Chambers facing day of Olympic destiny

*ATHLETICS

Today is D-Day for Dwain Chambers in the High Court. The phoney war is over, and he will learn whether his pathway to the Olympics, now that he has won the trials in fine style, lies open or remains closed by the British Olympic Association by-law.

Chambers' legal representatives, who will challenge the by-law more fully next May, are seeking an injunction for now which will temporarily suspend it, allowing him to take up a place in Beijing.

What Jonathan Crystal, Chambers' counsel, has to demonstrate to Lord Justice Mackay is that his client has a reasonable chance of winning when full legal battle is joined in the New Year. Legal opinion is split on whether that is realistic, or hugely ambitious.

The by-law was instituted by the BOA in 1992, expressly at the request of members of the athletes commission, and it renders any serious doping offenders such as Chambers ineligible for the Games for life. The 30-year-old sprinter is basing his case on the fact that the unilateral ban constitutes a restraint of trade, and that if he were an athlete in any other country he would not be similarly punished. That said, at least one legal observer has said that the Olympics are not about trade as no payment is made to compete in them.

Whatever the verdict today, it is likely that the side it turns against will seek an appeal. With the final team deadline looming on Saturday, the room for manoeuvre is tight. The case could go to the Court of Appeal and even on to the House of Lords.

Meanwhile BOA representatives who have arrived in Beijing say they are confident the "extraordinary efforts" made by the Chinese authorities mean smog and algae will not prove to be major problems when the Games start on 8 August. Both have been concerns for some time but the British team's chef de mission Simon Clegg said: "We are confident that the arrangements the Chinese have put in place will address those issues."

GB ATHLETICS SQUAD,

DIGEST, PAGE 51

THE BIG QUESTION, PAGE 35

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