Chambers jumps through window of opportunity
February 4th 2008 13:17
This comes in light of the latest circus to surround British sprinter Dwain Chambers.
Last week UKA announced that Chambers would be barred from the trials for the world indoors and that before he would be allowed to compete again he would have to complete twelve months worth of drugs testing.
The stated reason for this was that Chambers had not been drugs tested since November 06 and because he had retired.
De Vos said in an interview with the BBC, “we now need to ensure that when the system catches a cheat, we do not allow those cheats an easy way back into the sport.”
This would have effectively ended the 29 year old Londoners career.
Enter the IAAF who announced that contrary to what UKA had said, Chambers had not formally retired and that the decision to suspend his dope testing was UKA’s, not the athlete’s.
Chambers bears this out, “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. I am back on the register and about three weeks ago I was tested. I always kept the IAAF informed about where I was.”
This statement exposed UKA’s true objective of making Chambers a scapegoat in the war on drugs.
UKA are seeking to regain some credibility after such doping scandals as that which engulfed US sprinter Marion Jones last year.
Chambers was convicted of taking THG in 2003 and having served a subsequent two year suspension is the perfect fall guy in this respect but his lawyers as well as much of the public see this as unfair and potentially unlawful.
Indeed they have threatened to sue UKA if Chambers is barred from competing at the trials having easily claimed the qualifying time last weekend on his way to winning the 60m at the Birmingham Games.
He is currently third in the GB rankings for 60m behind youngsters Craig Pickering and Simeon Williamson.
Williamson said of Chambers possible return, “I train with Dwain, so if he goes through instead of me I'll be happy. I think he should be allowed to compete.”
Pickering was equally ambivalent, “It doesn't really bother me if he competes in Sheffield, he's just one more person to beat.”
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