GB athletics team named

The British Olympic Association has announced its Track and Field team to contest next month's Beijing Olympic Games.

However, Dwain Chambers' ongoing attempts to gain selection have left the BOA able only to name one of the three 100 metres sprinters they intend to send to China.

Drugs cheat Chambers was unsurprisingly omitted from the list of 47 track and field athletes whose Olympic places were confirmed by the BOA on Monday.

UK Athletics will be forced to pick him if a judge grants an injunction against his lifetime Olympic ban at a hearing in London on Thursday.

He would then line up alongside Simeon Williamson, who has been selected after finishing second behind Chambers at the Aviva National Championships title in Birmingham on Saturday.

The top two would normally have been assured automatic places, with a third handed out at the BOA's discretion.

But that would have risked needlessly upsetting one of Craig Pickering, Tyrone Edgar or Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who are the leading three candidates to join Williamson on the team.

Speaking on Monday, UKA performance director Dave Collins skirted around the effects Chambers' court case might have on selection and insisted Britain's sprinters were being given extra time to stake a claim for selection before this weekend's final deadline.

He said: "What we've done is what we've actually done in previous years and what we've done in a number of other events.

"The men's 100m, the women's 100m, the women's 800m, for example, we've got so much talent, we want to give them every chance.

"What we've done is to go for the athlete who is eligible and has made a clear case for selection - and that's Simeon.

"Of course, there are currently five other athletes at least who are in with a shout.

"We'll give them until midnight on the 18th, which was always the closing date for selection standards."

Pariah

Collins also stressed that, assuming Chambers were to win Thursday's case, he would not be made to feel a pariah on the team.

"If he's on the team, my board and my chair are already on record as saying he will be treated the same as any other athlete," Collins continued.

"People don't get on with each other for a variety of reasons but we're part of the same team, we're part of Team GB.

"We're going to support each other to get the best medal haul we possibly can."

Chambers could also expect to be an automatic selection for Britain's defence of their 4x100m relay title.

But although Collins accepted the rules meant he would have to be in the squad, he also claimed there was no guarantee of a place for Chambers in the final four.

"If he's eligible and he's selected, he would obviously have been named in the relay," he added.

"It doesn't mean he has to run."

He added: "The important thing to recognise about the relay is how many different factors there are. Not wishing to be disrespectful to our four guys in Athens but, clearly, the fastest four men did not win the gold medal there.

"That's what makes the relay particularly interesting."

Medal prospects

Other big names to have their places confirmed on Monday were a number of medal prospects.

Triple-jumper Phillips Idowu, heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, and 400m runner Christine Ohuruogu arguably represent Britain's best chances of winning track-and-field gold.

Idowu said: "I've been hoping and dreaming of Olympic gold all year and now I have been officially selected, I'm one step closer to achieving it in Beijing."

Sotherton added: "I'm happy to be officially named in Team GB for Beijing, more importantly it will be my second Olympic Games. I'm hoping to improve on my bronze medal in Athens, which was a surprise really in 2004."

The final squad will be announced Saturday.