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Chambers to fight British ban
31/03/2008 13:54 - (SA)
England - British sprinter Dwain Chambers promised on Monday to continue fighting his Olympic ban on competing in Beijing - despite starting a new career in rugby league.
Chambers could be in Castleford's team as early as Sunday after beginning a month's unpaid trial.
At the same time, Chambers, who served a two-year ban for testing positive for the steroid THG, will be challenging the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban on athletes with a serious doping violation.
"I would like to get to Beijing - I'm getting on and am 30 on Saturday and this may be my last chance," Chambers said at Castleford in northern England.
After clocking a qualifying time for the 60m at the world indoor championships, UK Athletics was forced to select Chambers for Valencia earlier this month and he won silver.
His solicitor is preparing to take the fight against the BOA to Britain's High Court.
"There's been some very encouraging comments from people outside the BOA saying they have no problem with Dwain," Nick Collins said. "We wouldn't take it (an appeal) on if we didn't think there would be a reasonable chance of success."
With Castleford at the bottom of the Super League, Chambers could be deployed on Sunday.
"I am here to learn and see if I can grasp a different sport," Chambers said. "I'm going to take it one day at a time and instead of running in a straight line I will be running left and right."
Chambers sees the sport as a route to sporting redemption, despite admitting to a packed news conference that he knew nothing about the rules - apart from the number of players in a team.
"I've got a lot to learn," he said.
Chambers initially retired from athletics after his doping ban and briefly played American football as a backup wide receiver with the Hamburg Sea Devils in NFL Europa.
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Rugby
