text: dwain chambers dwain anthony chambers ( born 5 april 1978 ) is a british track sprinter . he has won international medals at world and european level and is one of the fastest european sprinters in the history of athletics . his primary event is the 100 metres , in which he has the fourth 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 athletics ban in 2003 after testing positive for thg , a banned performance - enhancing drug . chambers ran a 100 m world junior record of 10 . 06 s in 1997 and became the youngest ever world medallist in the event at the 1999 world championships , taking the bronze . on his olympic debut at the 2000 sydney olympics he was the best european performer in fourth place . he broke the 10 - second barrier twice at the 2001 world championships . he began using performance - enhancing drugs in 2002 and he was later stripped of the 100 m european title and record he achieved that year . chambers returned to competition in june 2006 , and won gold with his teammates in the 4 × 100 m at the 2006 european championships . he tried other sports , including a spell with the hamburg sea devils of the nfl europa league and a rugby league trial with castleford . sprinting success came over 60 m when he won silver at the 2008 world indoor championships , gold at the 2009 european indoors , and became world champion at the 2010 world indoor championships . due to his doping ban , he was barred from the olympics , commonwealth games , and much of the european racing circuit , from 2006 to 2012 . the court of arbitration for sport overturned his lifetime olympic ban , deeming it non - compliant with the world anti - doping code , and he competed in the 2012 london olympics . he produced a ghost - written autobiography with writer ken scott , race against me , in 2009 . he is of afro - jamaican descent and has two sons with his partner leonie daley . biography early life and career chambers was born in islington and raised in finsbury , london . running was a part of his family life : his older sister christine won the senior 100 metres finals at the english schools championships in 1986 and 1987 and competed in the european athletics junior championships . as a schoolboy he was coached by selwyn philbert who devoted himself to the young sprinter . chambers first athletic success came at the 1994 english schools ' athletic association championships , where he won the boys ' intermediate 100 m race with a time of 10 . 64 seconds . international medals followed at the 1995 european junior championships , at which he won the 100 m and the 4 × 100 metres relay . he defended these titles at the 1997 european junior championships and set a then world junior record in the 100 m with a time of 10 . 06 s . chambers transitioned into the senior ranks soon after , taking the 100 m silver medal behind his british team mate darren campbell at the 1998 european championships . he achieved a new personal best in september at the 1998 iaaf world cup with a run of 10 . 03 s for third place and won a relay gold medal . at the 1998 commonwealth games he was a 100 m semi finalist and set a games record as part of the 4 × 100 m relay team . his ability attracted the attention of former sprinter and commonwealth games gold medallist mike mcfarlane , who became his coach . he came first in the 100 m in the 1999 european cup , then at a meet in nuremberg he became only the second european sprinter ( after linford christie ) to break the ten second barrier with a time of 9 . 99 s . fellow british sprinter jason gardener scored a time of 9 . 98 s in lausanne soon after , becoming the third briton to break the barrier . in spite of this , chambers remained some distance behind his north american counterparts . seville world championships to sydney olympics in his first major outing on the world stage , chambers attained a new personal best at the 1999 world championships in seville , registering a time of 9 . 97 s for third place in the 100 m final . this made the 21 - year - old the youngest ever world championships 100 m medallist . north americans dominated the event as maurice greene and bruny surin took first and second place respectively , with record runs of 9 . 80 s and 9 . 84 s , respectively . the british sprint team chambers , gardener , campbell and marlon devonish performed well in the 4 × 100 metres relay event as runners - up in a time of 37 . 73 s behind the us team led by greene . world record holder maurice greene was hitting his peak , winning three gold medals in seville . however , at 21 years old , chambers had achieved more than greene had at that age : greene 's best was 10 . 08 s in 1996 and he had never reached a major final . with the 2000 sydney olympics approaching , chambers studied the technique of other sprinters . in an interview with bbc journalist tom fordyce , chambers commented on the stamina greene and surin had gained from running in the 200 metres event and jason gardener 's improved acceleration through running the 60 metres event . he experimented with distances at the beginning of 2000 , sprinting over 50 , 60 and 200 m in various competitions . he set a personal best of 6 . 