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LONDON: British sprinter Dwain Chambers lost his bid
to compete in the Beijing Olympics after failing to get a temporary
High Court injunction on Friday against his lifetime Olympic ban.
Chambers, 30, had gone to court
hoping to overturn the British Olympic Association (BOA) bylaw which
prevented him from competing in China.
He served a two-year suspension
after testing positive for the steroid THG in 2003, but argued that
the BOA’s additional punishment was an unfair restraint of trade.
Chambers has the right of appeal
against the decision but his lawyer Nick Collins hinted the fight
may have ended when he said, “The difficulty of challenging the
rules of a governing body was always going to be a tough.”
BOA Chairman Lord Moynihan
insisted the verdict was a vindication of the bylaw.
“I regret that Dwain Chambers,
an athlete of outstanding talent, should by his own action put
himself out of the running to shine in the Olympics,” he said
outside the High Court.
“But the BOA has rules which
are recognized and understood by all Olympic athletes. This bylaw
has been in place for 16 years at the request and for the benefit of
our athletes.
“We will continue to send a
powerful and important message that no one found guilty of serious
drug-cheating offenses should be allowed to shine in the team GB
vest at the Olympic Games.”
Mr. Justice Mackay, who issued
his ruling 24 hours after listening to the conflicting arguments in
court, said Chambers’ right to work was not a good enough reason
to dismiss the ban.
The High Court judge added that a
decision in the athlete’s favor would have meant “the harmony
and management of the British team would have been upset”.
--AFP
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