Chambers saddened by failed tests

Dwain Chambers now educates children on the dangers of drugs in sport
9 August 2013

Dwain Chambers, Great Britain's most infamous former drug cheat, is saddened that athletes are still willing to risk their careers by doping.

The veteran sprinter, who was shunned by the sport after being exposed as a cheat 10 years ago, is baffled that they have not learned from his dramatic fall from grace.

"It's sad to see that people I look up to have fallen in the same trap that I once did," said Chambers.

The 35-year-old is now a reformed character with a rebuilt reputation - he visits schools to talk to children about the dangers of drugs in sport - but the build-up to the 100 metres at the World Championships, which get under way in Moscow on Saturday, has again been overshadowed by a doping scandal.

The failed drug tests by Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, two of the world's leading sprinters, have plunged the sport into its biggest crisis since the Chambers-era BALCO saga, while Russia and in particular Turkey have been plagued by a spate of positive tests.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) responded on Thursday by announcing its intention to return to four-year bans for "serious doping offences" from the start of 2015.

"Unfortunately they (the athletes) haven't learned from my experience, it's disappointing to see when this happens," Chambers said.

"I don't know what motivates people to do these things.

"They should basically be able to look at what I went through. It's been a tough road for me and that itself should be enough of a deterrent for some of these youngsters or athletes.

"We just have to find the true root of why these people make these decisions and hopefully we can start changing the way they think.

"They've seen what I've gone through, they've seen what the relevant punishments are. It's something that I wouldn't want to encourage anybody to do, because the penalties are so harsh that they wouldn't be able to come back into the sport with any credibility."

The news of Gay's and Powell's failed tests broke on the same evening, within a matter of hours of each other.

Chambers could have been forgiven for casting his mind back to October 2003 when his world came crashing down when he was told he had returned a positive test for the banned steroid THG.

"That's something I've been trying to forget as best as I can, because it wasn't a nice experience," he said.

"The moment I did hear about Tyson and Asafa I was just disappointed, because it doesn't help the sport, it doesn't help the other athletes.

"This is a sport that I still enjoy and my kids enjoy and it's not something I want my kids to be seeing, that I have to explain to them that these things are still going on."

Both cases have yet to run their course, with potential punishments still to be handed down.

Gay, who has not revealed the substance he tested positive for, said he was "let down" by someone he had put his faith in, while Powell, who tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine, said he was guilty not of cheating, but of "not being more vigilant".

Whatever the stories, though, the fact is Usain Bolt is now carrying the event more than ever.

The Jamaican has even been forced to justify his own record-breaking achievements such is the scandal, with the world's fastest man bombarded with questions on doping ahead of his appearance at the London Anniversary Games.

His training partner Warren Weir, the 200m bronze medallist at London 2012, insists, though, that the fans at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium can still trust what they see.

"You can still believe there are good athletes out there," he said. "I myself am one of the clean ones. You can't bash all for some.

"People want to see people running fast and clean and it's always good to show them are still clean ones out there."

Michael Clarke, the head coach of the Jamaican team, was cut short by his media officer when answering questions on doping.

Asked what his message would be to those who had doubts about Jamaican athletes, the media officer instructed him not to answer any questions on the issue.

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