55 s in the 60 m event in ghent in february . a hamstring injury caused him to miss six weeks of training and when he returned his 100 m performances were lacklustre . he finished ninth at the golden gala in rome with a slow time of 10 . 41 s and was seventh in a tame 10 . 30 s at the london grand prix , results that led him to consider quitting the season altogether . a late rejuvenation at the british olympic trials guaranteed his selection as he snatched first place with 10 . 11 s ( just one hundredth of a second ahead of darren campbell ) . victory against in - form world record holder maurice greene in gateshead raised chambers ' confidence and he stated his aim to take home a medal from the games . the 2000 sydney olympics saw chambers come close to the podium . he easily qualified through the heat stages and achieved a season 's best of 10 . 08 s in the 100 m final finishing fourth behind greene , ato boldon and obadele thompson . chambers was the best european 100 m performer , but after disqualification in the relay he left the games without a medal . edmonton world championships he made his fastest opening to a season in 2001 by winning the 100 m for his club belgrave harriers at the european clubs cup with a meet record time of 10 . 12 s . at the amateur athletics association ( aaa ) trials in birmingham his run of 10 . 01 s was the fastest ever wind - legal time recorded in britain by a british sprinter . chambers ran with consistency in the summer of 2001 : he won at the seville grand prix in 10 . 01 s and finished third in ten seconds flat at the athletissima meet . in the run up to the 2001 iaaf edmonton world championships chambers compared his own performances to the british record holder : " i am very consistent in the this year , and that bodes well for the worlds . if you are running as fast as linford christie in his prime , it gives you a lot of confidence . " chambers also competed over 200 m and a personal best run of 20 . 31 s earned him selection in both sprints for the world championships . in an interview with tom fordyce , chambers stated that maurice greene 's strong presence and mind games undermined the competition both physically and mentally . " you have to get out in front of him and hold on for dear life " he said of the world record holder . chambers broke the ten second barrier twice in the 2001 world championships with a personal best of 9 . 97 s in the quarter finals and a run of 9 . 99 s in the final . this was not enough for a medal in a strong race which featured five sprinters running under ten seconds and saw greene defend his title . chambers was later upgraded to fourth place after silver medallist tim montgomery tested positive for banned substances . a hamstring injury in the final ruled him out of the 200 m event . chambers ended his season at the 2001 goodwill games in brisbane and finished in first place in the absence of an injured greene , who commentated on his european rival 's victory . 2002 european champion chambers ' coach mike mcfarlane struggled with the workload of full - time training . frustrated by the distance between himself and the top sprinters , chambers decided to relocate to california to work with ukrainian coach remi korchemny and nutritionist victor conte . after parting ways with american sprinter tim montgomery , conte looked to chambers to fill the athlete 's berth . in the run up to the year 's major events , chambers was in fine form and recorded a 200 m personal best of 20 . 27 s in athens on 10 june 2002 . montgomery , impressed by chambers ' training regime , tipped the briton to win the gold at the forthcoming 2002 commonwealth games in manchester , england . he won the 100 m at the commonwealth games trials in a season 's best of 10 . 03 s , then equalled linford christie 's record of 10 . 04 s at european cup , where he led the british team to victory as team captain . victories over maurice greene followed at oslo 's iaaf golden league meeting and in sheffield with a wind - assisted 9 . 95 s . he was the favourite for the 2002 commonwealth games , but chambers faced stiff competition from british newcomer mark lewis - francis who was finishing fractions of a second behind him . chambers won all his preliminary races and reached the final , along with lewis - francis and jason gardener , but he suffered a cramp mid - race and ended up in last place . he later revealed that he had feigned injury as the brief hamstring cramp was caused by drug abuse . the english sprinters had the three slowest times in the final , with lewis - francis also beset by injury . after commonwealth disappointment on home turf , chambers won gold medals in the 100 m and 4 × 100 m relay at the 2002 european championships in munich , setting a championship record of 9 . 