Dwain Chambers
Encyclopedia
Dwain Anthony Chambers is an English sprinter of Afro-Caribbean
descent. He has won medals on the international stage numerous times and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres sprint
, in which he has the second fastest time by a British
sprinter. He is the European record
holder for the 60 metres
and 4 × 100 metres relay events with 6.42 seconds and 37.73 s respectively. He received a two-year ban in 2003 for taking performance enhancing drugs.
Chambers was a promising young athlete, setting a junior world record of 10.06 s in the 100 m. He was the bronze medallist in the 1999 World Championships
and made his first Olympic
appearance at the Sydney 2000 Games
; he turned in the best 100 m performance by a European at both events. By 2001, he had become the top British sprinter, breaking the 10-second barrier
twice at the Edmonton World Championships
. He became the 100 m European champion and record holder in 2002 but, in October 2003, he received a two-year athletics ban and a ban from the Olympics for life for using THG
, a banned substance.
Chambers returned to the track and field
circuit in June 2006, and won gold with his teammates in the 4 × 100 m at the 2006 European Championships
. He tried other sports, including a spell with the Hamburg Sea Devils
of the NFL Europa league and a rugby league
trial with the Castleford Tigers
. Sprinting success came over 60 m when he won silver at the 2008 World Indoor Championships
, gold at the 2009 European Indoors and became world champion at the 2010 World Indoor Championships
. He remains barred from the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and much of the European racing circuit. He published an autobiography, Race Against Me, in 2009. He currently lives with his partner Leonie Daley and their sons, Skye and Rocco.
and raised in Finsbury
, London
, and running was a part of his family life. His older sister Christine won the senior 100 metres
finals at the English Schools Championships in 1986 and 1987 and competed in the European Athletics Junior Championships
. As a schoolboy he was coached by Selwyn Philbert who devoted himself to the young sprinter. Chambers first showed his athletic promise at the English Schools' Athletic Association Championships. In the boys' intermediate 100 m race in 1994 he ran to victory with a time of 10.64 seconds which, as of 2008, ranks as the joint fifth best time in the history of the competition. Chambers built on this with a strong showing at the 1995 European Junior Championships
, receiving two gold medals for his efforts in the 100 m and the sprint relay, the latter with the help of fellow British
sprinter Marlon Devonish
and current British bobsleigher Dan Money
. Chambers returned two years later to the 1997 European Junior Championships, this time showing even more promise. He retained the sprint relay gold medal and broke the 100 m sprint record with a time of 10.06 s, a world junior record at the time.
. He attained second place with 10.10 s, finishing second to British compatriot Darren Campbell
. The promising sprinter was progressing and achieved a new personal best at the 1998 IAAF World Cup with a time of 10.03 s on 11 September 1998. However, he only finished third in the race which featured six athletes recording personal bests and a championship record breaking winner. Soon after, he set the championship record as part of the 4x100 relay team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
. His ability attracted the attention of former sprinter and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mike McFarlane, who became his coach. Chambers remained hungry for gold medals and achieved first place in the 100 m in the 1999 European Cup
held in Paris
. His times continued to improve and shortly afterwards in Nuremberg
he became only the second European sprinter to break the ten second barrier with a time of 9.99 s. Chambers felt elated at the achievement but the competition was fierce as fellow British sprinter Jason Gardener
scored a time of 9.98 s in Lausanne
soon after, becoming the third Briton to break the barrier. In addition, Chambers remained some distance behind his North American counterparts, as did the other European sprinters. He had yet to win gold on the world senior stage and the 1999 World Championships
in Seville
provided him with an opportunity.
and Canadian runner Bruny Surin
took first and second place respectively. Chambers' third place time paled in comparison to Bruny's national record setting 9.84 s and Greene's championship record time of 9.80 s. The 4x100 metres relay event was more fruitful for the British sprinters. Along with Gardener, Campbell and Marlon Devonish, Chambers raced to second place, finishing in 37.73 s. The US team, led by Greene, won the event in 37.59 s, again outrunning their European rivals.
Though he failed to win a gold medal at the tournament, Chambers' silver and bronze medal winning performances brought him into the spotlight. His third place finish in the 100 m made him Europe's top performer in the event and at the age of 21 he was the youngest World Championships
100 m medallist. World record holder Maurice Greene was hitting his peak, winning three gold medals in Seville
, but Chambers had youth on his side. At 21, Greene's personal best was 10.08 s; a time which denied the American a podium place at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was over a tenth of a second slower than Chambers' 1999 best.
With the 2000 Sydney Olympics approaching, Chambers studied the technique of other sprinters to improve himself. In an interview with BBC journalist Tom Fordyce
, Chambers noted the stamina Greene and Surin had gained from running in the 200 metres
event and Jason Gardener
's improved acceleration through running the 60 metres
event. He experimented with distances at the beginning of 2000, sprinting over 50, 60 and 200 m in various competitions. He set a personal best of 6.55 s in the 60 m event in Ghent
, Belgium
, on 11 February 2000. The 100 m remained his priority however and Chambers set his sights on gold, declaring his intention to run under 10 s in the event numerous times in preparation for the Olympics.
His confidence was running high but the sprinter suffered a setback as a hamstring injury caused him to miss six weeks of training. When Chambers returned from injury his performances were lacklustre. He finished ninth at the 2000 Golden Gala
in Rome
with a substandard 10.41 s, admitting that his confidence had plummeted. His poor form continued; on 5 August 2000 at the British Grand Prix he finished seventh in a tame 10.30 s, causing him to consider quitting the season altogether.
Chambers' slump put his Olympic chances in jeopardy but he had a late rejuvenation that guaranteed his place. At the British Olympic trials he snatched first place with 10.11 s; just one hundredth of a second ahead of Darren Campbell. Victory against in-form world record holder Maurice Greene followed shortly afterwards. Chambers finished first in Gateshead
, against international competition, registering 10.11 s against a strong head wind. This raised Chambers' confidence and he professed his desire to take home a medal from the Games, whether it be gold, silver or bronze.
The results of the 2000 Sydney Olympics proved bitter-sweet for the Englishman. Chambers qualified with relative ease through the heat stages, finishing either first or second each time. Chambers achieved a season's best in the 100 m final on 23 September 2000, crossing the line in 10.08 s. However, this was not sufficient for a medal and he again suffered a defeat to sprinters from the other side of the Atlantic
. Chambers finished behind Greene, Trinidad
ian Ato Boldon
and Obadele Thompson
from Barbados
. Chambers had to settle for European supremacy without medals.
at the European Clubs Cup. His time of 10.12 s equalled the meeting record and he noted this was his fastest start to a season yet. He also performed well in the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) trials in Birmingham
; his 10.01 s was the fastest time recorded in Britain by a British sprinter. Chambers ran with a marked improvement in consistency in 2001. He won at the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) Grand Prix in Seville in 10.01 s on 8 June 2001 and finished third in ten seconds flat at the Lausanne
Grand Prix a month later. In the run up to the 2001 IAAF Edmonton World Championships
Chambers remarked on his own performances with aplomb: "I am very consistent in the 10.00s this year, and that bodes well for the Worlds. If you are running as fast as Linford Christie
in his prime, it gives you a lot of confidence."
The AAA trials and British Grand Prix saw Chambers improving over other distances, setting 200 m personal bests of 20.65 s then 20.31 s respectively. The former result meant Chambers was selected to run in the event at the World Championships, in addition to the 100 m. Looking back to his defeat in Sydney, Chambers tried to discover what made Maurice Greene so dominant. In an interview with Tom Fordyce, he reflected on the effect Greene had on other sprinters with his strong presence and mind games; the veteran undermined the competition both physically and mentally. "You have to get out in front of him and hold on for dear life" he said of the world record holder.
Chambers broke the ten second barrier twice in the 2001 World Championships with 9.97 s in the quarter finals and 9.99 s in the final. This was not enough for a medal in a strong race which featured five sprinters running under ten seconds; Greene was triumphant once again. Though Chambers finished fifth in the event, this was later amended to fourth place after silver medallist Tim Montgomery
tested positive for banned substances. Greene and Chambers both suffered hamstring injuries in the final, thus ruling the latter out of the 200 m event. Chambers recovered in time for the 2001 Goodwill Games
in Brisbane
, Australia and finished in first place while the still-injured Greene could only manage to commentate on his European rival's victory.
to work with veteran coach Remi Korchemny
and nutritionist
Victor Conte
. After parting ways with American sprinter Tim Montgomery, Conte looked to Chambers to fill the athlete's berth. In the run up to the year's major events, Chambers was in fine form and recorded a 200 m personal best of 20.27 s in Athens
on 10 June 2002.All results, times, personal bests, records, medals or other achievements flagged with an "x" label were nullified from the record by the IAAF as they were achieved while Chambers was using banned substances. Montgomery, impressed by Chambers' training regime, tipped the Briton to win the gold at the forthcoming 2002 Commonwealth Games
in Manchester
, England.
He won the 100 m at the Commonwealth Games trials in style, recording a season's best of 10.03 s. On the strength of his performances Chambers was made team captain for the 2002 European Cup
event. The appointment fired the sprinter's confidence and he equalled Linford Christie's European Cup record of 10.04 s in the 100 m. His performance helped win the event for the British team, earning them a place in the 2002 IAAF World Cup
. Further victories followed with times of 10.05 s at Oslo
's ÅF Golden League meeting and a wind-assisted 9.95 s in Sheffield
. Chambers beat Maurice Greene both times and the American complimented him on his victory and his constant improvement. Emerging as the favourite to win the 100 m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Chambers faced stiff competition from British newcomer Mark Lewis-Francis
who was finishing fractions of a second behind him. Competition commenced on 26 July 2002 and Chambers won all his preliminary races and reached the final, along with Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener. However, Chambers started poorly and he suffered a cramp
mid-race, ending up in last place. He later revealed that he had feigned injury as the brief hamstring cramp was caused by drug abuse. The British sprinters had the three slowest times in the final, with Lewis-Francis also beset by injury.
Chambers redoubled his efforts after the injury in Manchester and was in good form during the rest of the season. He claimed a gold medal in the 100 m at the 2002 European Championships
in Munich
with a championship record of 9.96 s. He received a second gold medal two days later, anchoring the Great Britain team to victory in the 4x100 m relay. Further confirming his 100 m pedigree, Chambers recorded a time of 9.94 s at the Weltklasse Zürich
meeting, again beating world record holder Greene. He finished the season with an impressive outing in favourable wind conditions at the 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final
in Paris
. Chambers finished with a personal best of 9.87 s, equalling Linford Christie's European record, second only to Tim Montgomery's world record time of 9.78 s. Reinforcing his successful season, he received the 2002 European Athlete of the Year Trophy for his achievements on the track.
