Conte says ‘moral’ Chambers deserves Olympic shot

The man behind the drugs scandal that engulfed Dwain Chambers among several high-profile athletes has said the British sprinter deserves to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Victor Conte was the sports nutritionist at the heart of the BALCO affair that saw Chambers banned for two years in 2003 for taking performance-enhancing substance THG.

Although the 34-year-old Chambers, who won gold in the 60 metres at the 2010 World Indoor Championships, returned to competition after his ban, he remains ineligible to race at the Olympics.

That is because of a British Olympic Association (BOA) by-law that prevents all their athletes who have produced a positive test from ever competing at any future Olympic Games.

However, that ruling could be overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who are due to announce their decision next week.

Conte, jailed for his role in the BALCO scandal, said he regretted involving Chambers and urged the sprinter be given the chance to run at the 2012 Games, which are taking place in the sprinter’s home city of London.

“He trusted me like a father, and I will be forever remorseful regarding the pain and suffering I caused not only him but his entire family,” Conte told the BBC.

“Dwain has rebounded from the serious mistakes he made to become a man of strong moral character – I could not be more proud of Dwain Chambers and the terrific human being he has become.”

Anti-doping work

Conte said Chambers deserved an Olympic chance as a reward for his anti-doping work in the years following his ban.

“It’s (competing in the Olympics) become the most important thing in his life,” he said.

“I know he goes to lots of schools and talks to lots of kids and he’s doing what he can to stop them making the very serious mistakes he did.

“I think he has walked the talk and earned his opportunity.

“I’ve known him for a long time but Dwain has really grown as a person, and he’s someone his team-mates can trust to be clean for the rest of his time that he competes in sport.”