Dwain Chambers sneers at British Olympics Association

Drug cheat, BALCO team member Dwain Chambers sneered at the British Olympic Association yesterday, in his attempt to compete at the 2008 Beijing Games.  Chambers given a lifetime ban by the BOA will initiate legal proceedings allowing him to run in the UK Olympic trials, thus flipping off the ban. (to the Telegraph)

Considering the recent data suggesting the long term beneficial metabolic effects of anabolic steroids, Chambers will be running at an advantage in the trials.

Dwain Chambers took the first step yesterday in resurrecting his dream of running in the Beijing Games and overturning a lifetime ban by the British Olympic Association by effectively daring UK Athletics to exclude him from the Olympic trials in Birmingham in July...

Chambers spent a busy morning yesterday at UK Sport frankly outlining the extraordinary scale of his doping in the 2002 and 2003 seasons which resulted in a two-year ban which ended at the end of 2005.

Following those discussions his agent, Nick Collins, released a short statement which points to an imminent legal challenge to the BOA in the High Court.

The statement read: "We can confirm that Dwain Chambers will be taking proceedings to secure his eligibility/participation in the Olympic and national trials in Birmingham from July 11-13."

The UK national championships double as the Olympic trials.  And an army of lawyers appear to be drooling to help out the drug-cheat.

Crucially the trials - which if held in isolation will be the preserve of the BOA - are also doubling as the National Championships and Chambers could run the qualifying time of 10.85 sec, required to enter, in his sleep. Objectively there would seem no legal impediment to him running but Chambers is taking nothing for granted and wants to win that battle first.

Having secured that right to compete in Birmingham, and having been offered the services, free of charge, of a number of specialised lawyers, Chambers believes he will be in a position to seriously challenge the ruling. The BOA are the only Olympic Federation in the World to now unambiguously ban competitors who have fully served drugs ban from competing at the Olympics.

It doesn't appear to matter than once a drug-cheat, always a drug cheat.  The law may want to allow the clean athletes a continued disadvantage to the drug-cheats.

If and when Chambers does appeal it will not be against his Olympic ban per se, but the right of the BOA to even sanction such a ban.

Even hardline former World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound believes that Chambers would win such a legal action. "As a matter of law, I think the BOA would be on pretty shaky ground," said Pound.

"If the BOA sought to deny me a place in the 2008 Olympic team on the basis solely of my earlier drugs offence, I would say they don't have the power to do that. I've always felt it was fairly clear what the outcome of a challenge would be."

Arrogance.