Petition launched to block Chambers' Olympic bid

British Olympics chiefs are recruiting star athletes to sign a petition opposing sprinter Dwain Chambers being included in the team for Beijing.

Chambers is expected to go to the High Court this week to challenge the British Olympic Association's (BOA) lifetime ban imposed following his positive test for the designer steroid THG.

The BOA, who have a by-law imposing life bans on any athlete who fails a drugs test, have responded by backing a major campaign against Chambers inclusion.

According to reports in the media, Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes are among 200 athletes who have signed the petition initiated by the British Athletes' Commission.

Chambers, whose two-year ban expired in 2005, clocked 10.06secs in the 100m at a meeting in Germany, well inside the British Olympic team's qualifying mark.

The petition says: "The core foundation of the Olympic Movement is its values of fair play, respect and friendship.

"As Olympians we are the custodians of those ideals and any athlete who has taken performance enhancing drugs has not respected their worth.

"The highest accolade for any athlete is to be an Olympian and we believe that allowing drug cheats the privilege of competing at the Olympic Games for Team GB is wrong."

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