Chambers announced that he was to part with trainer Mike McFarlane in favour of a permanent relationship with Ukrainian
coach Remi Korchemny. Despite the change, the sprinter started the 100 m season modestly, finishing third and fourth in competitions in Modesto, California
and Eugene
, Oregon
respectively. At an international meeting in Glasgow
Chambers won but his finishing time of 10.15 s still failed to impress. Faced with the prospect of not qualifying for the World Championships
, Chambers improved under pressure, winning the AAA trials in 10.08 s.
His season's best came under strange circumstances at the British Grand Prix — the timing system broke down so the sprinters' races had to be recorded manually. Initially timed by hand at dead on ten seconds, Chambers' winning run was changed to 9.96 s after video evidence was consulted. This boded well for the upcoming World Championships in Paris
. However, Chambers could not repeat his Grand Prix form and missed a podium finish in the 100 m final with 10.08 s, losing out on the bronze medal to rival Darren Campbell
. Chambers squandered his anchoring lead in the 4x100 m relay, allowing Joshua J. Johnson
of the United States team to beat him to the finish line. Though a close fourth and a silver medal could not be deemed as a complete failure, there was a sense of disappointment in the press that Chambers' record breaking claims and gold medals had never materialised. However, in spite of his lacklustre form, Chambers was about to make the headlines.
(USADA) were investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative
(BALCO); the workplace of both Chambers' coach Remi Korchemny
and nutritionist Victor Conte
. Both men faced charges of distributing illegal drugs to athletes in the United States. The BALCO scandal uncovered drug use in a wide range of sportsmen and women, including sprinters Marion Jones
and Tim Montgomery
.
Chambers' new coach had introduced him to Conte as a way of providing the sprinter with specialised nutritional supplements. Conte had helped develop a type of anabolic steroid
called THG
, or tetrahydrogestrinone, at BALCO. After Chambers discovered that he had tested positive for drugs he sent his lawyer to meet Conte and make inquires as to the nature of the supplement. Conte assured him that all the substances were IAAF
compliant.
After further investigation, it was revealed on 22 October 2003 that Chambers had tested positive for the banned steroid THG. Analysis of his backup sample also tested positive and the outcome was confirmed on 7 November 2003, making Chambers the first person to test positive for the new drug. Chambers was suspended the same day with an independent UK Athletics
tribunal pending. The disciplinary hearing on 24 February 2004 resulted in a two-year ban from athletics, backdated to begin on 7 November 2003. He was also banned for life from the Olympics
and stripped of the medals he had won since mid-2002, after admitting that he had taken THG from that date. Chambers' 2002 relay gold medal performance was erased, costing team-mates Darren Campbell
, Marlon Devonish
and Christian Malcolm
their medals in the process. Chambers was also ordered by the IAAF to pay back his earnings from the period of his athletics career that was affected by his drug abuse.
Conte claimed that rival coach Trevor Graham
had revealed the drug to US testers, acting "purely out of competitive jealousy" as Chambers was challenging Graham's trainees; Montgomery and Greene. Chambers denied that he had any knowledge that the substance he was taking was banned and claimed he was deceived by Conte over its true use. However, he somewhat contradicted his statement in a later interview, saying that he had major suspicions that he was using banned substances but was too naïve and lacking in self-respect to act otherwise. By Chambers' own admission in 2008, in a letter by his supplier Conte to British anti-doping chief John Scott, THG was not the only substance he had used during his career. In his frank confession he admitted to the use of epitestosterone
cream, EPO
, HGH, insulin lispro
, modafinil
and liothyronine.
Banned from competition, Chambers had to search out alternative outlets for his athletic prowess. He had been considering a switch to American football
prior to the ban to emulate his hero Renaldo Nehemiah
. Attempting to follow in his footsteps, Chambers tried out — unsuccessfully — with Nehemiah's old team, the San Francisco 49ers
. As a result he drifted on to the celebrity circuit, appearing on British reality television series Hell's Kitchen
in May 2004. However, Chambers had little interest in the show and soon chose to leave. He remained out of the limelight for over a year and a half, appearing in neither sporting events nor television.
in late 2005 in preparation for the athletics season. He faced new challengers in the 100 m as Maurice Greene was no longer a dominant force and Jamaica
n Asafa Powell
was the new world record holder. Under the guidance of Glen Mills
, coach of Caribbean
sprinters Kim Collins
and Usain Bolt
, Chambers set his eye upon competing at the World Indoor Championships in March. The drug suspension had expired in November but he needed to pass four mandatory drugs tests in order to gain clearance to compete with the IAAF. He aimed to return with a performance in the 60 m at the British Grand Prix in February 2008 but his comeback was delayed. Following revelations that Chambers had been using THG since the beginning 2002, not since August 2003, as he had claimed to the IAAF, the body delayed his track return until the matter was resolved. After a two-year ban for drugs, Chambers was cleared to return to the athletics circuit by the IAAF on 10 June 2006. However, his return was dependent on an agreement to repay prize money he won while under the influence of banned substances. He returned to competition on 11 June 2006 in the Norwich Union
British Grand Prix at Gateshead
. In the 100 m final he finished third in 10.07 s, behind Asafa Powell who equalled his own world record. Chambers stated that his training regime with Bolt had helped him make a strong opening performance despite a long absence from competition. The result placed Chambers at the top of the British rankings and was the second fastest time by a European sprinter in 2006. However, Chambers had little cause for celebration as his return was coupled with the IAAF's decision to annul more of his performances. In reaction to his comments in the press, the governing body extended the nullification up to the beginning of 2002. This took away his European 100 m gold medal and invalidated his European record of 9.87 s. The European record had since been broken by Francis Obikwelu
of Portugal
, who ran 9.86 s in the Athens 2004 Olympics
.
Chambers lamented the effects of his drug use and noted the irony that the drugs did not do much to improve his performances. Indeed, in his return to international competition his times were significantly worse compared to his pre-drug years. In the 100 m at 2006 European Championships
in Gothenburg
, Chambers recorded times of 10.24 s (first round), 10.39 s (second round), 10.25 s (semi-final) and 10.24 s (final, in which he finished fifth). The results were sub-par and well below Chambers' personal and season's best. However, he was victorious as part of the gold medal-winning British 4x100 m team. Darren Campbell
, who was angry at losing his medals from the 2003 World Championships, refused to join the team in a celebratory lap, due to Chambers' inclusion in the team. Campbell allegedly did not want Chambers to even be in the team on account of his record.
After the 2006 European Athletics Championships, Chambers once again expressed an interest in leaving athletics in favour of American football
, completing a week long NFL Europa training camp in Cologne
in November.
which Chambers signed on 10 March 2007. In May 2007, as he prepared for the new NFL Europa season, Chambers reflected on drug use in athletics in an interview with Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent
for the BBC
's Inside Sport programme.
In the interview, Chambers claimed there would always be athletes using performance-enhancing drugs because drug testers did not keep pace with advances in science. Chambers added that in the Olympics finals athletes who took drugs had an immense advantage over those who remained clean. Chambers was roundly condemned for his comments in the interview by both the press and his former colleagues in the athletics world, including Sir Steve Redgrave
, Mo Farah, and Sebastian Coe, although former 100 m world record holder Asafa Powell
supported Chambers' claims.
Following news that Chambers was receiving new, legal nutritional supplements from Victor Conte, on 30 May 2007 NFL Europa confirmed that Chambers would undergo a vigorous drug testing regime with the Hamburg Sea Devils. Chambers' new career was brought to a standstill when a stress fracture
injury on his right foot ruled him out for the season. The situation worsened further when the NFL closed the European league on 29 June 2007 leaving Chambers jobless. He returned as a TV personality on reality television
show Cirque de Celebrité
in October but was unpopular with the public and subsequently voted off.
. Despite opposition from UK Athletics
, in which chief executive Niels de Vos
initially banned Chambers from competing in the trials, the IAAF overruled the decision allowing Chambers to compete. He went on to win the UK trials in Sheffield and was selected to run in the World Indoor Championships the following month in Valencia. However UK Athletics stated that the decision to permit Chambers to run was done under duress, expressing their preference to send young talented athletes to Beijing
in the place of the drug-tainted Chambers.
Competing for Great Britain in Valencia, Spain at the World Indoor Championships on 7 March 2008, Chambers won a silver medal and recorded a new personal best time over 60 m of 6.54 s and finished second behind Olusoji Fasuba
from Nigeria
. Despite the result, Chambers continued to encounter extensive criticism within athletics and refusals by promoters to invite him to key athletics events in the season ahead. He also suffered financially as philanthropist Eddie Kulukundis
, who had supported Chambers earlier in his career, now refused to sponsor the sprinter. His poor financial state was compounded by the fact that he remained banned for life by the British Olympic Association
(BOA), preventing him from competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing
. To return to the track Chambers had to rely on the money he received from his partner, Leonie Daley, a civil servant who he met at the Miss Jamaica UK competition. The couple now had a child, a boy named Skye who was born in September 2005, and Chambers desperately needed to earn a living to support his family and pay off debts incurred through the drug ban. He was humbled by the experience and amassed a selection of cuttings about his fall from grace and the BALCO scandal
in order to show his son the risks of drug abuse.
Chambers tried to fashion himself as a living example of the dangers of drugs, sporting a t-shirt in Valencia with an anti-drugs slogan of "Just Say No!". He also expressed regret about previous comments suggesting that drug use was necessary to reach the upper echelons of athletics and set about presenting himself as a changed, clean athlete — devoid of the bravado that had marked his earlier career. Chambers' reinvention was met with a mixed reaction and the acceptance of a proven drug user on the track was not palatable to some. Dame Kelly Holmes and parts of the British press called for Chambers to retire from the Great Britain athletics team.
team Castleford Tigers
on trial; a move which surprised and angered in equal measure given the fact he had never played the sport before. The Rugby Football League
did not object to the move, in spite of his drug-damaged reputation, but stated much improvement was needed prior to any appearance for Castleford in the Super League
competition. At a press conference regarding his rugby career Chambers expressed a desire to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games
, casting doubt on his dedication to his new career.
Chambers officially registered as a player with the Rugby Football League, and Martin Offiah
declared that he was prepared to mentor Chambers. He completed training with the Castleford Tigers first-team squad and made his debut in a reserve game against York City Knights
. However, Chambers' tentative exploits into rugby league proved short-lived as Castleford announced that they would not be offering him a contract.
On 16 May 2008 Chambers announced that he was appealing for the removal of his Olympic ban at the High Court of Justice
. In the period building up to the appeal, Chambers returned to 100 m sprinting. In his first 100 m race since August 2006, Chambers won with a time of 10.26 s at Papaflessia
in Kalamata
, Greece
on 4 June 2008. Chambers then ran 10.28 s in the Alexander Stadium
, Birmingham
on 8 June 2008 and 10.24 s a week later in the Southern Counties Championships. All three times fell short of the 10.21 s Olympic 'A' Standard and failed to separate him from other British contenders. Following these events Chambers' performance vastly improved however, registering 10.14 s in heats and 10.06 s in the final of Germany's Biberach
meeting and 10.00 s in the British 100 m National Championships and Olympic Trials on 12 July 2008. The latter was the winning qualification time amongst the British sprinters, easily fell within the Olympic 'A' standard, and also made Chambers top of the British rankings. In spite of this he remained a controversial figure and, though widely condemned by his peers, public opinion was split.
