Chambers fails in bid to compete at Olympics (Roundup)

UK News

Jul 18, 2008, 12:39 GMT

London - British sprinter Dwain Chambers failed in his court bid Friday to overturn a lifetime Olympics ban so that he could run in next month's Games in Beijing. The British Olympic Association (BOA) banned the 30-year-old from competing at future Games after he tested positive for the steroid THG in 2003, for which Chambers has already served a two-year suspension. The sprinter qualified to compete in Beijing by winning the 100 metres at the British Olympic athletics trials in Birmingham last Saturday in a time of 10.00 seconds. As a result, Chambers took a case against the BOA by-law preventing him from competing in Beijing, arguing that it was an unfair restraint of trade but his attempt to secure an injunction at the High Court failed. BOA chairman Lord Moynihan welcomed the decision by Mr Justice Mackay, saying Chambers had brought the situation on himself by taking banned performance-enhancing substances. 'It's a matter of regret that Dwain Chambers, an athlete of such undoubted talent, should by his own actions have put himself out of the running to shine on the Olympic stage in Beijing,' Moynihan said. 'The BOA will continue to send a powerful message that nobody found guilty of serious drug-cheating offences should have the honour of wearing GB vests at the Olympic Games. 'The court's decision allows us now to focus on, and support, those athletes who will be travelling to Beijing to represent Team GB in just 21 days' time. We must now focus on their interests.' The final British squad for next month's Games in Beijing has to be named by Sunday. Following his admission that he doped, Chambers was stripped of the 100m European Championship gold medal he won in 2002 as well as the gold Great Britain won in the 4x100m relay.

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Chambers fails in bid to compete at Olympics (Roundup)

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