London 2012: Dwain Chambers picked for GB athletics squad

 

Sprinter Dwain Chambers has been included in Team GB's athletics squad for the Olympic Games in London.

The 34-year-old, who won the 100m Games trials, can compete after the British Olympic Association policy of lifetime bans for drug cheats was overturned.

Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Phillips Idowu, Dai Greene and Christine Ohuruogu are among GB gold medal hopes.

Only one woman, Lynsey Sharp, is picked for the 800m with 2009 world bronze medallist Jenny Meadows missing out.

Meadows, who had indicated before the team announcement she would appeal if not selected, has decided not to fight the decision.

Team GB's recent Olympic athletics medals

  • 2008: Total - 4. Gold 1 (Christine Ohuruogu 400m) Silver 2 Bronze 1
  • 2004: Total 4. Gold 3 (Kelly Holmes 800m and 1500m, 4x100m relay) Bronze 1
  • 2000: Total 6. Gold 2 (Denise Lewis heptathlon, Jonathan Edwards triple jump) Silver 2 Bronze 2

The 2010 European bronze medallist suffered a setback when she pulled out of this year's Euros before her 800m race in Helsinki on Saturday after aggravating an Achilles injury.

Marilyn Okoro, Emma Jackson and Jemma Simpson were other 800m contenders hoping to run in the women's event.

A total of 71 athletes were added on Tuesday to the six previously-named marathon runners to complete the GB athletics squad, which has been set a target of eight medals, including at least one gold.

Defending 400m title holder Ohuruogu, Ennis (heptathlon and 100m hurdles), Farah (5,000m and 10,000m), Idowu (triple jump) and Greene (400m hurdles) lead the gold medal prospects.

Adam Gemilli, 18, is the youngest member of the squad and one of three athletes picked for the men's 100m alongside James Dasaolu, 24, and Chambers.

Chambers was banned for two years after testing positive for the designer drug THG in 2003.

Dwain Chambers

Chambers records 100 metre trials win

He won the 100m trials in Birmingham in 10.25 seconds - seven hundredths of a second outside the 'A' qualification time required - and did not run in the 100m at the European Championships . However, he ran 'A' times last summer, which the selectors could take into account.

"For me representing my country in an Olympics is a privilege that should never be taken for granted," said Chambers.

"To be given the opportunity to do so in my home town has been a dream that at times has seemed very distant and is now a reality."

One of the toughest choices facing UK Athletics was which of five contenders to pick for the women's 800m.

Three runners could have been chosen and head coach Charles van Commenee said a third of the six-hour selection meeting was taken up by discussing the event before plumping for Sharp, the only one of the five without an A standard time.

"We decided she was the one with best current form. It was difficult because not one of the athletes took control of their own destiny," he said.

Analysis

Image of Steve Cram Steve Cram BBC athletics commentator

"Team selections are always going to have people missing and the women's 800m is the most contentious. Charles van Commenee is basically saying the four girls that got the A standard aren't going to be able to produce at the Games, whereas there are probably other people in other events that you could say the same thing about. It's a lack of consistency."

"The athletes made it difficult by not doing what they're supposed to do. Once the selection panel has to spend two hours it's already a bad sign.

"The panel and I are convinced that the athlete selected is the one who has the best chance of performing well at the Games."

Okoro and Jackson have run the 'A' standard this year but finished fifth and seventh respectively at the Olympic trials - won by Sharp, who also claimed a European silver medal.

Meadows, who has not raced this year because of injury, and Simpson achieved the A standard in 2011. Simpson was second in the trials but finished seventh in Helsinki.

A Team GB statement read: "International rules of sport mean an athlete who has achieved the 'B' standard can only be selected if there are no 'A' standard athletes in that event selected to the team."

Shortly before the team announcement, Okoro, who is in the 4x400m team, said on Twitter:  "I'm quitting". She later deleted the tweet.

Van Commenee said: "Hearing the news that you are not part, that you can't compete in your favourite event in the Olympics is not easy to digest and it's not easy to give that news.

Appealing selection decision

  • Athletes have 24 hours to lodge a written appeal
  • Appeals can only be made on the grounds selectors had facts wrong or did not properly employ their own criteria
  • Outcome of any appeals expected on Friday afternoon

"When I spoke to her on the phone, she indicated that she would quit. I want to see how that goes in the next few days."