Chambers' winning performance at the Olympic trials was in vain, however, as on 18 July 2008 it was announced that his bid to temporarily overturn his Olympic ban had failed. Mr. Justice Mackay of the High Court of Justice upheld the BOA ban and stated that a right to work was not sufficient reason to remove it. Lord Moynihan, chairman of the BOA, conveyed his satisfaction with the outcome, stating that those found to be abusing drugs did not deserve to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. However, he lamented that a sprinter of Chambers' calibre had in effect excluded himself from the competition. The judgement cast doubt on any future Olympic performances as it caused Chambers to miss the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chambers still has the opportunity to have a full hearing to appeal the ban in March 2009 but whether he will choose to do so has not been revealed.
The ill-fated high court appeal and dealing with the fact that he could not compete in Beijing took its toll on Chambers. However, despite his age being a prohibitive factor, Chambers strengthened his resolve and set his sights on an appearance in the 2012 London Olympics. Following the outcome of the court appeal, he denied any intention to retire and said that he wanted to prove that he could perform without the use of drugs. Regarding the London Olympic Games, he stated that competing was his main goal and any medal wins would be a bonus. These intentions were met with hostility in some quarters however, with Lord Moynihan claiming that Chambers would sully the reputation of both the Great Britain athletics team and the London Olympics if he competed. Still, as other avenues appeared to be closing, more opportunites arose and in late 2008 Chambers announced that he had signed a deal to write an autobiography covering athletics, his drug history and his personal life. Furthermore, he had his second child in November, a boy named Rocco, and he announced his desire to become a sprint coach when his track career was finished.
The hierarchy of UK Athletics changed and Charles van Commenee
was given the task head coach. Van Commenee's appointment signalled a new opportunity for Chambers as both the new coach and Niels De Vos welcomed him back to compete internationally for the Great Britain team. The pair deemed Chambers an exceptional sprinter who had served his sentence — van Commenee was especially complimentary, stating: "He is a likeable guy and a damned fine athlete". An appearance at the "Tackling Doping in Sport" conference underlined that he was a reformed figure as he told of the damage drugs had caused to his career and finances and the health hazards he had risked. Despite a welcome back for international competition from the UKA, the body also supported the BOA's decision to ban Chambers from Olympic competition. Furthermore, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe remained unfazed and flatly ruled out an appearance, commenting: "I am clear cut on the Chambers case – I don't think there is room for drugs cheats in sport".
in Berlin
. Meanwhile, the indoor season began well for Chambers; though he was banned from Euromeetings-organised events, he set a new personal best of 6.52 s in the 60 m at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix, then became the UK Indoor Champion, equalling Mike Rodgers' world leading time of 6.51 s. His run of good form culminated in success at the 2009 European Indoor Championships; in the semi-finals he broke the Ronald Pognon
's European 60 m record with a 6.42 s run, beating Jason Gardener's 10-year-old British record by four hundredths of a second. He followed this with a gold medal-winning performance of 6.46 s in the final. British head coach van Commenee stated that Chambers had undergone vigorous testing and that his performance sent "a message that you can win and break European records in the proper way."
The record-breaking performance brought new opportunities to race, including an invite from the Berlin IAAF Golden League
meet. However, organiser Euromeetings condemned the invite as bad for the sport, and revelations in Chambers' autobiography Race Against Me brought further controversy. The book, released after the Indoor Championships, contained in-depth personal accounts of his past drug abuse. An IAAF investigation concluded that the book demanded no further action on their part, even though he had claimed that drug use remained rife in athletics, estimating that half the American Olympic squad in Beijing
had used illegal substances. Chambers signed a statement with UK Sport
, verifying that he believed the information to be true and bringing a close to the organisation's inquiries into his drug use. Olympic gold medallist and anti-drugs campaigner Ed Moses
gave his support, saying that Chambers admissions provided a useful insight, but that athletes and administrators remained in denial about the high levels of doping in athletics.
Invites to Golden League meets never materialised, but he continued to run at smaller events. He ran a European leading time of 10.06 seconds at Papaflessia
in Greece, and won the 100 m and 200 m (filling in as a substitute) races at the 2009 European Team Championships
. He headed into the national championships as the fastest Briton but 2008 runner-up Simeon Williamson
won the final by some distance. The result took Chambers by surprise and, although he vowed to bounce back from the loss, he withdrew from the 200 m race citing exhaustion. He said that, with a number of opportunities to race, he had become complacent but the loss to Williamson had spurred him on:"I haven't had to fight for anything really but now I do...I haven't lost all summer but I lost to someone good, he had the times and he wanted to beat me but he isn't going to do it again."
At the World Championships
Chambers finished sixth in 100 m final with a season's best of 10.00 seconds. He was the only sprinter from outside the Americas in the final and was some distance behind Bolt who ran a world record of 9.58 seconds. However, he was very pleased with his performance and said he was happy just to be involved in the fastest 100 m race ever
. He pulled out of the 200 m with a calf injury and called an end to his season.
, and he won the 60 m at the UK trials in 6.50 seconds (a time only he had bettered in the previous two seasons). His closest competitor, Ivory Williams
, received a ban for marijuana usage leaving Chambers as a strong favourite. After dominant performances in the heats of the World 60 m competition
, he came back from a slow start in the final and overtook Michael Rodgers to become the world indoor champion with a time of 6.48 seconds. Banned from the 2010 Commonwealth Games
, he set his sights on making the team for the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Chambers opened his season on the Brazilian track and field
circuit, recording 10.11 as runner-up behind Rodgers at the Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo
and then winning in Maringá. A win at the Cezmi Or Memorial
in Istanbul
preceded the 2010 European Team Championships
, where he beat Christophe Lemaitre
to win the 100 m, helping Great Britain to second place in the tournament and recording 9.99 seconds – the first sub-10 time by a European athlete in almost four years.
Lemaitre and Chambers were seen as the only gold medal contenders for the 100 m final
at the European Athletics Championships, but the event defied expectations in terms of times and placings. The Frenchman won in 10.11 seconds into a headwind while Chambers was entangled in a tight finish which saw the four following athletes record the same time (10.18). The less-favoured Mark Lewis-Francis and Martial Mbanjock were awarded the medals while Chambers was adjudged to have finished fifth behind Francis Obikwelu.
The start of his 2011 season saw him take a fourth consecutive national title over 60 m with a European-leading time. At the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships
the following month he was beaten to the line by Obikwelu, although he was pleased with the silver medal as he had changed his training to focus towards the 100 m for that season. Four straight wins on the Brazilian Athletics Tour came at the beginning of his outdoor season in May, including clockings of 10.01 and 10.05 seconds. At the 2011 World Championships
he was disqualifed for a false start in the semifinals.
event make him one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His personal best of 9.97 s set at the 1999 Seville World Championships
places him as the third fastest European in the 100 m. The faster European sprinters are, Nigeria
n born, Portuguese
athlete, Francis Obikwelu
with his European record
of 9.86 s and Linford Christie
with a former European record and current British record of 9.87 s.
Chambers' annulled 9.87 s finish at the Paris Grand Prix
in 2002 would have made him joint fastest British 100 m sprinter with Christie and the joint second fastest European in the event. However, these times lag behind those of his North American counterparts. Track rival Maurice Greene
's personal best of 9.79 s far outstrips that of Chambers. The times set by Tyson Gay
(9.69 s), Asafa Powell
(9.72 s) and Usain Bolt
(9.58 s) also overwhelm his personal best.
Amongst his British contemporaries Chambers ranks top with two 9.97 s finishes; the first in 1999 in Seville
, Spain and the second in 2001 in Edmonton
, Canada. Compatriot Mark Lewis Francis also scored a personal best of 9.97 s at the Edmonton World Championships
. Great Britain team-mate Jason Gardener
's personal best of 9.98 s falls just short of Chambers'. None of his British contemporaries have broken the ten second barrier on more than one occasion; Chambers has done so four times.
Chambers is the current European record holder in the 60 m with 6.42 s and is the third fastest sprinter in the history of the event after Andre Cason
and Maurice Greene. Chambers shares the British and European records for the 4x100 metres relay
with Gardener, Darren Campbell
and Marlon Devonish
with their 37.73 s finish at the 1999 Seville World Championships. It is also the fastest time recorded by a team outside of the IAAF's North, Central American and Caribbean category.
British African-Caribbean community
The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
descent. He has won medals on the international stage numerous times and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres sprint
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...
, in which he has the second fastest time by a British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
sprinter. He is the European record
European records in athletics
European records in the sport of athletics are ratified by the European Athletic Association. Records are kept for all events contested at the Olympic Games and some others. Unofficial records for some other events are kept by track and field statisticians...
holder for the 60 metres
60 metres
60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...
and 4 × 100 metres relay events with 6.42 seconds and 37.73 s respectively. He received a two-year ban in 2003 for taking performance enhancing drugs.
Chambers was a promising young athlete, setting a junior world record of 10.06 s in the 100 m. He was the bronze medallist in the 1999 World Championships
1999 World Championships in Athletics
The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....
and made his first Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
appearance at the Sydney 2000 Games
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
; he turned in the best 100 m performance by a European at both events. By 2001, he had become the top British sprinter, breaking the 10-second barrier
10-second barrier
The 10-second barrier is a term used in track and field athletics which refers to the physical and psychological barrier of completing the men's 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds...
twice at the Edmonton World Championships
2001 World Championships in Athletics
The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...
. He became the 100 m European champion and record holder in 2002 but, in October 2003, he received a two-year athletics ban and a ban from the Olympics for life for using THG
Tetrahydrogestrinone
Tetrahydrogestrinone is an anabolic steroid developed by Patrick Arnold. It has affinity to the androgen receptor and the progesterone receptor, but not to the estrogen receptor...
, a banned substance.
Chambers returned to the track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
circuit in June 2006, and won gold with his teammates in the 4 × 100 m at the 2006 European Championships
European Championships in Athletics
The European Athletics Championships is an event organized by the European Athletic Association. It is organised every four years, the same year as the Commonwealth Games and between the Summer Olympic Games cycle. After the 2010 Championships in Barcelona, the European Championships will take...
. He tried other sports, including a spell with the Hamburg Sea Devils
Hamburg Sea Devils
The Hamburg Sea Devils were an American football team that began play in NFL Europa from 2005 to 2007. They played their home games at Hamburg's AOL Arena . They played their first game on April 2, 2005 losing 24-23 to the Cologne Centurions...
of the NFL Europa league and a rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
trial with the Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...