96 s . chambers recorded a time of 9 . 94 s at the weltklasse zürich meeting , again beating world record holder greene . he finished the season by equalling linford christie 's european record at the 2002 iaaf grand prix final . his run of 9 . 87 s with a maximum allowable wind of + 2 . 0 m / s left him second to tim montgomery , who set a world record of 9 . 78 s . chambers received the 2002 european athlete of the year trophy for his achievements on the track that year . 2003 world championships chambers began the 2003 season with a grandiose statement – namely that he would lower the 100 m record to 9 . 65 s . after recovering from a minor injury he suffered in january , despite claims he could also beat the 60 m indoor record , his form was poor and he failed to pass the heats at the 2003 british grand prix , finishing fourth in a time of 6 . 68 s . he was beaten by mark lewis - francis by a hundredth of a second at the trials for the iaaf world indoor championships , narrowly missing out on selection with a time of 6 . 59 s . chambers announced that he was to part with trainer mike mcfarlane in favour of a permanent relationship with ukrainian coach remi korchemny . the sprinter started the 100 m season modestly , finishing third and fourth in modesto and eugene , respectively . chambers beat montgomery in glasgow in june , running a stadium record of 10 . 15 s into a headwind , and qualified for the world championships by winning the aaa trials . his season 's best came under unusual circumstances at the british grand prix – due to a system malfunction he was initially timed by hand at dead on ten seconds , which was amended to 9 . 96 s after video evidence was consulted . he could not match that form at the world 100 m final : kim collins , darrel brown , darren campbell , and chambers all finished within a split second of each other and chambers was adjudged to have finished fourth . chambers squandered his anchoring lead in the 4 × 100 m relay , allowing joshua j. johnson of the united states team to beat him to the finish line . in spite of his close fourth and a relay silver medal , there was a sense of disappointment in the press that chambers ' record breaking claims and gold medals had not materialised . drug ban a sample for an out - of - competition drugs test that chambers had provided in germany on 1 august 2003 was re - examined in october and subsequently tested positive for banned substances . the united states anti - doping agency ( usada ) were investigating the bay area laboratory co - operative ( balco ) ; the workplace of both chambers ' coach remi korchemny and nutritionist victor conte . both men faced charges of distributing illegal drugs to athletes in the united states . the balco scandal uncovered drug use in a wide range of sportsmen and women , including sprinters marion jones and tim montgomery . chambers claimed that his new coach had introduced him to conte as a way of providing him with specialised ' nutritional supplements ' - which he took by putting a few drops of liquid under his tongue . conte had helped develop a type of anabolic steroid called thg , or , at balco . after chambers discovered that he had tested positive for drugs he sent his lawyer to meet conte and make inquires about the supplement he had been ingesting . conte assured him that all the substances were iaaf compliant . after further investigation , it was revealed on 22 october 2003 that chambers had tested positive for the banned steroid thg . analysis of his backup sample also tested positive and the outcome was confirmed on 7 november 2003 , making chambers the first person to test positive for the new drug . chambers was suspended the same day with an independent uk athletics tribunal pending . the disciplinary hearing on 24 february 2004 resulted in a two - year ban from athletics , backdated to begin on 7 november 2003 . he was also banned for life from the olympics and stripped of the medals he had won since mid - 2002 , after admitting that he had taken thg from that date . chambers ' 2002 relay gold medal performance was erased , costing team - mates darren campbell , marlon devonish and christian malcolm their medals in the process . chambers was also ordered by the iaaf to pay back his earnings from the period of his athletics career that was affected by his drug abuse . conte claimed that rival coach trevor graham had revealed the drug to us testers , acting " purely out of competitive jealousy " as chambers was challenging graham 's trainees ; montgomery and greene . chambers denied that he had any knowledge that the substance he was taking was banned and claimed he was deceived by conte over its true use . however , he contradicted his statement in a later interview , saying that he had major suspicions that he was using banned substances but was too naïve and lacking in self - respect to act otherwise . by chambers ' own admission in 2008 , in a letter by his supplier conte to british anti - doping chief john scott , thg was not the only substance he had used during his career . in his confession he admitted to the use of cream , epo , hgh , insulin , modafinil and liothyronine . banned from competition , chambers sought alternative commercial outlets for his athletic prowess . he had an unsuccessful american football try - out with the san francisco 49ers , hoping to emulate renaldo nehemiah . he drifted on to the celebrity circuit , appearing on british reality television series hell 's kitchen in may 2004 . however , chambers had little interest in the show and soon chose to leave . he appeared in neither sporting events nor television programs for 18 months . return to athletics chambers began training in jamaica in late 2005 in preparation for the athletics season . he faced new challengers in the 100 m as maurice greene was no longer a dominant force and jamaican asafa powell was the new world record holder . chambers began working with glen mills , coach of caribbean sprinters kim collins and usain bolt . the drug suspension had expired in november but he needed to pass four mandatory drugs tests in order to gain clearance to compete with the iaaf . his comeback was further delayed as he gave an interview with the bbc revealing he began using drugs at the beginning of 2002 , not since august 2003 , as he had claimed to the iaaf . after further disclosure ( that took away his european 100 m gold medal and invalidated his european record of 9 . 87 s ) , chambers was cleared to compete on 10 june 2006 , although his return was dependent on an agreement to repay prize money he won while using banned substances . he returned to competition on 11 june 2006 at the british grand prix and took third in 10 . 07 s , behind asafa powell who equalled his own world record . chambers stated that his training regime with bolt had helped him make a strong opening performance despite a long absence from competition . the result placed chambers at the top of the british rankings and was the second fastest time by a european sprinter in 2006 . chambers lamented the effects of his drug use and noted the irony that the drugs did not do much to improve the consistency of his performances . on his return to international competition his times were significantly worse than he achieved prior to drug use : in the 100 m final at the 2006 european championships , chambers ran a sub - par 10 . 24 s and finished in fifth place . he was part of the gold medal - winning british 4 × 100 m team , but darren campbell , who was angry about losing his 2002 and 2003 relay medals due to chambers ' ban , refused to join the team in a celebratory lap . after the competition , chambers again expressed an interest in switching to american football and completed a week - long nfl europa training camp in cologne that november . nfl europa after attending a series of nfl europa training camps , he gained a professional contract with german nfl europa side hamburg sea devils in march 2007 . following news that chambers was receiving new , legal nutritional supplements from victor conte , the hamburg sea devils confirmed that chambers would undergo a vigorous drug testing regime . chambers reflected on drug use in athletics in an interview with olympic gold medallist sir matthew pinsent for the bbc 's inside sport programme . chambers claimed there would always be athletes using performance - enhancing drugs because drug testers did not keep pace with advances in science and that athletes who took drugs had an immense advantage over those who remained clean . chambers was roundly condemned for his comments in the interview by both the press and his former colleagues in the athletics world , including sir steve redgrave , mo farah , and sebastian coe , although former 100 m world record holder asafa powell supported chambers ' claims . chambers ' american football career was brought to a standstill when a stress fracture injury on his right foot ruled him out for the season . the situation worsened further when the nfl closed the european league on 29 june 2007 leaving chambers jobless . he returned as a tv personality on reality television show cirque de in october but was unpopular with the public and subsequently voted off . athletics again and rugby league following the collapse of the nfl europa franchise , chambers made a second return to athletics in early 2008 . competing in the 60 m indoor final at the birmingham games in february 2008 , he finished with a time of 6 . 60 s , setting a new meeting record . uk athletics chief executive niels de vos initially banned chambers from competing in the trials for the 2008 iaaf world indoor championships but , after the iaaf overruled the decision , chambers won the event and selection . uk athletics stated that committee was " unanimous in its desire not to select dwain " but were forced to by the selection criteria , saying they would have preferred to send younger athletes eligible for the olympics . at the world indoor championships 60 metres final , chambers won a silver medal and recorded a new personal best of 6 . 