Dwain Chambers today lost his high court bid to be allowed to compete at next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Justice Sir Colin Mackay refused to grant an injunction temporarily suspending a lifetime Olympic ban imposed on the self-confessed drugs cheat by the British Olympic Association (BOA) under a bylaw. But the judge told a packed courtroom today: “Many people both inside and outside sport would see this bylaw as unlawful. In my judgment, it would take a much better case than the claimant has presented to persuade me to overturn the status quo at this stage and compel his selection for the Games.” The BOA chairman Lord Colin Moynihan welcomed the ruling. Speaking outside court, he said: “It is a matter of regret that Dwain Chambers an athlete with such undoubted talent … should by his own actions put himself out of the running to shine on the Olympic stage. The BOA will continue to send out a powerful message and important message that anyone found guilty of a drug offence should not have the honour to represent Team GB at the Olympic Games.”Chambers posed for pictures on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice but would not say a word about the ruling. He was surrounded by photographers as he crossed The Strand and disappeared towards his barrister’s office. The decision was welcomed by many in the sporting world. “I think this is a very fair verdict in the circumstances and shows that Dwain now understands that he cannot break the rules just because he thinks it suits him. He knew the rules existed when he broke them,” said the former Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis. “The decision also sends out a very strong message to anyone else who may attempt to appeal in this way and to anyone who is tempted to cheat by using drugs to enhance their performance. It is very sad that this appeal has grabbed so many headlines and I really do think that the British bylaw should be adopted by the IOC and across the world so that everyone understands very clearly that if any athlete tests positive for drugs they forfeit any right to represent their country at any future Olympics. We must now get behind all the athletes representing Team GB in Beijing who have worked very hard to earn their places. I really think all our athletes will be delighted with this decision.”

As Britain’s Olympic hopes took a giant leap forward, albeit into a pit of despair among officialdom, the road to Beijing became muddied with dissent, chaos and embarrassment.

The image of Ed Warner, the UK Athletics (UKA) chairman, crowning Dwain Chambers as the new national 100 metres champion was mindboggling enough, given that UKA has taken a moral stance over the runner’s return. But, more importantly, Tyrone Edgar joined Craig Pickering in opposing Chambers’s Olympic claims, casting the 4×100 metres relay team into a state of confusion.

Both men do not want Chambers in Beijing, but at least one of them may find himself sharing a baton with him. Given that Britain are the defending Olympic champions and invest heavily in the relay, it is yet another subplot to Chambers’s appearance in the High Court on Wednesday, where he hopes to have his Olympic ban lifted.

“Obviously I think the rules should stand,” Edgar said after finishing fourth in the 100 metres final behind Chambers, Simeon Williamson and Pickering at the Aviva UK Championships and Olympic trials in Birmingham. “If I did not go I would not feel too happy. The Olympic Games are my dream.” 

Pickering clearly felt that he had done enough to take the last of the three places for the 100 metres, so somebody will be deeply disappointed should Chambers win in court. “How can they not take him?” Malcolm Arnold, Pickering’s coach, said of his charge.

Edgar’s answer would be because he has run 10.06sec this year, bagged the European Cup and suffered from a niggle in his right hamstring on Saturday. “It is an emotional time for me,” Edgar said. “I did hear there was a mixed reaction to him [Chambers], with cheers and boos, and I tried to block them out. It is really weird because the situation has taken over the sport. Every time you open a paper, it is not about athletics.”

Chambers’s performance on Saturday was remarkable. His mark of 10.00sec was the fastest by a Briton on home turf and his best since 2001. Twelve men have gone faster around the world this year, but given that five will not compete in China because of the United States’ prowess in the event, while medal contenders Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell have been struggling with injuries, the ultimate embarrassment remains in the offing.

Having shown a clean pair of heels to everyone, admiration of Chambers’s display comes with the assumption that a man who lied and cheated in the past is now clean and redeemed. He has changed his tune regards the relay, too. Earlier this summer he said: “The relay team have been working together and it would be unfair for me to come in and ruin all their work.” On Saturday he said: “I haven’t practised but I’m experienced and that’s the key. I’ve been told the first two past the post are automatically selected for the 4×100.”

If Chambers goes to Beijing as the fastest man in the squad, Dave Collins, the UKA performance director, must find a path through the medals-versus-morals debate.

Complicating the relay scenario is Marlon Devonish, a hitherto integral part of the relay, but a dismal seventh in the 100 metres final. Afterwards he revealed he had been suffering from a respiratory problem. In addition, Christian Malcolm won the 200 metres final in 20.53sec, an Olympic qualifying time, and the selectors will want to include the experienced 29-year-old in the relay squad.

Everything depends on Chambers’s fate and whether Mr Justice Mackay chooses to grant an injunction suspending the BOA bylaw sidelining him. “I will be sitting and praying things go my way,” Chambers said. “It’s good that we’ve got this healthy competition and it gives us a whole lot of confidence to take into the 4×100 metres.” Not everyone in the camp feels the same way.

OVER-45 FIFE AC veteran Terry Mitchell, St Andrews and Scottish Marathon Champion Kate Jenkins (Gala Harriers), were the winners of the Fife 50km Race - incorporating the Scottish Championships - on Sunday (September 9th).

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