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Jason Gardener has backed fellow Olympic gold medallist Mark Lewis-Francis to bounce back stronger than ever after he saw his National Lottery funding cut by UKA.

Gardener ran the first leg while Lewis-Francis the anchor as the Great Britain 4x100m relay team stormed to gold at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

While Gardener called time on his career in 2007, Lewis-Francis, seven years his junior, has continued his career but failed to reach such heights again.

The 27-year-old from Walsall was a world junior champion in 1999, but missed the 2008 Olympics with an Achilles injury and struggled on his return in 2009 despite teaming up with Linford Christie in a bid to rediscover his form.

As a result he was stripped of his World Class Performance Programme funding last week, but Gardener believes Lewis-Francis, who still holds the fastest ever time set by a teenager (9.97 seconds) is not finished yet.

"The business we're in is difficult. It's about performing. Mark's been a fantastic ambassador for UK Athletics and British Sport - he's had a difficult couple of years following success of Athens in 2004," said Gardener.

"And there are tough calls that will be made. The standards were set - athletes know what they have to achieve but I believe Mark is a fantastic athlete and will be able to use this disappointment to refuel himself and get back on to lottery funding.

"The system can't cater for everybody. We have a number who we can support of World Class funding which is set by UK Sport and because of British team success we've far exceeded expectations and have a number of athletes which don't fit into the places."

While much-maligned sprinter Dwain Chambers finished sixth at August's World Championships, British sprinters again faltered as national champion Simeon Williamson failed to reach the final.

In July, former 100m Asafa Powell of Jamaica brandished British sprinters lazy and accused them of living in a comfort zone.

And while Gardener acknowledged there were a handful of British athletes who need to pull their socks up, he dismissed claims the problem is inherent within British sprinting.

"I've trained with Craig Pickering - while he hasn't fulfilled his potential at this stage, I can tell you he trains his socks off every day," he said.

"He's committed and driven - there are athletes out there who aren't lazy. But maybe there are a few who we need to shake up under Charles Van Commenee.

"It wouldn't be professional to name names and again I'm not working with them on a day-to-day basis but all athletes can improve - that's the nature of the business we're in.

"I would suspect that now that Charles Van Commenee has been in the UK for ten months he's got an idea of which ones need to pull their socks up still to deliver on their full potential."

More Than The Games / Eurosport