AT JUST before noon yesterday Dwain Chambers gave UK Athletics (UKA) a headache. The slimmed-down drugs cheat eased from his blocks in the opening heat of the 60m at the Birmingham Games at the National Indoor Arena and 6.70sec later had achieved the qualifying mark for next weekend's trials for the world indoor championships. By achieving the time in his first race for 16 months, Chambers, 29, put himself on collision course with UKA chief executive, Niels de Vos.
De Vos will not welcome back the sprinter because he had not been registered for drug-testing for almost all of his absence, but as Chambers left the track yesterday he insisted he should be allowed to compete by the national governing body because he did not ask to be taken off the list. Chambers may become the first athlete to take on the British Olympic Association in court over his lifetime ban from the Games.
"I would like to think De Vos would do what is best for himself, for me and for athletics in me wanting to compete," said Chambers. "I never took myself off the drugs register. It was their decision and unfortunately because of that, it has left both of us in a sticky situation.
"I never said I am retiring. We will deal with it. I am back on the register and I was tested about three weeks ago. It was the first one, but I always informed the IAAF of my whereabouts. I am trying to be diplomatic because I do not want to hinder my chances of getting to the trials."
Privately, the sport is incensed with the shame that could result if Chambers can legally prove he is allowed to run. He still needs to be invited to the trials in Sheffield next weekend by UKA, but there may be little they can do to stop him. Carl Myerscough, the shamed British shot-putter who was banned for taking a cocktail of steroids, has been invited.
Advertisement
Claire Furlong, UKA's head of communications, said yesterday: "We always planned to reflect on the weekend's events before making any further comment."
In 2003 Chambers, then the European 100m champion, failed a test for the anabolic steroid Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). He was banned for two years, returning to the team for the 2006 season, where he helped Britain's men win gold in the 4 x 100m relay at the European Championships in Gothenburg. Chambers then chose to leave athletics to seek a career in American Football, an idea that looked to be working until the plans for NFL Europa fell apart.
He needed to run under 6.90sec yesterday to qualify for the trials in Sheffield, a time he achieved with ease in the heats before progressing to win the semi-finals in 6.62sec and, 90 minutes later, take the title with victory in 6.60sec, a championship record.
And he has not given up hope of running at the Beijing Olympics. Under British Olympic Association rules, competitors who have failed drug tests have no way back. Chambers said: "I hope to be in a position to warrant the ban being overturned. Anyone would love to compete in Beijing. It is the pinnacle of any athlete's career. You never know, I may be the first [to overturn the ban]."
He added: "I am here to prove that I can do it clean."