. Sprinting success came over 60 m when he won silver at the 2008 World Indoor Championships
2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7-9, 2008.-Bid:Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Russia.-Men:...
, gold at the 2009 European Indoors and became world champion at the 2010 World Indoor Championships
2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the ASPIRE Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010.-Bidding and organisation:...
. He remains barred from the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and much of the European racing circuit. He published an autobiography, Race Against Me, in 2009. He currently lives with his partner Leonie Daley and their sons, Skye and Rocco.
Junior athletics
Chambers was born in IslingtonIslington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
and raised in Finsbury
Finsbury
Finsbury is a district of central London, England. It lies immediately north of the City of London and Clerkenwell, west of Shoreditch, and south of Islington and City Road. It is in the south of the London Borough of Islington. The Finsbury Estate is in the western part of the district...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and running was a part of his family life. His older sister Christine won the senior 100 metres
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...
finals at the English Schools Championships in 1986 and 1987 and competed in the European Athletics Junior Championships
European Athletics Junior Championships
The European Athletics Junior Championships are the European championships open for those of age. The IAAF defines Junior as athletes who are 19 years of age or under. It is currently organized by the European Athletic Association....
. As a schoolboy he was coached by Selwyn Philbert who devoted himself to the young sprinter. Chambers first showed his athletic promise at the English Schools' Athletic Association Championships. In the boys' intermediate 100 m race in 1994 he ran to victory with a time of 10.64 seconds which, as of 2008, ranks as the joint fifth best time in the history of the competition. Chambers built on this with a strong showing at the 1995 European Junior Championships
1995 European Athletics Junior Championships
The 1995 European Athletics Junior Championships was held in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.-Men's results:-Women's results:-Medal table:-References:* - GBR Athletics* - GBR Athletics...
, receiving two gold medals for his efforts in the 100 m and the sprint relay, the latter with the help of fellow British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sprinter Marlon Devonish
Marlon Devonish
Marlon Ronald Devonish, MBE is an English sprint athlete.He is a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club and is coached by Tony Lester. Early in his career he was successful at both 100 and 200 metre distances, winning English Schools and European Junior titles at both, but in recent...
and current British bobsleigher Dan Money
Dan Money
Dan Money is a British bobsledder who has competed since 2006. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he finished 17th in the four-man event while crashing out in the two-man event whilst in 8th place....
. Chambers returned two years later to the 1997 European Junior Championships, this time showing even more promise. He retained the sprint relay gold medal and broke the 100 m sprint record with a time of 10.06 s, a world junior record at the time.
Senior athletics
Chambers' success continued in the 100 m event at the 1998 European Championships1998 European Championships in Athletics
The 17th European Athletics Championships were held from 18 August to 23 August 1998 in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.-Track:1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |-Field:1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |-Track:1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |-Field:...
. He attained second place with 10.10 s, finishing second to British compatriot Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
. The promising sprinter was progressing and achieved a new personal best at the 1998 IAAF World Cup with a time of 10.03 s on 11 September 1998. However, he only finished third in the race which featured six athletes recording personal bests and a championship record breaking winner. Soon after, he set the championship record as part of the 4x100 relay team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
1998 Commonwealth Games
The 1998 XVI Commonwealth Games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 September to 21 September 1998 making it the first Asian country to act as host and the last Commonwealth Games for the 20th century. A record 70 nations supplied 3638 athletes...
. His ability attracted the attention of former sprinter and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mike McFarlane, who became his coach. Chambers remained hungry for gold medals and achieved first place in the 100 m in the 1999 European Cup
European Cup (athletics)
The European Cup is a now defunct athletics competition, replaced by the European Team Championships from 2009 onwards. The Europa Cup saw most of the major nations of Europe compete. Originally known as the Bruno Zauli Cup, it first took place in Stuttgart and Kassel , Germany in 1965...
held in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. His times continued to improve and shortly afterwards in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
he became only the second European sprinter to break the ten second barrier with a time of 9.99 s. Chambers felt elated at the achievement but the competition was fierce as fellow British sprinter Jason Gardener
Jason Gardener
Jason Carl Gardener is a retired British sprint athlete, and former World Indoor Champion. Gardener was educated at Beechen Cliff School and the City of Bath College, and went on to graduate from Bath Spa University.-Athletics career:Gardener started his career at the World Junior Championships in...
scored a time of 9.98 s in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
soon after, becoming the third Briton to break the barrier. In addition, Chambers remained some distance behind his North American counterparts, as did the other European sprinters. He had yet to win gold on the world senior stage and the 1999 World Championships
1999 World Championships in Athletics
The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....
in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
provided him with an opportunity.
Seville World Championships to Sydney Olympics
Chambers attained a new personal best at the tournament, registering a time of 9.97 s in the 100 m finals. However, the North American dominance of the event was palpable as United States sprinter Maurice GreeneMaurice Greene (athlete)
Maurice Greene is a retired American track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion...
and Canadian runner Bruny Surin
Bruny Surin
Bruny Surin is a Canadian athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team.-Career:...
took first and second place respectively. Chambers' third place time paled in comparison to Bruny's national record setting 9.84 s and Greene's championship record time of 9.80 s. The 4x100 metres relay event was more fruitful for the British sprinters. Along with Gardener, Campbell and Marlon Devonish, Chambers raced to second place, finishing in 37.73 s. The US team, led by Greene, won the event in 37.59 s, again outrunning their European rivals.
Though he failed to win a gold medal at the tournament, Chambers' silver and bronze medal winning performances brought him into the spotlight. His third place finish in the 100 m made him Europe's top performer in the event and at the age of 21 he was the youngest World Championships
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...
100 m medallist. World record holder Maurice Greene was hitting his peak, winning three gold medals in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, but Chambers had youth on his side. At 21, Greene's personal best was 10.08 s; a time which denied the American a podium place at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was over a tenth of a second slower than Chambers' 1999 best.
With the 2000 Sydney Olympics approaching, Chambers studied the technique of other sprinters to improve himself. In an interview with BBC journalist Tom Fordyce
Tom Fordyce
Tom Fordyce has been a BBC Sport Interactive journalist since 2000. He authors text commentaries on cricket and tennis, also writing features on various other sports and blogging from a number of different events....
, Chambers noted the stamina Greene and Surin had gained from running in the 200 metres
200 metres
A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...
event and Jason Gardener
Jason Gardener
Jason Carl Gardener is a retired British sprint athlete, and former World Indoor Champion. Gardener was educated at Beechen Cliff School and the City of Bath College, and went on to graduate from Bath Spa University.-Athletics career:Gardener started his career at the World Junior Championships in...
's improved acceleration through running the 60 metres
60 metres
60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...
event. He experimented with distances at the beginning of 2000, sprinting over 50, 60 and 200 m in various competitions. He set a personal best of 6.55 s in the 60 m event in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, on 11 February 2000. The 100 m remained his priority however and Chambers set his sights on gold, declaring his intention to run under 10 s in the event numerous times in preparation for the Olympics.
His confidence was running high but the sprinter suffered a setback as a hamstring injury caused him to miss six weeks of training. When Chambers returned from injury his performances were lacklustre. He finished ninth at the 2000 Golden Gala
Golden Gala
Golden Gala is an annual track and field event at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League.-History:...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with a substandard 10.41 s, admitting that his confidence had plummeted. His poor form continued; on 5 August 2000 at the British Grand Prix he finished seventh in a tame 10.30 s, causing him to consider quitting the season altogether.
Chambers' slump put his Olympic chances in jeopardy but he had a late rejuvenation that guaranteed his place. At the British Olympic trials he snatched first place with 10.11 s; just one hundredth of a second ahead of Darren Campbell. Victory against in-form world record holder Maurice Greene followed shortly afterwards. Chambers finished first in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
, against international competition, registering 10.11 s against a strong head wind. This raised Chambers' confidence and he professed his desire to take home a medal from the Games, whether it be gold, silver or bronze.
The results of the 2000 Sydney Olympics proved bitter-sweet for the Englishman. Chambers qualified with relative ease through the heat stages, finishing either first or second each time. Chambers achieved a season's best in the 100 m final on 23 September 2000, crossing the line in 10.08 s. However, this was not sufficient for a medal and he again suffered a defeat to sprinters from the other side of the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Chambers finished behind Greene, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
ian Ato Boldon
Ato Boldon
Ato Jabari Boldon is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago and four-time Olympic medal winner. Only 2 other men in history, Frankie Fredericks and Carl Lewis, have won as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is the current national record holder in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events...
and Obadele Thompson
Obadele Thompson
Obadele Thompson is a sprint athlete from Barbados;. In 2000, he became the first Olympic medalist from Barbados with a bronze medal in the 100m race.-Biography:...
from Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. Chambers had to settle for European supremacy without medals.
Edmonton World Championships
Chambers had failed to top the podium on the Olympic stage but he continued to shine in other competitions. The sprinter claimed first place in the 100 m for his club Belgrave HarriersBelgrave Harriers
Belgrave Harriers, founded in 1887, are one of the leading athletics clubs in Britain, with headquarters located in Wimbledon, close to Wimbledon Common....
at the European Clubs Cup. His time of 10.12 s equalled the meeting record and he noted this was his fastest start to a season yet. He also performed well in the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) trials in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
; his 10.01 s was the fastest time recorded in Britain by a British sprinter. Chambers ran with a marked improvement in consistency in 2001. He won at the International Association of Athletics Federations
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
(IAAF) Grand Prix in Seville in 10.01 s on 8 June 2001 and finished third in ten seconds flat at the Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
Grand Prix a month later. In the run up to the 2001 IAAF Edmonton World Championships
2001 World Championships in Athletics
The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...
Chambers remarked on his own performances with aplomb: "I am very consistent in the 10.00s this year, and that bodes well for the Worlds. If you are running as fast as Linford Christie
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
in his prime, it gives you a lot of confidence."
The AAA trials and British Grand Prix saw Chambers improving over other distances, setting 200 m personal bests of 20.65 s then 20.31 s respectively. The former result meant Chambers was selected to run in the event at the World Championships, in addition to the 100 m. Looking back to his defeat in Sydney, Chambers tried to discover what made Maurice Greene so dominant. In an interview with Tom Fordyce, he reflected on the effect Greene had on other sprinters with his strong presence and mind games; the veteran undermined the competition both physically and mentally. "You have to get out in front of him and hold on for dear life" he said of the world record holder.
Chambers broke the ten second barrier twice in the 2001 World Championships with 9.97 s in the quarter finals and 9.99 s in the final. This was not enough for a medal in a strong race which featured five sprinters running under ten seconds; Greene was triumphant once again. Though Chambers finished fifth in the event, this was later amended to fourth place after silver medallist Tim Montgomery
Tim Montgomery
Timothy Montgomery is a former American athlete. In 2005, he was stripped of his records – including a now void 100m world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002 – after being found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs...
tested positive for banned substances. Greene and Chambers both suffered hamstring injuries in the final, thus ruling the latter out of the 200 m event. Chambers recovered in time for the 2001 Goodwill Games
2001 Goodwill Games
The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Australia from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sporting competitions....
in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia and finished in first place while the still-injured Greene could only manage to commentate on his European rival's victory.
