Chambers eyes Olympic relay run

DWAIN Chambers has revealed he would welcome the chance to be part of a British sprint relay team at the Olympics – if he wins his High Court battle to compete in Beijing.

Chambers realises everything depends on the lifetime ban imposed on him by the British Olympic Association being lifted on appeal.

The 30-year-old sprinter feels his legal team are in a strong position to ensure he is free to compete for Great Britain ahead of the Olympic trials getting under way on 11 July in Birmingham.

Chambers is enjoying a purple patch of form and after achieving the Olympic 100 metres qualifier in Germany last Saturday, he ran an even quicker mark of 10.05 seconds in Sofia on Monday night.

That was the fastest time by a British sprinter since Mark Lewis-Francis clocked 10.04secs in Paris six years ago and Chambers' best as a clean athlete since 2001.

The 100m will be the priority for Chambers, if he gets the go-ahead to race for a place at the Olympics, and he initially ruled out being considered for the relay squad.

"It would be virtually impossible for me to get drafted into the relay when I haven't done any work for it for the last four years," he said.

But his position has now altered. "My main priority is to do well in the individual event," said Chambers.

He is now open-minded about running the relay, explaining: "That's up to the team management. I really don't have any say in it. If there's a space there and the team members are okay with it, that's fine."

Chambers ran in the 4x100m relay when the British team were depleted by injuries at the European Championships two years ago, only two months after returning from his two-year drugs suspension.

On that occasion, he stepped in as a last-minute replacement as Britain clinched the gold medal.

With Lewis-Francis ruled out of the Olympics through injury and other candidates also carrying minor injuries, a similar situation could arise.