No relay promise for Chambers

Dwain Chambers has been warned he cannot simply stroll on to Britain’s 4x100m relay team if he manages to overturn his Olympic ban.

The former drugs cheat was unsurprisingly omitted from the list of 48 track and field athletes whose places at the Beijing Games were confirmed by the British Olympic Association yesterday afternoon.

But the BOA will be forced to select him for the 100m if a High Court judge this week grants an injunction against the bylaw which prevents the 30-year-old competing at future Olympics.

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules also dictates anyone competing in the 100m must form part of their country’s six-strong relay squad.

However, UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins was keen to stress this does not mean Chambers would make the final four-man team as Britain look to retain the title they won four years ago.

“If he’s eligible and he’s selected, he would obviously have been named in the relay,” Collins said.

“It doesn’t mean he has to run.”

He added: “The important thing to recognise about the relay is how many different factors there are. Not wishing to be disrespectful to our four guys in Athens but, clearly, the fastest four men did not win the gold medal there.

“That’s what makes the relay particularly interesting.”

Making the relay team is the least of Chambers’ worries, with his individual place by no means assured.

However, his High Court crusade has temporarily prevented the BOA from naming more than one of the three 100m sprinters they intend to send to Beijing.

The lucky man was Simeon Williamson, who was guaranteed selection after finishing second behind Chambers at the Aviva National Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Chambers’ case, the BOA could have named two of their 100m athletes instead of just one.

But that would have risked needlessly upsetting one of Craig Pickering, Tyrone Edgar or Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who are the leading three candidates to join Williamson on the team.

Collins was keen to play down the impact the Chambers issue was having on selection, insisting Britain’s sprinters were being given extra time to stake a claim before this weekend’s final deadline.

Collins said: “What we’ve done is what we’ve actually done in previous years and what we’ve done in a number of other events.

“The men’s 100m, the women’s 100m, the women’s 800m, for example, we’ve got so much talent, we want to give them every chance.

“What we’ve done is to go for the athlete who is eligible and has made a clear case for selection – and that’s Simeon.

“Of course, there are currently five other athletes at least who are in with a shout.

“We’ll give them until midnight on the 18th, which was always the closing date for selection standards.”

The squad named yesterday contained no real shocks, though Marlon Devonish will be relieved at his selection for the 200m.

The relay gold medal-winner from Athens was unable to defend his 200m title at this weekend’s trials because of a serious virus.

He cited the illness for his poor performance in Saturday’s 100m final, in which he finished seventh.

Also seeing their places confirmed yesterday were a number of medal prospects.

Triple-jumper Phillips Idowu, heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, and 400m runner Christine Ohuruogu arguably represent Britain’s best chances of gold.

Idowu said: “I’ve been hoping and dreaming of Olympic gold all year and now I have been officially selected, I’m one step closer to achieving it in Beijing.”

Sotherton added: “I’m happy to be officially named in Team GB for Beijing, more importantly it will be my second Olympic Games. I’m hoping to improve on my bronze medal in Athens, which was a surprise really in 2004.”

The remaining athletes will be revealed on Saturday.