2002 Commonwealth Games
Chambers' coach Mike McFarlane struggled with the work load of full-time training. Frustrated by the distance between himself and the top sprinters, Chambers decided to relocate to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to work with veteran coach Remi Korchemny
Remi Korchemny
Remi Korchemny is the former sprint coach of a number of high profile athletes mainly from the USA. He was an early coach for Soviet Olympic champion Valeri Borzov.After the 1972 Olympics Korchemny moved to America...
and nutritionist
Nutritionist
A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical...
Victor Conte
Victor Conte
Victor Conte is a former musician with Tower of Power and founder and president of BALCO, a sports nutrition center in California. He served time in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering....
. After parting ways with American sprinter Tim Montgomery, Conte looked to Chambers to fill the athlete's berth. In the run up to the year's major events, Chambers was in fine form and recorded a 200 m personal best of 20.27 s in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
on 10 June 2002.All results, times, personal bests, records, medals or other achievements flagged with an "x" label were nullified from the record by the IAAF as they were achieved while Chambers was using banned substances. Montgomery, impressed by Chambers' training regime, tipped the Briton to win the gold at the forthcoming 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England.
He won the 100 m at the Commonwealth Games trials in style, recording a season's best of 10.03 s. On the strength of his performances Chambers was made team captain for the 2002 European Cup
European Cup (athletics)
The European Cup is a now defunct athletics competition, replaced by the European Team Championships from 2009 onwards. The Europa Cup saw most of the major nations of Europe compete. Originally known as the Bruno Zauli Cup, it first took place in Stuttgart and Kassel , Germany in 1965...
event. The appointment fired the sprinter's confidence and he equalled Linford Christie's European Cup record of 10.04 s in the 100 m. His performance helped win the event for the British team, earning them a place in the 2002 IAAF World Cup
2002 IAAF World Cup
The 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was hosted by Madrid, September 21–22, 2002, in the Estadio La Peineta...
. Further victories followed with times of 10.05 s at Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
's ÅF Golden League meeting and a wind-assisted 9.95 s in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. Chambers beat Maurice Greene both times and the American complimented him on his victory and his constant improvement. Emerging as the favourite to win the 100 m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Chambers faced stiff competition from British newcomer Mark Lewis-Francis
Mark Lewis-Francis
Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis is a British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialises in the 100 metres. A renowned junior, his greatest sporting achievement at senior level has been to anchor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4 x 100 metres relay team to a shock gold...
who was finishing fractions of a second behind him. Competition commenced on 26 July 2002 and Chambers won all his preliminary races and reached the final, along with Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener. However, Chambers started poorly and he suffered a cramp
Cramp
Cramps are unpleasant, often painful sensations caused by muscle contraction or over shortening. Common causes of skeletal muscle cramps include muscle fatigue, low sodium, and low potassium...
mid-race, ending up in last place. He later revealed that he had feigned injury as the brief hamstring cramp was caused by drug abuse. The British sprinters had the three slowest times in the final, with Lewis-Francis also beset by injury.
Chambers redoubled his efforts after the injury in Manchester and was in good form during the rest of the season. He claimed a gold medal in the 100 m at the 2002 European Championships
2002 European Championships in Athletics
The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.-Track:1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |2010 |...
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
with a championship record of 9.96 s. He received a second gold medal two days later, anchoring the Great Britain team to victory in the 4x100 m relay. Further confirming his 100 m pedigree, Chambers recorded a time of 9.94 s at the Weltklasse Zürich
Weltklasse Zürich
Weltklasse Zürich is an annual track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League. One of the first large-scale international athletics events , it is sometimes referred to as the one day...
meeting, again beating world record holder Greene. He finished the season with an impressive outing in favourable wind conditions at the 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final
IAAF Grand Prix Final
The IAAF Grand Prix Final was an athletics competition featuring track and field events staged by the International Association of Athletics Federations...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Chambers finished with a personal best of 9.87 s, equalling Linford Christie's European record, second only to Tim Montgomery's world record time of 9.78 s. Reinforcing his successful season, he received the 2002 European Athlete of the Year Trophy for his achievements on the track.
2003 World Championships
Maurice Greene's era was slowly coming to an end and Chambers began the 2003 season with a grandiose statement: namely that he would lower the 100 m record to 9.65 s — over a tenth of a second faster than Greene's world record at the time. After recovering from a minor injury he suffered in January, Chambers began the season running the 60 m at indoor events. Despite claims he could beat the 60 m record, his form was disappointing and he failed to pass the heats at the 2003 British Grand Prix, finishing fourth in a time of 6.68 s. Undeterred he set his sights on the AAA trials in order to qualify for the IAAF World Indoor Championships. However, with a time of 6.59 s, he suffered defeat against Mark Lewis-Francis by a hundredth of a second, narrowly missing out on a spot at the championships.Chambers announced that he was to part with trainer Mike McFarlane in favour of a permanent relationship with Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
coach Remi Korchemny. Despite the change, the sprinter started the 100 m season modestly, finishing third and fourth in competitions in Modesto, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
respectively. At an international meeting in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Chambers won but his finishing time of 10.15 s still failed to impress. Faced with the prospect of not qualifying for the World Championships
2003 World Championships in Athletics
The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...
, Chambers improved under pressure, winning the AAA trials in 10.08 s.
His season's best came under strange circumstances at the British Grand Prix — the timing system broke down so the sprinters' races had to be recorded manually. Initially timed by hand at dead on ten seconds, Chambers' winning run was changed to 9.96 s after video evidence was consulted. This boded well for the upcoming World Championships in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. However, Chambers could not repeat his Grand Prix form and missed a podium finish in the 100 m final with 10.08 s, losing out on the bronze medal to rival Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
. Chambers squandered his anchoring lead in the 4x100 m relay, allowing Joshua J. Johnson
Joshua J. Johnson
Joshua J. Johnson is an American sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres.-Achievements:-External links:*...
of the United States team to beat him to the finish line. Though a close fourth and a silver medal could not be deemed as a complete failure, there was a sense of disappointment in the press that Chambers' record breaking claims and gold medals had never materialised. However, in spite of his lacklustre form, Chambers was about to make the headlines.
Drug ban
A sample for an out-of-competition drugs test that Chambers had provided in Germany on 1 August 2003 was re-examined in October and subsequently tested positive for banned substances. The United States Anti-Doping AgencyUnited States Anti-Doping Agency
The United States Anti-Doping Agency , is a non-profit organization and the national anti-doping organization for the United States. The organization is charged with managing the anti-doping program for the U.S...
(USADA) were investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative
Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative
The Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte, a former bass player for the soul band Tower of Power. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later referred to as the...
(BALCO); the workplace of both Chambers' coach Remi Korchemny
Remi Korchemny
Remi Korchemny is the former sprint coach of a number of high profile athletes mainly from the USA. He was an early coach for Soviet Olympic champion Valeri Borzov.After the 1972 Olympics Korchemny moved to America...
and nutritionist Victor Conte
Victor Conte
Victor Conte is a former musician with Tower of Power and founder and president of BALCO, a sports nutrition center in California. He served time in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering....
. Both men faced charges of distributing illegal drugs to athletes in the United States. The BALCO scandal uncovered drug use in a wide range of sportsmen and women, including sprinters Marion Jones
Marion Jones
Marion Lois Jones , also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA...
and Tim Montgomery
Tim Montgomery
Timothy Montgomery is a former American athlete. In 2005, he was stripped of his records – including a now void 100m world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002 – after being found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs...
.
Chambers' new coach had introduced him to Conte as a way of providing the sprinter with specialised nutritional supplements. Conte had helped develop a type of anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
called THG
Tetrahydrogestrinone
Tetrahydrogestrinone is an anabolic steroid developed by Patrick Arnold. It has affinity to the androgen receptor and the progesterone receptor, but not to the estrogen receptor...
, or tetrahydrogestrinone, at BALCO. After Chambers discovered that he had tested positive for drugs he sent his lawyer to meet Conte and make inquires as to the nature of the supplement. Conte assured him that all the substances were IAAF
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
compliant.
After further investigation, it was revealed on 22 October 2003 that Chambers had tested positive for the banned steroid THG. Analysis of his backup sample also tested positive and the outcome was confirmed on 7 November 2003, making Chambers the first person to test positive for the new drug. Chambers was suspended the same day with an independent UK Athletics
UK Athletics
UK Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials....
tribunal pending. The disciplinary hearing on 24 February 2004 resulted in a two-year ban from athletics, backdated to begin on 7 November 2003. He was also banned for life from the Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and stripped of the medals he had won since mid-2002, after admitting that he had taken THG from that date. Chambers' 2002 relay gold medal performance was erased, costing team-mates Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
, Marlon Devonish
Marlon Devonish
Marlon Ronald Devonish, MBE is an English sprint athlete.He is a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club and is coached by Tony Lester. Early in his career he was successful at both 100 and 200 metre distances, winning English Schools and European Junior titles at both, but in recent...
and Christian Malcolm
Christian Malcolm
Christian Sean Malcolm is a Welsh athlete, specialising in the 200m.Malcolm was born in Cardiff and resides in Newport, Wales. He won the title of World Junior Athlete of the Year in 1998 and in the 1998 World Junior Championships, he won the 200m in 20.44 seconds...
their medals in the process. Chambers was also ordered by the IAAF to pay back his earnings from the period of his athletics career that was affected by his drug abuse.
Conte claimed that rival coach Trevor Graham
Trevor Graham
Trevor Graham is a Jamaican-born former athletics coach, based in the United States. Following the BALCO scandal, the US Olympic Committee barred him indefinitely from all its training sites as a number of the athletes he was training had tested positive for drug abuse.-Athletics career:Graham was...
had revealed the drug to US testers, acting "purely out of competitive jealousy" as Chambers was challenging Graham's trainees; Montgomery and Greene. Chambers denied that he had any knowledge that the substance he was taking was banned and claimed he was deceived by Conte over its true use. However, he somewhat contradicted his statement in a later interview, saying that he had major suspicions that he was using banned substances but was too naïve and lacking in self-respect to act otherwise. By Chambers' own admission in 2008, in a letter by his supplier Conte to British anti-doping chief John Scott, THG was not the only substance he had used during his career. In his frank confession he admitted to the use of epitestosterone
Epitestosterone
Epitestosterone is a natural steroid, an inactive epimer of the hormone testosterone. Structurally, it differs from testosterone only in the configuration at the OH-bearing carbon, C17...
cream, EPO
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
, HGH, insulin lispro
Insulin lispro
Insulin lispro is a fast acting insulin analogue; it was the first insulin analogue, and is similar to insulin aspart....
