Chambers was a convincing winner at the trials on Sunday
Controversial sprinter Dwain Chambers has been included in Great Britain’s squad for next month’s World Indoor Championships in Valencia.
The 29-year-old - who was banned from athletics for two years after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug THG - will compete in the 60m sprint.
UK Athletics had opposed his inclusion but reluctantly named the Londoner in their squad after he won the trials and so fulfilled the selection criteria. Here are a selection of quotes from former athletes, officials and 606 users.
ATHLETES’ REACTION
“I’m delighted by the decision that was made. I want to thank the selectors for what I know was a hard decision for themselves to make.”
Dwain Chambers
“I feel quite disgusted, actually, at what’s happening. There was an enormous amount of collateral damage last week as Craig almost became the great white hope. There was an enormous amount of pressure placed on him and as a result he ran quite badly at the weekend.”
Malcolm Arnold, coach to Chambers’ 60m rival Craig Pickering
“These days there are no unhappy circumstances where athletes don’t know what they’re doing. This is not 30 years ago when a 14-year-old child behind the Iron Curtain is given something at breakfast and told that it was part and parcel of becoming an international athlete. With the amount of money being spent on education programmes, I do not accept there are any circumstances where athletes like Dwain Chambers can get sucked into something without being complicit.”
Double Olympic gold medallist Lord Coe
“This was an athlete who went to America, knowingly took a drug that was undetectable at the time, got caught, admitted he’d taken drugs, then went on to say that you can’t win anything without taking drugs. It doesn’t put us in a good light allowing a cheat, who has admitted he’s a cheat, to represent us.”
Double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes
“The frustration for all of us is that he is one of the most talented athletes this country has ever had. What you are seeing now is how good he is as a talent. I understand him wanting to be a shining example of what you can do clean but I don’t buy that.”
1996 Olympic 400m silver medallist Roger Black
“He’s served his ban, leave him alone and let him get on with it. He’s been brought back into the sport and allowed back by the governing bodies and he understands that he has made a mistake. If he does well, get on with it.”
1984 Olympic gold medallist Tessa Sanderson
“He won the national championships last weekend in a fine time so I can’t see why they shouldn’t pick him. Dwain made a wrong choice, a very, very bad choice, and paid the ultimate price. He’s now said he’s trying to come back and prove that it was a mistake. You can’t keep punishing him.”
Olympic 200m silver medallist John Regis
“He did serve his time and unless they are willing to change the rules and keep it ‘once and you’re out’, he should be able to run.”
2003 world 100m champion Kim Collins
“I think a lot of us in the sport feel that a two-year ban is never enough for people committing that type of offence. And I would hope that as the next few months follow on, this isn’t really just about Dwain Chambers at all, it’s about the sport’s attitude towards those who’ve committed serious drugs offences.”
Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram
OFFICALS’ REACTION
“It is extremely frustrating to leave young athletes at home - eligible for Beijing, in possession of the qualifying standard and committed to ongoing participation in a drug-free sport. In contrast, we have to take an individual whose sudden return, especially when considered against his previous actions and comments, suggests that he may be using the whole process for his own ends.”
UK Athletics statement
“There is a strong feeling among the committee that we would like to see greater penalties for drug cheats. That’s obviously something that will need to be addressed after this and going forwards.”
UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins
WHAT YOU SAY ON 606
“If UK Athletics wants to make an example of Chambers then it should make an example of others. One should also remember his ban actually finished in 2006, he just chose not to compete and to try and pursue another career. I think the whole thing has been blown out of all proportions. I wish him well at the indoors and hopefully he’ll bring home a gold medal.”
detritus21
“What a pathetic disgrace. I no longer follow athletics for the simple reason that this so-called sport is full of cheats and the bodies that manage this need to take a good look at themselves. What a kick in the teeth for anybody that missed out due to this.”
Gr1mUpN0rth
“For people who are saying that a young talent is being deprived a place at these games or Beijing, that’s a load of twaddle. First you have to qualify for both events - which Chambers won’t do because of the BOA lifetime ban on drug users. Note it’s a British policy, not a worldwide policy. Second, the rest of the Brits are not good enough.”
awaisyboy
“He shouldn’t be allowed to run. He cheated and got caught. He should have been kicked out forever.”
on_the_radio
“I’m all for giving people a second chance. I can’t say that what Chambers did was right, but he’s served his ban, hopefully learnt the error of his ways and now has a chance to start afresh.”
Flying Finn (SAFC)
“If somebody goes to jail for a crime, should no-one give them a second chance and employ them? Some might say his ban wasn’t long enough, everything is 20/20 in hindsight. It has been sentenced and served.”
AFC_cradle2grave
“Carl Myerscough has been selected for the shot put. He was banned for two years (in 1999) after testing positive for drugs. Nobody mentions the fact that he is in the team!”
icelandic-superlion
“The only thing missing was a spin-off show with Dermot O’Leary or Russell Brand questioning a studio audience and psychologist and/or medical expert about the Chambers issue.”
tourdefrancerules
Source: What they say about Chambers