54 s to take second behind olusoji fasuba . the performance did not sway opinion : chambers continued to encounter extensive criticism within athletics . promoters did not invite him to key athletics events , eddie – who had supported chambers earlier in his career – refused to sponsor the sprinter , and the british olympic association ( boa ) , prevented him from competing in the 2008 summer olympics in beijing . to return to the track chambers had to rely on the money he received from his partner , leonie daley , a civil servant whom he met at the miss jamaica uk competition . the couple now had a child , a boy named skye who was born in september 2005 , and chambers desperately needed to earn a living to support his family and pay off debts incurred through the drug ban . he amassed a selection of cuttings about his fall from grace and the balco scandal in order to show his son the risks of drug abuse . chambers tried to fashion himself as a living example of the dangers of drugs , sporting a t - shirt in valencia with an anti - drugs slogan of " just say no ! " . he also expressed regret about previous comments suggesting that drug use was necessary to reach the upper echelons of athletics and set about presenting himself as a changed , clean athlete – devoid of the bravado that had marked his earlier career . chambers ' reinvention was met with a mixed reaction and the acceptance of a proven drug user on the track was not palatable to some . dame kelly holmes and parts of the british press called for chambers to retire from the great britain athletics team . chambers ' return to athletics took an unusual turn when he confirmed in march 2008 that he had joined english rugby league team castleford tigers on trial ; a move which surprised and angered in equal measure given the fact he had never played the sport before . the rugby football league did not object to the move , in spite of his drug - damaged reputation , but stated much improvement was needed prior to any appearance for castleford in the super league competition . at a rugby press conference , chambers expressed a desire to compete in the beijing olympics , casting doubt on his dedication to his new career . chambers officially registered as a player with the rugby football league , and martin declared that he was prepared to mentor chambers . he completed training with the castleford tigers first - team squad and made his debut in a reserve game against york city knights , but castleford announced that they would not be offering him a contract . high court challenge in may 2008 chambers announced that he was challenging his olympic ban at the high court of justice . chambers returned to sprinting in june and , in his first 100 m race since august 2006 , he won the meet with a time of 10 . 26 s . he achieved the " a " standard for the 2008 beijing olympics in june and won the british olympic trials in ten seconds flat in july . public opinion on an olympic appearance remained split . his performance at the olympic trials was in vain as mr. justice mackay upheld the boa ban in the high court of justice and stated that a right to work was not sufficient reason to remove it . the boa chairman , lord moynihan , was satisfied with the outcome , stating that those abusing drugs did not deserve to represent great britain at the olympics . however , he lamented that a sprinter of chambers ' calibre had in effect excluded himself from the competition . the effort of the high court challenge and the olympic ban took its toll on chambers , but he had no intention to retire and set an appearance in the 2012 london olympics as his main goal , aiming to prove he could perform without the use of drugs . lord moynihan objected to this , saying it would sully the reputation of both the great britain athletics team and the london olympics . in late 2008 chambers signed a book deal , covering his athletics career and drug usage , and stated his desire to become a sprint coach when his track career was finished . he had his second child , a boy named rocco , that november . charles van commenee 's appointment as head coach of uk athletics brought a change of approach towards chambers as both the new coach and niels de vos welcomed him back to compete internationally . the pair judged that he had served his sentence – van commenee was especially complimentary , stating : " he is a likeable guy and a damned fine athlete " . that month chambers appeared at a " tackling doping in sport " conference and told of the damage drugs had caused to his career , health , and finances . the olympic ban remained in place , however , and london 2012 chairman sebastian coe said : " i am clear cut on the chambers case – i don 't think there is room for drugs cheats in sport " . race against me chambers ceased legal action to overturn his olympic ban and instead aimed to finish his career on a high . he intensively studied the technique of usain bolt to improve his own times , seeing bolt as the new generation 's maurice greene . though he was still banned from - organised events , he set a new personal best of 6 . 