Time to forgive Chambers, says Edwards

DWAIN Chambers divides opinion wherever he goes - but former Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards insists it's time the British public forgave the newly-crowned European champion.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: Jonathan Edwards says it's time to forgive Dwain Chambers (Getty Images)

The 30-year-old sprinter hogged the headlines at the European Indoor Championships earlier this month as he cruised to 60m gold, smashing the European record on his way to the final in Turin.

Chambers' return to form has been a bitter source of contention with the Londoner serving a two year ban from athletics in 2004 after testing positive for performance enhancing drug THG.

But Edwards, who won Olympic triple jump gold in 2000 in Sydney, is adamant Chambers has served his punishment.

"I know some people would have him banned for life but I'm not like that I believe in second chances," said Edwards of the sprinter who's bid to overturn a lifetime Olympic ban was rejected by the BOA ahead of the Beijing Olympics. 

"And obviously Dwain is someone else who really put himself out there. He set the third fastest time ever and I believe he is clean.

"I know it's a different race indoors to outdoors, but it shows that he was physically capable of running that quickly.

"For all that he has been through; I believe that is the real Dwain Chambers we are seeing. He was able to run that kind of time as a 20 year old in 1999 when he won a bronze medal in Seville in the World Championships."

But Edwards' comments won't please the rest of the athletics fraternity with the likes of double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes leading the anti-Chambers lobby.

Dame Kelly has previously stated: "(Chambers) admitted he'd taken drugs then went on to say that you can't win anything without taking drugs. It doesn't put us in a good light allowing a cheat, who has admitted he's a cheat, to represent us."

However, Edwards was relentless in his defence of his former Team GB colleague and he continued:  "Dwain swallowed that line - that to do great things you have to be on drugs - but he's proved now that he can do what he couldn't actually do on drugs.

"To take a positive out of this, I think the public have made an association that great performances are tainted by drugs."

HOLLIE BOSTOCK