, modafinil
Modafinil
Modafinil is an analeptic drug manufactured by Cephalon, and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea...
and liothyronine.
Banned from competition, Chambers had to search out alternative outlets for his athletic prowess. He had been considering a switch to American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
prior to the ban to emulate his hero Renaldo Nehemiah
Renaldo Nehemiah
Renaldo Nehemiah is an American athlete who dominated the 110 m hurdle event from 1978 until 1981. He was the world record holder and the first man to run the high hurdles in under 13 seconds...
. Attempting to follow in his footsteps, Chambers tried out — unsuccessfully — with Nehemiah's old team, the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. As a result he drifted on to the celebrity circuit, appearing on British reality television series Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen (UK TV series)
Hell's Kitchen was a British cookery reality show aired on ITV which featured prospective chefs competing with each other for a final prize. Four series had been aired since 2004, three presented by Angus Deayton and the latest by Claudia Winkleman....
in May 2004. However, Chambers had little interest in the show and soon chose to leave. He remained out of the limelight for over a year and a half, appearing in neither sporting events nor television.
Return to athletics
With a return to competition forthcoming, Chambers began training in JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in late 2005 in preparation for the athletics season. He faced new challengers in the 100 m as Maurice Greene was no longer a dominant force and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
was the new world record holder. Under the guidance of Glen Mills
Glen Mills
Glen Mills C.D is a sprinting athletics coach from Jamaica. He was the head coach of the Jamaican Olympic athletics team between 1987 and 2009. He is currently head coach of the Racers Track Club which includes world and Olympic record holder Usain Bolt and the 100 metre World Champion Yohan Blake...
, coach of Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
sprinters Kim Collins
Kim Collins
Kim Collins is a track and field sprinter from the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 m. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, from 1996 to 2008, and was the country's first athlete to ever reach an event...
and Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...
, Chambers set his eye upon competing at the World Indoor Championships in March. The drug suspension had expired in November but he needed to pass four mandatory drugs tests in order to gain clearance to compete with the IAAF. He aimed to return with a performance in the 60 m at the British Grand Prix in February 2008 but his comeback was delayed. Following revelations that Chambers had been using THG since the beginning 2002, not since August 2003, as he had claimed to the IAAF, the body delayed his track return until the matter was resolved. After a two-year ban for drugs, Chambers was cleared to return to the athletics circuit by the IAAF on 10 June 2006. However, his return was dependent on an agreement to repay prize money he won while under the influence of banned substances. He returned to competition on 11 June 2006 in the Norwich Union
Norwich Union
Norwich Union was the name given to insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It is the biggest life insurance provider in the United Kingdom, and has a strong position in motor insurance...
British Grand Prix at Gateshead
Gateshead International Stadium
Gateshead International Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. The stadium is primarily set up for athletics, with a running track, but it is home to Gateshead Thunder rugby league club, Gateshead Senators American Football and Gateshead FC. It has also held a...
. In the 100 m final he finished third in 10.07 s, behind Asafa Powell who equalled his own world record. Chambers stated that his training regime with Bolt had helped him make a strong opening performance despite a long absence from competition. The result placed Chambers at the top of the British rankings and was the second fastest time by a European sprinter in 2006. However, Chambers had little cause for celebration as his return was coupled with the IAAF's decision to annul more of his performances. In reaction to his comments in the press, the governing body extended the nullification up to the beginning of 2002. This took away his European 100 m gold medal and invalidated his European record of 9.87 s. The European record had since been broken by Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, born 22 November 1978 in Nigeria and a Portuguese citizen since 2001, is a sprint athlete specializing in 100 metres and 200 metres. He holds the record for the fastest time in the 100 m set by a European competitor with a time of 9.86 seconds...
of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, who ran 9.86 s in the Athens 2004 Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
.
Chambers lamented the effects of his drug use and noted the irony that the drugs did not do much to improve his performances. Indeed, in his return to international competition his times were significantly worse compared to his pre-drug years. In the 100 m at 2006 European Championships
2006 European Championships in Athletics
The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit"...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Chambers recorded times of 10.24 s (first round), 10.39 s (second round), 10.25 s (semi-final) and 10.24 s (final, in which he finished fifth). The results were sub-par and well below Chambers' personal and season's best. However, he was victorious as part of the gold medal-winning British 4x100 m team. Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
, who was angry at losing his medals from the 2003 World Championships, refused to join the team in a celebratory lap, due to Chambers' inclusion in the team. Campbell allegedly did not want Chambers to even be in the team on account of his record.
After the 2006 European Athletics Championships, Chambers once again expressed an interest in leaving athletics in favour of American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, completing a week long NFL Europa training camp in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
in November.
NFL Europa
Chambers completed NFL Europa training camps in November 2006, January and March 2007 and impressed NFL Europa bosses with his speed and mentality. This resulted in a professional contract with German NFL Europa side Hamburg Sea DevilsHamburg Sea Devils
The Hamburg Sea Devils were an American football team that began play in NFL Europa from 2005 to 2007. They played their home games at Hamburg's AOL Arena . They played their first game on April 2, 2005 losing 24-23 to the Cologne Centurions...
which Chambers signed on 10 March 2007. In May 2007, as he prepared for the new NFL Europa season, Chambers reflected on drug use in athletics in an interview with Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent
Matthew Pinsent
Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent CBE is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals, of which three were with Steve Redgrave...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Inside Sport programme.
In the interview, Chambers claimed there would always be athletes using performance-enhancing drugs because drug testers did not keep pace with advances in science. Chambers added that in the Olympics finals athletes who took drugs had an immense advantage over those who remained clean. Chambers was roundly condemned for his comments in the interview by both the press and his former colleagues in the athletics world, including Sir Steve Redgrave
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
, Mo Farah, and Sebastian Coe, although former 100 m world record holder Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
supported Chambers' claims.
Following news that Chambers was receiving new, legal nutritional supplements from Victor Conte, on 30 May 2007 NFL Europa confirmed that Chambers would undergo a vigorous drug testing regime with the Hamburg Sea Devils. Chambers' new career was brought to a standstill when a stress fracture
Stress fracture
A stress fracture is one type of incomplete fracture in bones. It is caused by "unusual or repeated stress" and also heavy continuous weight on the ankle or leg...
injury on his right foot ruled him out for the season. The situation worsened further when the NFL closed the European league on 29 June 2007 leaving Chambers jobless. He returned as a TV personality on reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show Cirque de Celebrité
Cirque de Celebrité
Cirque de Celebrité was a celebrity reality TV show broadcast on Sky One. The show features celebrities training for and then performing various circus acts. The winner of the 2006 series was Grace Adams-Short....
in October but was unpopular with the public and subsequently voted off.
Athletics again
Following the collapse of the NFL Europa franchise, Chambers made a second return to athletics in early 2008. Competing in the 60 m indoor final at the Birmingham Games on 3 February 2008, he finished with a time of 6.60 s, setting a new meeting record and finishing comfortably inside the 6.90 s standard necessary for entry in to the UK trials for the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7-9, 2008.-Bid:Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Russia.-Men:...
. Despite opposition from UK Athletics
UK Athletics
UK Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials....
, in which chief executive Niels de Vos
Niels de Vos
Niels de Vos is a British sports businessman and chief executive. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham. De Vos came to prominence as the Chief Executive of Sale Sharks, a professional rugby union club. De Vos helped the club move to a larger stadium in 2003, leaving Heywood Road in favour...
initially banned Chambers from competing in the trials, the IAAF overruled the decision allowing Chambers to compete. He went on to win the UK trials in Sheffield and was selected to run in the World Indoor Championships the following month in Valencia. However UK Athletics stated that the decision to permit Chambers to run was done under duress, expressing their preference to send young talented athletes to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in the place of the drug-tainted Chambers.
Competing for Great Britain in Valencia, Spain at the World Indoor Championships on 7 March 2008, Chambers won a silver medal and recorded a new personal best time over 60 m of 6.54 s and finished second behind Olusoji Fasuba
Olusoji Fasuba
Olusoji Adetokunbo Fasuba is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. He is the current African record holder in the event with 9.85 seconds....
from Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. Despite the result, Chambers continued to encounter extensive criticism within athletics and refusals by promoters to invite him to key athletics events in the season ahead. He also suffered financially as philanthropist Eddie Kulukundis
Eddie Kulukundis
Sir Eddie Kulukundis OBE is a member of a Greek shipping family whose professional career has spanned shipping and the theatre....
, who had supported Chambers earlier in his career, now refused to sponsor the sprinter. His poor financial state was compounded by the fact that he remained banned for life by the British Olympic Association
British Olympic Association
The British Olympic Association is the national Olympic committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1905 in the House of Commons, and at that time consisted of seven national governing body members from the following sports: fencing, life-saving, cycling, skating, rowing,...
(BOA), preventing him from competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. To return to the track Chambers had to rely on the money he received from his partner, Leonie Daley, a civil servant who he met at the Miss Jamaica UK competition. The couple now had a child, a boy named Skye who was born in September 2005, and Chambers desperately needed to earn a living to support his family and pay off debts incurred through the drug ban. He was humbled by the experience and amassed a selection of cuttings about his fall from grace and the BALCO scandal
BALCO Scandal
The BALCO scandal is a scandal involving the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes. The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative was a San Francisco Bay Area business accused of supplying steroids to Major League Baseball players...
in order to show his son the risks of drug abuse.
Chambers tried to fashion himself as a living example of the dangers of drugs, sporting a t-shirt in Valencia with an anti-drugs slogan of "Just Say No!". He also expressed regret about previous comments suggesting that drug use was necessary to reach the upper echelons of athletics and set about presenting himself as a changed, clean athlete — devoid of the bravado that had marked his earlier career. Chambers' reinvention was met with a mixed reaction and the acceptance of a proven drug user on the track was not palatable to some. Dame Kelly Holmes and parts of the British press called for Chambers to retire from the Great Britain athletics team.
Rugby League
Chambers' return to athletics took an unusual turn when he confirmed on 31 March 2008 that he had joined English rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...
on trial; a move which surprised and angered in equal measure given the fact he had never played the sport before. The Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
did not object to the move, in spite of his drug-damaged reputation, but stated much improvement was needed prior to any appearance for Castleford in the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
competition. At a press conference regarding his rugby career Chambers expressed a desire to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, casting doubt on his dedication to his new career.
Chambers officially registered as a player with the Rugby Football League, and Martin Offiah
Martin Offiah
Martin Offiah MBE is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer.He is known as "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire...
declared that he was prepared to mentor Chambers. He completed training with the Castleford Tigers first-team squad and made his debut in a reserve game against York City Knights
York City Knights
York City Knights Rugby League Club is a British professional rugby league club hailing from York. They play at the Huntington Stadium, situated to the north of York city centre...
. However, Chambers' tentative exploits into rugby league proved short-lived as Castleford announced that they would not be offering him a contract.