52 s in the 60 m at the birmingham indoor grand prix , then became the uk indoor champion , equalling mike rodgers ' world leading time of 6 . 51 s . at the 2009 european indoor championships he broke ronald 's european 60 m record with a 6 . 42 s run in the semi - finals , then won the gold medal with a time of 6 . 46 s in the final . british head coach van commenee stated that chambers had undergone vigorous testing and that his performance sent " a message that you can win and break european records in the proper way . " the record - breaking performance brought him an invite from the berlin iaaf golden league meet , although organising group condemned the move . revelations in chambers ' autobiography race against me brought further controversy as the book had in - depth accounts of his past drug abuse and claimed drug use remained rife in athletics , estimating that half the american olympic athletes in beijing had used illegal substances . chambers signed a statement with uk sport , verifying that he believed the information to be true , which brought a close to the organisation 's inquiries into his drug use . an iaaf investigation concluded that the book demanded no further action on their part . olympic gold medallist and anti - drugs campaigner ed moses gave his support , saying that chambers admissions provided a useful insight , but that athletes and administrators remained in denial about the high levels of doping in athletics . invites to golden league meets never materialised , but he continued to run at smaller events . he ran a european leading time of 10 . 06 seconds at in greece , and won the 100 m and 200 m races at the 2009 european team championships . he was the fastest entrant at the national championships but 2008 runner - up simeon williamson won the final by some distance . the result took chambers by surprise and he said that limited opportunities to race had made him complacent . he later withdrew from the 200 m race citing exhaustion . at the world championships chambers finished sixth in 100 m final with a season 's best of 10 . 00 seconds . he was the only sprinter from outside the americas in the final and was some distance behind bolt who ran a world record of 9 . 58 seconds . however , he was very pleased with his performance and said he was happy just to be involved in the fastest 100 m race ever . he pulled out of the 200 m with a calf injury and called an end to his season . world indoor champion the following year he began by focusing on the 2010 iaaf world indoor championships , and he won the 60 m at the uk trials in 6 . 50 seconds ( a time only he had bettered in the previous two seasons ) . his closest competitor , ivory williams , received a ban for marijuana usage , leaving chambers as a strong favourite . he was the fastest in all rounds of world 60 m competition and surged ahead of mike rodgers in the final to win his first world title with a time of 6 . 48 seconds . banned from the 2010 commonwealth games , he set his sights on making the team for the 2010 european athletics championships . at the start of the outdoor season he had wins in in brazil and at the or memorial . he beat christophe lemaitre to win the 100 m at the 2010 european team championships , helping great britain to second place in the tournament and recording 9 . 99 seconds – the first sub - 10 time by a european athlete in almost four years . lemaitre and chambers were seen as the only gold medal contenders for the 100 m final at the european athletics championships , but the event defied expectations in terms of times and placings . the frenchman won in 10 . 11 seconds into a headwind while a tight finish between the four following athletes ( all 10 . 18 ) saw chambers finish fifth . 2011 – 2012 : world and olympic semi - finalist the start of his 2011 season saw him take a fourth consecutive national title over 60 m with a european - leading time . at the 2011 european athletics indoor championships the following month he was beaten to the line by , although he was pleased with the silver medal as he had changed his training to focus towards the 100 m for that season . four straight wins on the brazilian athletics tour came at the beginning of his outdoor season in may , including a season 's best of 10 . 01 seconds , and he took his fifth national title at the british trials . at the 2011 world championships he reached the 100 m semi - finals but fell foul of the iaaf 's new false start rule : he twitched in his blocks and was immediately disqualified . he won his fifth national title in the 60 m in 2012 with a season 's best of 6 . 