal can mean the difference between success and failure and we were looking down the precipice last night because if things didn't go well it would have been a failure."

Fortunately for Jones and his support staff, the team will leave Athens on a high note. It has been easy for him to pick out his best and worst moments from the Athens Games, and he is happy with the legacy he will leave behind.

Radcliffe's marathon blow-up was almost as heartbreaking for Jones as it had been for the athlete herself.

"Sunday night was the low," he said.

"I am pretty close to Paula because I have worked with her and got to know her very well.

"She was in the junior team running 3,000m when I was head coach in 1992, so it was very sad not to see her get the medal she deserved.

"I also expected Phillips to get a medal, maybe even the gold because he is very talented, so to see him no-jump three times was disappointing.

"Before the 4x100m the high was Kelly's 800m gold. It was unusual for me but I got very emotional and had tears in my eyes because I knew how much it meant to her.

"You can win as many silvers and bronzes but if you haven't got a gold in there, that's what you need for a successful Games.

"When I arrived seven years ago we never had a system, but now we have the facilities and medical set-up for people to flourish.

"The thing we need now is to get the talent into the sport because you recruit or die, and the challenge in the coming years is to recruit the right youngsters.

"Hopefully the kids watching back home will want to be part of it and athletics will be regarded as a major sport."