High Court appeal
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
. In the period building up to the appeal, Chambers returned to 100 m sprinting. In his first 100 m race since August 2006, Chambers won with a time of 10.26 s at Papaflessia
Papaflessia
Papaflessia is an annual international athletics meeting that is held in Kalamata, Greece. The meeting falls within the European Athletic Association's calendar of meeting...
in Kalamata
Kalamata
Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
on 4 June 2008. Chambers then ran 10.28 s in the Alexander Stadium
Alexander Stadium
Alexander Stadium is an international athletics stadium located within Perry Park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at . It has staged the Amateur Athletics Association Championships, and was the venue of the 1998 Disability World Athletics Championships...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
on 8 June 2008 and 10.24 s a week later in the Southern Counties Championships. All three times fell short of the 10.21 s Olympic 'A' Standard and failed to separate him from other British contenders. Following these events Chambers' performance vastly improved however, registering 10.14 s in heats and 10.06 s in the final of Germany's Biberach
Biberach an der Riß
Biberach is a town in the south of Germany. It is the capital of Biberach district, in the Upper Swabia region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg...
meeting and 10.00 s in the British 100 m National Championships and Olympic Trials on 12 July 2008. The latter was the winning qualification time amongst the British sprinters, easily fell within the Olympic 'A' standard, and also made Chambers top of the British rankings. In spite of this he remained a controversial figure and, though widely condemned by his peers, public opinion was split.
Chambers' winning performance at the Olympic trials was in vain, however, as on 18 July 2008 it was announced that his bid to temporarily overturn his Olympic ban had failed. Mr. Justice Mackay of the High Court of Justice upheld the BOA ban and stated that a right to work was not sufficient reason to remove it. Lord Moynihan, chairman of the BOA, conveyed his satisfaction with the outcome, stating that those found to be abusing drugs did not deserve to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. However, he lamented that a sprinter of Chambers' calibre had in effect excluded himself from the competition. The judgement cast doubt on any future Olympic performances as it caused Chambers to miss the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chambers still has the opportunity to have a full hearing to appeal the ban in March 2009 but whether he will choose to do so has not been revealed.
The ill-fated high court appeal and dealing with the fact that he could not compete in Beijing took its toll on Chambers. However, despite his age being a prohibitive factor, Chambers strengthened his resolve and set his sights on an appearance in the 2012 London Olympics. Following the outcome of the court appeal, he denied any intention to retire and said that he wanted to prove that he could perform without the use of drugs. Regarding the London Olympic Games, he stated that competing was his main goal and any medal wins would be a bonus. These intentions were met with hostility in some quarters however, with Lord Moynihan claiming that Chambers would sully the reputation of both the Great Britain athletics team and the London Olympics if he competed. Still, as other avenues appeared to be closing, more opportunites arose and in late 2008 Chambers announced that he had signed a deal to write an autobiography covering athletics, his drug history and his personal life. Furthermore, he had his second child in November, a boy named Rocco, and he announced his desire to become a sprint coach when his track career was finished.
The hierarchy of UK Athletics changed and Charles van Commenee
Charles van Commenee
Charles van Commenee, written in Dutch as Charles van Commenée, is an Dutch athletics coach who is currently the head coach of UK Athletics. He began his professional career as a technical director and national coach for the Netherlands. He moved to take up similar roles for the British athletics...
was given the task head coach. Van Commenee's appointment signalled a new opportunity for Chambers as both the new coach and Niels De Vos welcomed him back to compete internationally for the Great Britain team. The pair deemed Chambers an exceptional sprinter who had served his sentence — van Commenee was especially complimentary, stating: "He is a likeable guy and a damned fine athlete". An appearance at the "Tackling Doping in Sport" conference underlined that he was a reformed figure as he told of the damage drugs had caused to his career and finances and the health hazards he had risked. Despite a welcome back for international competition from the UKA, the body also supported the BOA's decision to ban Chambers from Olympic competition. Furthermore, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe remained unfazed and flatly ruled out an appearance, commenting: "I am clear cut on the Chambers case – I don't think there is room for drugs cheats in sport".
Race Against Me
Chambers decided he would no longer pursue legal action to overturn his Olympic ban and instead, considering that he realistically had three years until retirement, aimed to finish his career on a high. Using his position as a more experienced sprinter, he encouraged the new generation of British sprinters to work together, following the model of the successful American and Jamaican teams. He too took inspiration from his North American counterparts, intensively studying the technique of Usain Bolt to improve his own times. Seeing Bolt as the new generation's Maurice Greene, he vowed to step up his efforts with the aim of reaching the podium at the forthcoming 2009 World Championships2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Meanwhile, the indoor season began well for Chambers; though he was banned from Euromeetings-organised events, he set a new personal best of 6.52 s in the 60 m at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix, then became the UK Indoor Champion, equalling Mike Rodgers' world leading time of 6.51 s. His run of good form culminated in success at the 2009 European Indoor Championships; in the semi-finals he broke the Ronald Pognon
Ronald Pognon
Ronald Pognon is a French sprint athlete. He originally specialized in the 200 metres, but later shifted to the shorter sprint distances...
's European 60 m record with a 6.42 s run, beating Jason Gardener's 10-year-old British record by four hundredths of a second. He followed this with a gold medal-winning performance of 6.46 s in the final. British head coach van Commenee stated that Chambers had undergone vigorous testing and that his performance sent "a message that you can win and break European records in the proper way."
The record-breaking performance brought new opportunities to race, including an invite from the Berlin IAAF Golden League
IAAF Golden League
The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations...
meet. However, organiser Euromeetings condemned the invite as bad for the sport, and revelations in Chambers' autobiography Race Against Me brought further controversy. The book, released after the Indoor Championships, contained in-depth personal accounts of his past drug abuse. An IAAF investigation concluded that the book demanded no further action on their part, even though he had claimed that drug use remained rife in athletics, estimating that half the American Olympic squad in Beijing
United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The United States competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. American athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since the 1896 Summer Olympics except the 1980 Summer Olympics, which the U.S. boycotted. The United States entered the Games as the most successful nation in...
had used illegal substances. Chambers signed a statement with UK Sport
UK Sport
UK Sport is the UK Government's organisation for directing the development of sport within the home countries.-History:The Sports Council previously had been formed in 1972, and had the motto Sport for All. There was also the Central Council of Physical Recreation. In July 1994 it was decided to...
, verifying that he believed the information to be true and bringing a close to the organisation's inquiries into his drug use. Olympic gold medallist and anti-drugs campaigner Ed Moses
Edwin Moses
Edwin Corley Moses is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals and set the world record in his event four times...
gave his support, saying that Chambers admissions provided a useful insight, but that athletes and administrators remained in denial about the high levels of doping in athletics.
Invites to Golden League meets never materialised, but he continued to run at smaller events. He ran a European leading time of 10.06 seconds at Papaflessia
Papaflessia
Papaflessia is an annual international athletics meeting that is held in Kalamata, Greece. The meeting falls within the European Athletic Association's calendar of meeting...
in Greece, and won the 100 m and 200 m (filling in as a substitute) races at the 2009 European Team Championships
2009 European Team Championships
The first SPAR European Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2009. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008...
. He headed into the national championships as the fastest Briton but 2008 runner-up Simeon Williamson
Simeon Williamson
Simeon Oscar Williamson is an English sprinter of Jamaican descent who specializes in the 100 metres. Williamson, a London native, is the second cousin of British high jumper Germaine Mason. His athletics club is Highgate Harriers...
won the final by some distance. The result took Chambers by surprise and, although he vowed to bounce back from the loss, he withdrew from the 200 m race citing exhaustion. He said that, with a number of opportunities to race, he had become complacent but the loss to Williamson had spurred him on:"I haven't had to fight for anything really but now I do...I haven't lost all summer but I lost to someone good, he had the times and he wanted to beat me but he isn't going to do it again."
At the World Championships
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
Chambers finished sixth in 100 m final with a season's best of 10.00 seconds. He was the only sprinter from outside the Americas in the final and was some distance behind Bolt who ran a world record of 9.58 seconds. However, he was very pleased with his performance and said he was happy just to be involved in the fastest 100 m race ever
2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 16. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder...
. He pulled out of the 200 m with a calf injury and called an end to his season.
World champion
The following year he began by focusing on the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the ASPIRE Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010.-Bidding and organisation:...
, and he won the 60 m at the UK trials in 6.50 seconds (a time only he had bettered in the previous two seasons). His closest competitor, Ivory Williams
Ivory Williams
Ivory Williams is an American sprint athlete who specialises in the 100 meters.Born in Jefferson County, Texas, Williams competed at the 2002 United States Junior Championships, taking bronze in the 200 meters and finishing in fourth place in the 100 m. His first major junior tournament was...
, received a ban for marijuana usage leaving Chambers as a strong favourite. After dominant performances in the heats of the World 60 m competition
2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres
The men's 60 metres at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships was held at the ASPIRE Dome on 12 and 13 March.Coming into the championships, Ivory Williams had ran a world-leading time of 6.49 seconds to win the US indoor championships, positioning him as a possible gold medallist...
, he came back from a slow start in the final and overtook Michael Rodgers to become the world indoor champion with a time of 6.48 seconds. Banned from the 2010 Commonwealth Games
2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
, he set his sights on making the team for the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Chambers opened his season on the Brazilian track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
circuit, recording 10.11 as runner-up behind Rodgers at the Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo
Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo
The Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo is an annual athletics event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as part of the IAAF World Challenge. It was first organized in 1985 , held at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange.-History:...
and then winning in Maringá. A win at the Cezmi Or Memorial
Cezmi Or Memorial
The Cezmi Or Memorial is an annual track and field meeting which takes place in Istanbul, Turkey.The meeting is held in honour of late Turkish sprinter Cezmi Or, who set Turkish records in the men's 100 metres and 200 metres, but died of typhoid fever in 1945 at the age of 24...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
preceded the 2010 European Team Championships
2010 European Team Championships
The second SPAR European Team Championships took place on 19 and 20 June 2010. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008....
, where he beat Christophe Lemaitre
Christophe Lemaitre
Christophe Lemaitre is a French sprinter, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. He is the French 100 m and 200 m record holder with a time of 9.92 seconds and 19.80 seconds as well as being the first caucasian to break the 10-second barrier in an officially timed event.At...
to win the 100 m, helping Great Britain to second place in the tournament and recording 9.99 seconds – the first sub-10 time by a European athlete in almost four years.
Lemaitre and Chambers were seen as the only gold medal contenders for the 100 m final
2010 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres at the 2010 European Athletics Championships was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on 27 and 28 July.-Medalists:-Records:-Schedule:-Heat 1:-Heat 2:-Heat 3:-Heat 4:-Heat 5:-Summary:-Semifinal 1:...
at the European Athletics Championships, but the event defied expectations in terms of times and placings. The Frenchman won in 10.11 seconds into a headwind while Chambers was entangled in a tight finish which saw the four following athletes record the same time (10.18). The less-favoured Mark Lewis-Francis and Martial Mbanjock were awarded the medals while Chambers was adjudged to have finished fifth behind Francis Obikwelu.