58 m . a third consecutive podium finish came at the 2012 iaaf world indoor championships , where he pipped trell kimmons to the bronze medal . chambers was given the chance to return to the olympic stage after the court of arbitration for sport ( cas ) decided in favour of the world anti - doping agency over the validity of british olympic association 's ( boa ) olympic ban by - law . cas agreed that the law was non - compliant with the world anti - doping code , to which the boa was signatory due to its connection with the international olympic committee . chambers ran a 150 m - straight best of 15 . 27 seconds at the great city games in may then won the 100 m olympic trial race , holding off emerging teenager adam . his absence from the major track circuit came to an end with a run at the diamond league london grand prix , although he did not achieve the olympic " a " standard time there . chambers was named in the british squad for the 2012 london olympics after the selectors took into account his trials win and his times from the previous year . given the abrupt turnaround in his fortunes , he said : " for me representing my country in an olympics is a privilege that should never be taken for granted . 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 . " he returned to the british relay team at the 2012 european athletics championships after a six - year absence but a botched baton change saw the team disqualified . at the olympics he won his 100 metres heat in a season 's best of 10 . 02 seconds , with a legal 2 . 0 m / s following wind , in his first olympic race in twelve years . he was drawn in the same semi - final as usain bolt but chambers ' run of 10 . 05 seconds for fourth meant he did not make the final . his olympics came to an end in the 4 × 100 metres relay heats as the british team made an illegal baton exchange . 2013 – present chambers began his 2013 season with a 60 m win in glasgow with a run of 6 . 58 seconds . a back injury affected his preparations for the 2013 european indoor championships , where he was eliminated in the heats . outdoors , he won his fourth consecutive british championship title , running 10 . 04 . a month later at the world championships in moscow , he ran 10 . 14 in his heat to reach the semi - finals , where he was eliminated running 10 . 15 . chambers began 2014 by finishing second in the 60 m at the british indoor championships , before going on to finish sixth in the 60 m final at the world indoor championships in a time of this was the fastest time he had run the 60m in since 2010 . in his first three 100 m races of the outdoor season he failed to break 10 . 20 , before hitting form during the british championships . going into the event , he was only ranked 10th in the uk , but he won the 100 m final , defeating , who had broken 10 seconds three weeks earlier . chambers ' victory guaranteed him selection for the european championships as his winning time was 10 . 12 secs , inside the european qualifying mark of 10 . 20 . this was his fifth consecutive win at the british championships . statistics chambers ' performances at tournaments in the 100 metres event make him one of the fastest european sprinters in the history of recorded athletics . his personal best of 9 . 97 s set at the 1999 seville world championships places him as the seventh fastest european in the 100 m and the fourth fastest briton behind linford christie ( 9 . 87 s ) , james ( 9 . 91 s ) and ( 9 . 96 s ) . chambers ' annulled 9 . 87 s finish at the paris grand prix in 2002 would have made him the joint fastest british 100 m sprinter with christie and the joint second fastest european in the event . amongst his british contemporaries chambers ranks top with two 9 . 97 s finishes ; the first in 1999 in seville , spain and the second in 2001 in edmonton , canada . compatriot mark lewis francis also scored a personal best of 9 . 97 s at the edmonton world championships . great britain team - mate jason gardener 's personal best of 9 . 98 s falls just short of chambers ' . none of his british contemporaries have broken the ten second barrier on more than one occasion ; chambers has done so five times . chambers is the current european record holder in the 60 m with 6 . 42 s and is the third fastest sprinter in the history of the event after andre cason and maurice greene . chambers shares the british and european records for the 4 × 100 metres relay with gardener , darren campbell and marlon devonish with their 37 . 73 s finish at the 1999 seville world championships . it is also the fastest time recorded by a team outside of the iaaf 's north , central american and caribbean region . personal bests times nullified due to chambers ' positive drugs tests and subsequent ban – all information taken from iaaf profile . international competition record † amended from fifth after tim montgomery tested positive for banned substances results nullified due to chambers ' positive drugs tests and subsequent ban .