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.