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WORLD SPORT

Campbell aloof after relay victory

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Campbell puts his medal in his mouth as he stands with Chambers on the podium.

GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- Disgraced sprinter Dwain Chambers was all smiles in Gothenburg on Sunday after helping Britain to win back the European 4x100 meters relay title they lost because of his failed drugs test.

His triumph, however, was soured when team member Darren Campbell refused to join Chambers, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis on their lap of honor.

Chambers who served a two-year ban after testing positive for the designer steroid THG in 2003, said: "It's good to get it back."

He went on:"And it's good to make up what we lost by my foolishness."

Chambers was stripped of his 2002 European 100 meters gold, and Britain lost their relay title, after he admitted he had been taking the performance-enhancing drug for 18 months prior to being caught.

An emotional Campbell, a member of the winning quartet four years ago, left the track immediately after the race and told BBC television: "I've made my situation clear. I just can't take the rubbish any more.

"I'm not a hypocrite. How can I do a lap of honor?"

Campbell, who ran the second leg, appeared to be upset about reports in some British newspapers, but would not elaborate.

The rest of the team could not shed any light on the outburst but Devonish, who along was also a member of the 2002 winning team, said the 32-year-old had voiced his opinions when Chambers apologized for his previous actions in the warm-up area earlier in the week.

"Dwain apologized in the warm-up and he voiced his opinions and that was a bit of a defining moment. We talked about it, said, 'Okay right, we appreciate you coming out with that kind of thing,' so it was good."

Chambers said it had been up to the team whether he ran the relay or not.

Right decision

"It was down to whether the team was going to be happy with me being in the relay team. We had our own talks and it was the right decision as long as the team and the relay members were okay with it."

He added that he had been disappointed with his performance in the individual event, where he finished seventh behind Portugal's Francis Obikwelu, who also inherited the 2002 title from Campbell.

"I came here with high ambitions, as far as I was concerned of retaining my European title despite the situation, but it just didn't happen. It makes me want to try to achieve something through the rest of the season and work hard for next year," Chambers said.

Chambers ran the lead-off leg in Sunday's relay, handing on to Campbell and then Devonish before Lewis-Francis secured gold by holding off Poland and France, who took silver and bronze respectively.

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