Preview: Chambers seeks drug-free sprint glory, Sweden five golds

By John Bagratuni Aug 4, 2006, 7:44 GMT

Gothenburg, Sweden - British sprinter Dwain Chambers returns to the European athletics championships determined to show he can win the blue-riband 100 metres sprint without the aid of drugs.

Chambers won the 100m in Munich 2002, but was stripped of the title over a doping affair which saw him banned for two years after being caught using the designer steroid THG.

The 28-year-old returned to action in June with a 10.07-second run in Gateshead but has recently been plagued by a thigh strain, leaving doubts about his form for the championships which start on Monday in Gothenburg's Ullevi stadium and last until August 13.

His fiercest rival will again be Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, who took the 2002 title after Chambers' disqualification and this time around is out for a rare sprint double as European season-leader in the 100m (10.03) and 200m (20.18).

'I have to defend my 100m title, that's always been my main goal for the season and I want to win the 200m as well. But it's a tough schedule. I've got eight races in four days,' said Obikwelu.

But Chambers has the reputation of a championship runner and despite the injury should be boosted by his Gateshead success.

'I didn't expect that at all - not at all. Despite all the ups and downs, I showed I can still compete. The past has gone now and I can look forward to the future,' he said at the time.

A record 1,370 athletes from 48 counties are entered for the continental championships, around 100 athletes and one country more than four years ago. The only countries not competing in Gothenburg are Armenia and Liechtenstein.

Russia dominated the 2002 edition with eight golds and 24 overall medals and is sending the biggest contingent of 118 athletes to Gothenburg.

Led by pole vault world record holder Svetlana Lebedeva, the women's side stands out and could for instance easily sweep the 800m (Svetlana Klyuka, Olga Kotlyarova, Svetlana Cherkasova) and 1,500m (Yelena Soboleva, Tatyana Tomashova, Yuliya Chizhenko) races.

'Our plan is to win six gold, six silver and six bronze medals, and win the first team placing overall. If we won 20 medals in the world championship then why not 18 here?' said head coach Valery Kulichenko, calling the task 'completely realistic.'

But hosts Sweden are also set to make headlines in what could well be their best ever showing at the event - boasting hot gold medal contenders in no less than five events.

World and Olympic champion Carolina Kluft has been the toast of the heptathlon for years while high jumpers Kajsa Bergqvist and Stefan Holm top the 2006 world lists.

Susanna Kallur is the fastest European in the 100m hurdles and Christian Olsson has overcome injury as he seeks to win the triple jump in the same stadium where he sold programmes as a boy at the 1995 worlds and watched Jonathan Edwards hop, skip and jump to the still valid world record of 18.29m.

'To win a major championship on home soil would definitely be something. I try to win every competition I participate in, but this one is particularly important because it is in Sweden and probably my only chance to win a major championships on home soil,' said Bergqvist.

France and Italy are also set for multiple titles while former superpower Germany appear to be on the decline with discus thrower Franka Dietzsch and the pole vaulters around Tim Lobinger the best bets for the top of the podium.

'We hope for eight to 10 medals,' said Frank Hensel from the German federation DLV.

The men's 110m hurdles and javelin will finally see new champions as the four-time reigning winners from Britain, Colin Jackson and Steve Backley, have retired.

British marathon world champion Paula Radcliffe is pregnant and therefore not in Gothenburg, while the defending women's 100m and 1,500m champions, Ekaterini Thanou of Greece and Sureyya Ayhan of Turkey, are serving doping bans.

But Belgian Kim Gevaert has the same sprint double in mind as Obikwelu but will be upstaged on the publicity front by Merlene Ottey, the former Jamaican who is set to make her Euro-debut for Slovenia at age 46.

'My form is getting better from race to race,' said Ottey, whose 11.43 seconds year-best would see her make the 100m semis.