The start of his 2011 season saw him take a fourth consecutive national title over 60 m with a European-leading time. At the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships
2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 31st European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011.A record high of 630 athletes, representing 46 countries, were entered into the three-day competition. Twenty-six track and field events were contested at the...
the following month he was beaten to the line by Obikwelu, although he was pleased with the silver medal as he had changed his training to focus towards the 100 m for that season. Four straight wins on the Brazilian Athletics Tour came at the beginning of his outdoor season in May, including clockings of 10.01 and 10.05 seconds. At the 2011 World Championships
2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27 and August 28. The event was won by Yohan Blake of Jamaica, who became the youngest ever world champion in the 100 metres at . The highly favored defending champion and world record...
he was disqualifed for a false start in the semifinals.
Achievements
Chambers' performances at tournaments in the 100 metres100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...
event make him one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His personal best of 9.97 s set at the 1999 Seville World Championships
1999 World Championships in Athletics
The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....
places him as the third fastest European in the 100 m. The faster European sprinters are, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n born, Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
athlete, Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, born 22 November 1978 in Nigeria and a Portuguese citizen since 2001, is a sprint athlete specializing in 100 metres and 200 metres. He holds the record for the fastest time in the 100 m set by a European competitor with a time of 9.86 seconds...
with his European record
European records in athletics
European records in the sport of athletics are ratified by the European Athletic Association. Records are kept for all events contested at the Olympic Games and some others. Unofficial records for some other events are kept by track and field statisticians...
of 9.86 s and Linford Christie
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
with a former European record and current British record of 9.87 s.
Chambers' annulled 9.87 s finish at the Paris Grand Prix
IAAF Grand Prix Final
The IAAF Grand Prix Final was an athletics competition featuring track and field events staged by the International Association of Athletics Federations...
in 2002 would have made him joint fastest British 100 m sprinter with Christie and the joint second fastest European in the event. However, these times lag behind those of his North American counterparts. Track rival Maurice Greene
Maurice Greene (athlete)
Maurice Greene is a retired American track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion...
's personal best of 9.79 s far outstrips that of Chambers. The times set by Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay is an American track and field sprinter. His primary events are the 100 meters and 200 meters. His personal bests establish him as the second fastest athlete in the 100 meters and the fifth fastest athlete in the history of the 200 meters, with times of 9.69 and...
(9.69 s), Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
(9.72 s) and Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...
(9.58 s) also overwhelm his personal best.
Amongst his British contemporaries Chambers ranks top with two 9.97 s finishes; the first in 1999 in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Spain and the second in 2001 in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Canada. Compatriot Mark Lewis Francis also scored a personal best of 9.97 s at the Edmonton World Championships
2001 World Championships in Athletics
The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...
. Great Britain team-mate Jason Gardener
Jason Gardener
Jason Carl Gardener is a retired British sprint athlete, and former World Indoor Champion. Gardener was educated at Beechen Cliff School and the City of Bath College, and went on to graduate from Bath Spa University.-Athletics career:Gardener started his career at the World Junior Championships in...
's personal best of 9.98 s falls just short of Chambers'. None of his British contemporaries have broken the ten second barrier on more than one occasion; Chambers has done so four times.
Chambers is the current European record holder in the 60 m with 6.42 s and is the third fastest sprinter in the history of the event after Andre Cason
Andre Cason
Andre Cason is an American former sprinter. He was a member of the US 4 x 100 meters relay team that won the gold medal at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo with a world record time of 37.50 seconds...
and Maurice Greene. Chambers shares the British and European records for the 4x100 metres relay
4 x 100 metres relay
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race...
with Gardener, Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
and Marlon Devonish
Marlon Devonish
Marlon Ronald Devonish, MBE is an English sprint athlete.He is a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club and is coached by Tony Lester. Early in his career he was successful at both 100 and 200 metre distances, winning English Schools and European Junior titles at both, but in recent...
with their 37.73 s finish at the 1999 Seville World Championships. It is also the fastest time recorded by a team outside of the IAAF's North, Central American and Caribbean category.
Personal bests
| Event | Time | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 metres 50 metres 50 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor athletics competitions it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes... |
5.69 seconds | Liévin Liévin Liévin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Overview:The city of Liévin is an old mining city of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this modest-sized city nevertheless has several nursery schools, schools, colleges, a university, a swimming pool, a city library, a cultural and... , France |
13 February 2000 |
| 60 metres 60 metres 60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes... |
6.42 seconds (European Record) | Turin Turin Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat... , Italy |
7 March 2009 |
| 100 metres 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896... |
9.97 seconds (+0.2 m/s wind) | Seville Seville Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level... , Spain |
22 August 1999 |
| 200 metres 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first... |
20.31 seconds (−0.6 m/s wind) | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... , England |
22 July 2001 |
- Please note: Excludes times nullified due to Chambers' positive drugs tests and subsequent ban — All information taken from IAAF profile.
Competition record
| 1998 1998 in athletics (track and field) This page shows the main events during the 1998 year in athletics throughout the world.-Championships:* African Championships* Asian Championships* Asian Games* Balkan Games* Central American and Caribbean Games* Commonwealth Games... |
European Championships | Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... , Hungary |
2nd | 100 metres |
| IAAF World Cup | Johannesburg Johannesburg Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa... , South Africa |
3rd | 100 metres | |
| Commonwealth Games 1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 XVI Commonwealth Games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 September to 21 September 1998 making it the first Asian country to act as host and the last Commonwealth Games for the 20th century. A record 70 nations supplied 3638 athletes... |
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million... , Malaysia |
1st | 4×100 metres relay | |
| 1999 1999 in athletics (track and field) This page shows the main events during the 1999 year in athletics throughout the world.-International Events:* All-Africa Games* Balkan Games* Central American and Caribbean Championships* Pan American Games* Pan Arab Games... |
European Cup European Cup (athletics) The European Cup is a now defunct athletics competition, replaced by the European Team Championships from 2009 onwards. The Europa Cup saw most of the major nations of Europe compete. Originally known as the Bruno Zauli Cup, it first took place in Stuttgart and Kassel , Germany in 1965... |
Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... , France |
1st | 100 metres |
| IAAF World Championships 1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29.... |
Seville Seville Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level... , Spain |
3rd | 100 metres | |
| 2nd | 4×100 metres relay | |||
| 2000 2000 in athletics (track and field) This article contains an overview of the sport of athletics, including track and field, cross country and road running, in the year 2000.The primary athletics competition for the 2000 season was at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.-World:... |
Olympic Games 2000 Summer Olympics The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia... |
Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... , Australia |
4th | 100 metres |
| 2001 2001 in athletics (track and field) This article contains an overview of the sport of athletics, including track and field, cross country and road running, in the year 2001.The foremost competition of the season was the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Canada... |
IAAF World Championships 2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America... |
Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... , Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
4th† | 100 metres |
| Goodwill Games Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s... |
Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of... , Australia |
1st | 100 metres | |
| 2006 2006 in athletics (track and field) The following events in athletics took place in 2006:-Championships:* March: 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships * March: 2006 Commonwealth Games... |
British Grand Prix British Grand Prix (athletics) The British Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting. It is part of the IAAF Diamond League series of track and field meets and it is sponsored by Aviva... |
Gateshead Gateshead Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside... , England |
3rd | 100 metres |
| European Championships | Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden |
7th | 100 metres 2006 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres The men's 100 metres at the 2006 European Athletics Championships were held at the Ullevi on August 7 and August 8.Portugal's Francis Obikwelu added the European title to his Olympic Games silver medal in Athens... |
|
| 1st | 4×100 metres relay | |||
| 2008 2008 in athletics (track and field) -International events:*2008 Summer Olympic Games, held in Beijing, China*African Championships, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia*European Cup, super league held in Annecy, France*World Indoor Championships, held in Valencia, Spain... |
IAAF World Indoor Championships 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7-9, 2008.-Bid:Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Russia.-Men:... |
Valencia, Spain | 2nd | 60 metres |
| 2009 2009 in athletics (track and field) This page contains an overview of the year 2009 in athletics.The major competition of the year was the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. At the event, Usain Bolt reaffirmed himself as one of the world's foremost athletes with world records in the 100 and 200 metres... |
European Indoor Championships | Torino, Italy | 1st | 60 metres |
| European Team Championships 2009 European Team Championships The first SPAR European Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2009. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008... |
Leiria Leiria Leiria is a city in Leiria Municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. The city proper has 50,200 inhabitants and the entire municipality has nearly 120,000... , Portugal |
1st | 100 metres | |
| 1st | 200 metres | |||
| IAAF World Championships 2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate.... |
Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
6th | 100 metres 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres The men's 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 16. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder... |
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| 2010 2010 in athletics (track and field) In 2010 there was no obvious, primary athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year... |
IAAF World Indoor Championships 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the ASPIRE Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010.-Bidding and organisation:... |
Doha Doha Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar... , Qatar |
1st | 60 metres |
| European Team Championships 2010 European Team Championships The second SPAR European Team Championships took place on 19 and 20 June 2010. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008.... |
Bergen Bergen Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , .... , Norway |
1st | 100 metres | |
| European Championships | Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... , Spain |
5th | 100 metres 2010 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres The men's 100 metres at the 2010 European Athletics Championships was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on 27 and 28 July.-Medalists:-Records:-Schedule:-Heat 1:-Heat 2:-Heat 3:-Heat 4:-Heat 5:-Summary:-Semifinal 1:... |
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| 2011 2011 in athletics (track and field) In 2011, the foremost athletics event will be the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu. Other major global level competitions set to occur in 2011 are the World Cross Country Championships and the World Half Marathon Championships.... |
European Indoor Championships 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 31st European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011.A record high of 630 athletes, representing 46 countries, were entered into the three-day competition. Twenty-six track and field events were contested at the... |
Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... , France |
2nd | 60 metres 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres The Men's 60 metres event at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held at March 5–6 with the final being held on March 6 at 16:55 local time. -Records:-Heats:First 4 in each heat and 4 best performers advanced to the Semifinals.... |
- †Amended from 5th after Tim MontgomeryTim MontgomeryTimothy Montgomery is a former American athlete. In 2005, he was stripped of his records – including a now void 100m world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002 – after being found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs...
tested positive for banned substances - Please note: Excludes results nullified due to Chambers' positive drugs tests and subsequent ban.
See also
- Great Britain at the Olympics
- BALCO scandalBALCO ScandalThe BALCO scandal is a scandal involving the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes. The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative was a San Francisco Bay Area business accused of supplying steroids to Major League Baseball players...
- List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
External links
- Dwain Chambers Official website
- 2009 video interview from Virgin MediaVirgin MediaVirgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...