Two-year doping ban for Chambers
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Chambers' ban runs from November 2003.
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| CHAMBERS FACT BOX |
Born: April 5, 1978 in London.
1998: Wins 4x100m relay gold at Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
1999: Wins European Cup in Paris in 10.21.
2001: Wins Goodwill Games final in Brisbane in 10.11.
2002: Wins European Cup in France in 10.04. Pulls up with cramp in the Commonwealth Games final in Manchester, England. Wins 100m in 9.96, a championship best, and 4x100m gold at the European championships in Munich. Records a personal best of 9.87 in finishing second to American Tim Montgomery at the Paris Grand Prix final in Paris.
2003: Fourth over 100m at the Paris world championships in August. Notified in October that he failed an out-of-competition drugs test carried out in Germany in August. The A sample had been positive for THG. Chambers denies knowingly taking a banned substance. In November, Chambers? B sample confirms the A sample result. The sprinter is suspended by the IAAF with immediate effect.
2004: Banned for two years by UK Athletics on February 24. |
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LONDON, England -- European 100 meters champion Dwain Chambers has become the first athlete to be banned after testing positive for the designer steroid THG.
The 25-year-old British sprinter was given a two-year ban by UK Athletics after failing an out-of-competition drugs test in August last year.
UK Athletics said Chambers' ban would run from November 7, 2003, the date his second sample also tested positive.
Under British Olympic Association rules, Chambers is also barred for life from competing in the Olympics.
Graham Shear, Chambers' lawyer, issued a statement saying that the athlete continued to assert his innocence and said preparations for an appeal to the Swiss-based international Court of Arbritration for Sport were already underway.
"The decision of the tribunal is being studied in detail for the purposes of considering a possible appeal to the Court of Arbritration for Sport," said Shear.
Four American athletes have also tested positive for tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), a specially designed anabolic steroid which had been modified by chemists to make it undetectable under normal testing.
However a test was developed in Los Angeles last year after a syringe of THG was sent anonymously to the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
Price worth paying
"UK Athletics is proud of the fact that we conduct a full programme of in and out-of-competition testing alongside targeted testing to ensure we do all we can to protect those athletes who compete fairly," UK Athletics chief executive David Moorcroft said in a statement.
"We are mindful of the fact that this may lead to adverse findings and that publicity resulting from a positive finding can hurt the sport, but we feel this is a price worth paying to keep the sport clean."
At a later news conference, Moorcroft said the Chambers' verdict was a test case for THG.
"We are at the frontfront of a world wide issue," he said. "I'm relieved that a verdict has been reached. I'm deeply disappointed for Dwain but it's the right verdict. We all must now move on."
Chambers clocked 9.96 seconds to win European gold in Munich in 2002, although he recorded his best time of 9.87 seconds later that year in finishing second to world record holder Tim Montgomery at the Paris Grand Prix.
He is reported to be considering a switch to American football and will fly to Miami this week for an NFL Europe training camp.
British Olympic Committee president Craig Reedie said he considered the case had been properly handled.
"We regret that any athlete becomes involved in a positive doping case. The case has been proerly handled with the correct procedures and the decision is for UK Athletics. We accept that," said Reedie said.
World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound called the suspension "completely appropriate."
"We are pleased that the process has produced this result of a two-year ban, which is compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code for a first offense for the use of steroids," said Pound.
"THG is a steroid created specifically to enhance sports performances and allow competitors to cheat. A two-year sanction is completely appropriate."
