Chambers fails in Olympic bid

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Sprinter Dwain Chambers cannot take part in the Beijing Olympics next month after failing to gain an injunction against a British Olympic Association ban in the High Court on Friday.

The 30-year-old was challenging a BOA by-law which states that any athlete found guilty of using drugs is barred from competing for Britain in any sport at the Olympics.

Chambers, who won the 100 metres at the British Olympic trials last weekend in 10.0 seconds, completed a two-year doping ban in 2006 after he had tested positive for the designer steroid THG in 2003.

The London-based sprinter's legal team had argued that the BOA ban represented a restraint of trade.

However, judge Colin MacKay said if the case had gone to a fully-contested hearing he was not satisfied that Chambers had a reasonable prospect of proving his case.

He said to have allowed the challenge meant "the harmony and management of the British team would have been upset".

BOA chairman Colin Moynihan said the verdict sent a strong message to other athletes.

"It's a matter of regret that Dwain Chambers, an athlete of such undoubted talent, should by his own actions have put himself out of the running to shine on the Olympic stage in Beijing," Moynihan told reporters outside court.