LONDON — British sprinter James Ellington said he was "lapping up every moment" after returning to the track in London on Saturday following a motorbike crash that left him with career-threatening injuries.

Ellington, who recorded the slowest time in the 100 meters heats at the Anniversary Games, suffered the horrifying crash in Tenerife in January 2017.

But the delighted sprinter said he was not looking at his time, admitting he had not run further than 60 meters in training because of ongoing pain.

On the eve of the two-day event in London Ellington had tweeted that his goal was the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but said he needed to get back to competing.

"It was surreal but at the same time it's where I belong," said the 33-year-old after the race at the Diamond League meeting.

"I thought I'd be a lot more emotional but I kind of went into competition mode."

"I am so happy to be here. I am lapping every moment of it up and just enjoying it," added Ellington, whose quickest times are 10.04sec in the 100m and 20.31sec in the 200m.

"I'm going to go back to the drawing board and try to sort these injuries out. I have had a back problem three days ago and I could not walk but there was no way I was going to miss this race.

"Yesterday I started to feel a bit better but in the warm-up I started to feel pain and I walked out limping but I was not missing this. It's amazing to be here." — AFP