Chambers handed dual sprint role for Worlds
CONTROVERSIAL sprinter Dwain Chambers was yesterday selected to run for Great Britain in the 100m and 200m at next month’s World Championships in Berlin.
The European indoor champion, 31, had been expected to be picked for the 100m, despite being beaten by Simeon Williamson at the national trials. But his inclusion in the 200m had been in doubt after Chambers pulled out of the event at the trials, citing exhaustion.
Chambers, who completed a two-year doping ban in 2005, joins Williamson and Tyrone Edgar in the line-up for the 100m. World and Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu was also named in the 60-strong squad, despite missing last weekend’s London Grand Prix with a hamstring injury.
However, 1,500m runner Hannah England was overlooked, despite beating both Lisa Dobriskey and Steph Twell at Crystal Palace. Dobriskey and Twell join trials winner Charlene Thomas.
Marathon world record holder Paul Radcliffe is in the squad despite fitness concerns, and UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee admitted several big names would be missing.
“It’s the strongest possible team. It’s probably not the strongest British team of all time,” he said.