The Dutchman, who has admitted he is braced for a "heap of appeals" from athletes, said it was not easy to leave out Meadows.

"It was very difficult because she has a proven track record. She's absolutely a world-class athlete. However, she has not raced since the [2011] World Championships in Daegu," he said.

Sprinter Richard Kilty said his own exclusion was "an absolute disgrace" after posting two A standard times in the 200m and he planned to appeal.

He said on Twitter:  "I am 100% fit, with two A standards, three spots available and they say no, and there's five slower athletes than me in the relay - they have a personal problem with me."

Three athletes are the head coach's own discretionary picks - Nigel Levine (men's 400m), Lee McConnell (women's 400m) and Julia Bleasdale (women's 5,000m).

European high jump champion Robbie Grabarz will make his Olympic debut, while Greg Rutherford has a genuine medal chance in the long jump.

Eilish McColgan, 21, the daughter of former 10,000m world champion Liz, will represent Britain in the women's 3,000m steeplechase.

World bronze medallist Andy Turner has been selected for the 110m hurdles.

Chambers was joined in the squad by another athlete previously barred due to a drugs ban, with Carl Myerscough selected in the shot put.

Myerscough achieved a second B standard in the shot just hours before the deadline by seeking out a minor meeting in Estonia and catching a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn late on Saturday night.

The athletes selected for Team GB are:

Men

Adam Gemili - 100m and 4 x 100m (age: 18, born: London, lives: Dartford)

Dwain Chambers - 100m and 4 x 100m (age: 34, born: London, lives: London)

James Dasaolu - 100 and 4x100m (age: 24, born: Croydon, lives: Loughborough)

Christian Malcolm - 200m and 4x100m (age: 33, born: Cardiff, lives: Newport)

James Ellington - 200m and 4x100m (age: 26, born: Lewisham, lives: London

Martyn Rooney - 400m and 4x400m (age: 25, born: Croydon, lives: Loughborough)

Conrad Williams - 400m and 4x400m (age: 30, born: Kingston, Jamaica, lives: Hither Green)

Nigel Levine - 400m and 4x400m (age: 23, born: Bedford, lives: Bedford)

Andrew Osagie - 800m (age: 24, born: Harlow, lives: Twickenham)

Michael Rimmer - 800m (age: 26, born: Southport, lives: Manchester)

Ross Murray - 1500m (age: 22, born: Gateshead, lives: Twickenham

Andrew Baddeley - 1500m (age: 30, born: Merseyside lives: London)

Nick McCormick - 5,000m (age: 30, born: Newcastle, lives: Loughborough)

Mo Farah - 5,000m and 10,000m (age: 28, born: Somalia, lives: Portland, USA)

Chris Thompson - 10,000m (age: 31, born: Barrow-in-Furness, lives Oregon USA)

Stuart Stokes - 3,000m steeplechase (age: 35, born: Bolton, lives: Bolton)

Lawrence Clarke - 110m hurdles (age: 22, born: London, lives: Bath)

Andrew Pozzi - 110m hurdles (age: 19, born: Leamington Spa, lives: Bristol)

Andy Turner - 110m hurdles (age: 31, born: Nottingham, lives: Sutton)

Dai Greene - 400m hurdles and 4x400m (age: 26, born: Llanelli, lives: Trowbridge)

Jack Green - 400m hurdles and 4x400m (age: 20, born: Maidstone, lives: Bath)

Rhys Williams - 400m hurdles (age: 28, born: Cardiff, lives: London)

Robbie Grabarz - high jump (age: 24, born: Enfield, lives: Birmingham)

Steve Lewis - pole vault (age: 26, born: Stoke on Trent, lives:London)

Greg Rutherford - long jump (age: 24, born: Milton Keynes, lives: Milton Keynes)

Chris Tomlinson - long jump (age: 30, born: Middlesbrough, lives: London)

Philips Idowu - triple jump (age: 33, born: Hackney, lives: Birmingham)

Mervyn Luckwell - javelin (age: 27, born: Milton Keynes, lives: Loughborough)

Lawrence Okoye - discus (age: 20, born: Croydon, lives Croydon)

Brett Morse - discus (age: 23, born:Cardiff, lives: Penarth)

