Beijing Olympic Games

Chambers meets Olympic qualifying time

BIBERACH, Germany (AP)—British sprinter Dwain Chambers twice ran within the “A” qualifying time for the Beijing Games on Saturday, a result he hopes will strengthen his case for appealing his doping ban.

Chambers finished in 10.06 seconds to win the 100 meters at the Weltklasse meet. He had run 10.14 in his heat, beating the qualifying time of 10.21 required to run in the Olympics for the first time since returning from a two-year suspension this year.

Chambers remains barred from Beijing because of a lifetime Olympic ban under guidelines set down by the British Olympic Association. He has said his lawyers are planning an appeal to London’s High Court, but he will continue focus on running.

The BOA is confident its Olympic doping rule will stand up in court. Although there have been 26 successful appeals against Britain’s lifetime Olympic ban in the last 16 years, the legality of the rule has not been challenged in the courts.

Chambers returned to the track in January and won a silver medal in the 60 meters at the world indoor championships in March. His previous best this season was 10.24 seconds, set at Crystal Palace two weeks ago.

Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the London 2012 organizing committee who has criticized Chambers’ Olympic bid, said he expects “six or seven tricky weeks” with the sprinter’s expected legal challenge.

“It doesn’t surprise me because Dwain is perfectly capable of running an Olympic qualifying time and he has been inching the way there in the last few weeks,” Coe told the BBC. “I presume he will challenge the British Olympic Association by law, which he said he would do if got the qualifying time … It’s important to maintain integrity of sport and most importantly protect the 99.9 percent of athletes who choose to compete fairly.”