Dwain Chambers yesterday admitted that he would have had to wrestle with his conscience had he become an Olympic champion while using drugs.
“It would have been bittersweet,” said Chambers. “There would have been a huge part of me that said, ‘Yes, I have achieved my goal’, but at the same time I knew I would have been cheating myself and others, over what they have put in, their passion and hard work and it would have been a temporary fix.
“I would have gone home, having to deal with all the questions and having to lie; continuing to lie in your life is ultimately going to end in failure. I have lied a lot in the past and there are still a lot of people who don’t believe me.”
The 30-year-old Chambers missed out on competing at the Beijing Olympics in August after his attempts to overturn his lifetime ban by the British Olympic Association failed following his positive test in 2003 for the banned anabolic steroid Tetrahydrogestrinone, which cost him a two-year suspension from the sport. But he aims to make up for lost time next year when he is likely to be one of the favourites to win the 60m title at the European Indoor Championships in Turin in March.
However, the ultimate test will arrive in the summer at the world championships in Berlin when he will confront Jamaica’s triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt.
Chambers trained with Bolt when he first returned to the sport two years ago at the end of his drugs suspension. It was why he was not surprised by Bolt’s performances in Beijing, where he broke the world record in the 100m and 200m.
“I had the privilege of training with him [Bolt] in 2006 and I always knew he was going to run as fast as he did,” said Chambers. “It was thrilling to watch and he has raised the bar to a new level. I am thoroughly looking forward to competing against him next year.”
Chambers said he will watch with interest as the Beijing organisers now retest 5,000 drug samples for traces of the previously undetectable EPO Cera. He said: “It’s going to be interesting and also disappointing because of all those performances we thought were clean but are now going to be exposed. It shows the testing procedure getting more stringent and it puts out a strong message that we are closely behind you and it is something I am supporting. I am curious to see the outcome of [it] and hopefully we can start working towards a clean sport for 2012.”
Chambers revealed an ambition to coach when he retires from athletics and remains hopeful that he and the sport can move on. The Dutchman Charles van Commenee, the new head coach of UK Athletics, has said he will welcome Chambers back. The sprinter said: “I am looking forward to the next three or four years as a positive turnaround with the support of UKA. I am still going through a phase of trying to forgive myself for my actions. I am looking forward to getting back to the track and not always be questioned about my past.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Chambers talked of how he had a good idea of fellow competitors who were also cheating. He said: “There was a silent acknowledgement. You never spoke about it but you had your strong suspicions and you knew who was doing what, who had gone from being a broke individual to a megastar in a few seasons. But you never pointed fingers because you can do it with hard work.”
Zersenay Tadese and Lornah Kiplagat, meanwhile, brilliantly defended their IAAF World Half-Marathon Championship titles with runaway victories in Rio de Janeiro. The Eritrean and Dutch runners each collected winner’s prizes of $30,000 (£17,598).
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