Topic: Dwain Chambers

Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is an English sprinter of Afro-Caribbean descent. He has won medals on the international stage numerous times and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres sprint, in which he has the second fastest time by a British sprinter. He is the European record holder for the 60 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay events with 6.42 seconds and 37.73 s respectively. He received a two-year ban in 2003 for taking performance enhancing drugs.

Chambers was a promising young athlete, setting a junior world record of 10.06 s in the 100 m. He was the bronze medallist in the 1999 World Championships and made his first Olympic appearance at the Sydney 2000 Games; he turned in the best 100 m performance by a European at both events. By 2001, he had become the top British sprinter, breaking the 10 second barrier twice at the Edmonton World Championships. He became the 100 m European champion and record holder in 2002 but, in October 2003, he tested positive for the banned steroid THG in a drugs check. Chambers received a two-year athletics ban, and a lifetime Olympic ban. He had all of his racing accomplishments since 2002 annulled, wiping away his 100 m European record.

Chambers returned to the track and field circuit in June 2006, and won gold with his teammates in the 4 × 100 m at the 2006 European Championships but a feud with Darren Campbell tainted the victory. Disillusioned with athletics, Chambers joined the Hamburg Sea Devils of the NFL Europa league in early 2007. After the league folded, Chambers returned to sprinting, winning a silver medal in the 60 m at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and filed unsuccessful appeals of his Olympic ban. He briefly looked to rugby league as an alternative to the hostility he faced from fans and peers in athletics, but his trial with the Castleford Tigers was unsuccessful. He has since returned to sprinting and published an autobiography, Race Against Me. He currently lives with his partner Leonie Daley and their sons, Skye and Rocco.