Abdul Buhari - discus (age: 30, born: Nigeria, lives: London)

Carl Myerscough - shot put (age: 32, born: Blackpool, lives: USA)

Alex Smith - hammer (age:24, born: Hull, lives Hull)

Daniel Awde - decathlon (age: 24, born: Essex, lives Essex)

Dominic King - 50k walk (age: 29. Born: Colchester. Lives: Colchester)

Danny Talbot - 4x100m (age 21, born: Sailisbury, lives: Trowbridge)

Simeon Williamson - 4x100m (age: 26, born: London, lives: Enfield)

Mark Lewis-Francis - 4x100m (age: 29, born: Birmingham, lives: London)

Richard Buck - 4x400m (age: 25, born: York, lives: Loughborough)

Luke Lennon-Ford - 4x400m (age: 23, born: Sutton Coldfield, lives: London)

Rob Tobin - 4x400m (age: 28, born: Lincoln, lives: Basingstoke)

Previously selected for marathon: Scott Overall - (age: 29, born: Hammersmith, lives: Sutton), Dave Webb - (age: 30, born: Leeds, lives: Leeds), Lee Merrien - (age: 34, born: Guernsey, lives: Guernsey)

Women

Abi Oyepitan - 100m and 200m (age: 32, born: London , lives: London)

Anyika Onuora - 100m and 200m (age: 27, born: Liverpool, lives: London)

Margaret Adeoye - 200m (age: 27, born: London, lives: London)

Christine Ohuruogu - 400m and 4x400m (age: 28, born: London, lives: London)

Shana Cox - 400m and 4x400m (age: 27, born: Brooklyn, USA, lives: London)

Lee McConnell - 400m and 4x400m (age: 33, born: Glasgow, lives: Glasgow)

Lynsey Sharp - 800m (age: 21, born: Edinburgh, lives: Edinburgh)

Laura Weightman - 1500m (age: 21, born: Alnwick, lives: Leeds)

Lisa Dobriskey - 1500m (age:28, born: Ashford, lives: Loughborough)

Hannah England - 1500m (age: 25, born: Oxford, lives: Birmingham)

Jo Pavey - 5,000m and 10,000m (age: 38, born: Exeter, lives: Exeter)

Julia Bleasdale - 5,000m and 10,000m (age: 30, born: Surry, lives: Surrey)

Barbara Parker- 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase (age:29, born: King's Lynn, lives: California, USA)

Eilish McColgan- 3,000m steeplechase (age: 21, born: Dundee, lives: Carnousie )

Johanna Jackson - 20km walk (age: 27, born: Middlesbrough, lives: Leeds )

Tiffany Porter - 100m hurdles (age: 24, born: Michigan, USA, lives: London)

Perri Shakes-Drayton - 400m hurdles (age: 23, born: London, lives: London)

Eilidh Child - 400m hurdles (age: 25, born: Perth, lives: Kinross/Bath)

Holly Bleasdale - pole vault (age: 20, born: Preston, lives: Chorley)

Kate Dennison- pole vault (age: 28, born: Durban, SA, lives: Loughborough)

Shara Proctor- long jump (age: 23, born: Anguilla, lives: Atlanta, USA)

Yamile Aldama - triple jump (age: 39, born: Havana, Cuba,lives: London)

Sophie Hitchon - hammer (age: 20, born: Burnley, lives: Loughborough)

Goldie Sayers - javelin (age: 29, born: Newmarket, lives: London)

Jessica Ennis - heptathlon and 100m hurdles (age: 26, born: Sheffield, lives: Sheffield)

Katarina Johnson-Thompson - heptathlon (age: 18, born: Liverpool, lives: Liverpool)

Louise Hazel - heptathlon (age: 26, born: Southwark, lives: Birmingham)

Marilyn Okoro - 4x400m (age: 27, born: London, lives: London)

Nicola Sanders - 4x400m (age: 30, born: High Wycombe, lives: Bourne End)

Emily Diamond - 4x400m (age: 21, born: Bristol, lives: Bristol)

Previously selected for marathon: Paula Radcliffe (age: 38, born: Northwich, Cheshire, lives: Salisbury), Mara Yamauchi (age: 38, born: Oxford, lives: Teddington) Claire Hallissey (age: 29, born: Watford, lives: Virginia, USA)