Book description
In January 2002 the athlete Dwain Chambers made a serious error of
judgement when he succumbed to peer pressure and temptation and took a
performance enhancing substance. The inevitable bust, when it happened,
came almost as a relief. Nevertheless it would turn his life upside
down. Chambers came clean, held up his hands and unburdened himself of
the guilt he d been carrying for so long. His income fell from six
figures per annum to nil and he had to repay 18 months of athletics
prize money when he freely admitted the timescale of his abuse. A
two-year competition ban was imposed and a lifetime ban from the
Olympics. He fought the two-year ban as the drug he took was not
actually on a banned list at the time of his offence. Despite the
experts advising him otherwise he lost the case, needing to sell his
house in order to pay the costs. He then made the decision to rebuild
his athletics career and his life and decided to fight the British
Olympic Association attempting to overturn his lifetime Olympic ban.
Some would say it was yet another error of bad judgement taking on The
Establishment . For five years Dwain Chambers has been abused and
vilified by the BOA, the media and his fellow athletes past and present,
he has been called a cheating bastard in a radio interview and a
prominent Lord has used the F word when referring to him. Lord Sebastian
Coe, Lord Colin Moynihan, Daley Thompson, Steve Cram, Steve Redgrave and
Dame Kelly Holmes are just a few of the high profile names who have
ensured a tirade of negative publicity during and leading up to one most
high profile hearings in British sporting history. Once again Dwain
Chambers placed his faith in British justice. Two of his legal
acquaintances Jonathan Crystal and Nick Collins agreed to work for free,
such was their belief in their client s right to run. The BOA, by their
own admissions were not particularly well off, nevertheless they wheeled
in David Pannick QC, arguably Britain's pre-eminent brief on sporting
matters, whose hourly rate of up to 1,500 puts him at the very top of
the pile of legal earners. The Lawyer magazine estimates he commands an
annual income in excess of 2m. Chambers lost his case. He sat and
watched the Beijing Olympics at home. Dwain Chambers has kept a diary
for five years, now it s his turn to talk. His treatment by certain
individuals, who are far from perfect themselves, and in particular by
the BOA have sickened him to the core. The lies and double standards are
evident in RACE AGAINST ME as Chambers pours his heart out and exposes
the real cheats in the world of athletics. RACE AGAINST ME is a book
that will shake UK and world athletics to the core written by a man who
tells it how it is. In January 2002 the athlete Dwain Chambers made a
serious error of judgement when he succumbed to peer pressure and
temptation and took a performance enhancing substance. The inevitable
bust, when it happened, came almost as a relief. Nevertheless it would
turn his life upside down. Chambers came clean, held up his hands and
unburdened himself of the guilt he d been carrying for so long. His
income fell from six figures per annum to nil and he had to repay 18
months of athletics prize money when he freely admitted the timescale of
his abuse. A two-year competition ban was imposed and a lifetime ban
from the Olympics. He fought the two-year ban as the drug he took was
not actually on a banned list at the time of his offence. Despite the
experts advising him otherwise he lost the case, needing to sell his
house in order to pay the costs. He then made the decision to rebuild
his athletics career and his life and decided to fight the British
Olympic Association attempting to overturn his lifetime Olympic ban.
Some would say it was yet another error of bad judgement taking on The
Establishment . For five years Dwain Chambers has been abused and
vilified by the BOA, the media and his fellow athletes past and present,
he has been called a cheating bastard in a radio interview and a
prominent Lord has used the F word when referring to him. Lord Sebastian
Coe, Lord Colin Moynihan, Daley Thompson, Steve Cram, Steve Redgrave and
Dame Kelly Holmes are just a few of the high profile names who have
ensured a tirade of negative publicity during and leading up to one most
high profile hearings in British sporting history. Once again Dwain
Chambers placed his faith in British justice. Two of his legal
acquaintances Jonathan Crystal and Nick Collins agreed to work for free,
such was their belief in their client s right to run. The BOA, by their
own admissions were not particularly well off, nevertheless they wheeled
in David Pannick QC, arguably Britain's pre-eminent brief on sporting
matters, whose hourly rate of up to 1,500 puts him at the very top of
the pile of legal earners. The Lawyer magazine estimates he commands an
annual income in excess of 2m. Chambers lost his case. He sat and
watched the Beijing Olympics at home. Dwain Chambers has kept a diary
for five years, now it s his turn to talk. His treatment by certain
individuals, who are far from perfect themselves, and in particular by
the BOA have sickened him to the core. The lies and double standards are
evident in RACE AGAINST ME as Chambers pours his heart out and exposes
the real cheats in the world of athletics. RACE AGAINST ME is a book
that will shake UK and world athletics to the core written by a man who
tells it how it is.
