British sprinter Dwain Chambers tested positive five years ago for the designer steroid THG, joining Marion Jones, Barry Bonds and Shane Mosley on the list of those accused of cheating with the help of the Northern California lab known as BALCO.
Unlike the others, however, Chambers tried to redeem himself by revealing the secrets of his deception to UK anti-doping authorities.
Chambers said he was able to "duck and dodge" drug testers by repeatedly calling his own cellphone to fill its message in-box to capacity, according to a letter written by BALCO founder Victor Conte that Chambers requested and provided to authorities.
"I gave them brands, doses, purposes," Conte told The Times. "It was the most detailed letter that any anti-doping agency has ever received about how doping is done."
On Friday, however, Britain's High Court in London effectively dismissed Chambers' remorse -- and his argument that an Olympic ban represented unfair restraint of trade -- by rejecting his appeal for an injunction that would allow him to compete in the 100-meter race in next month's Olympics in Beijing.
Instead, the court ruled that a British Olympics Assn. bylaw mandating a lifetime ban from the Olympics for doping means exactly that.
Chambers, 30, had already served a two-year doping ban after testing positive for THG in 2003. Other countries, including the United States, have allowed suspended dopers to return to Olympic competition once their sanction is exhausted.
"Many people both inside and outside sport would see this . . . as unlawful," Judge Colin Mackay said. "It would take a much better case than the claimant has presented to persuade me to overturn the status quo at this stage and compel his selection for the Games."
Mackay also cited a new International Olympic Committee rule that bans athletes from their next Olympics if they've been handed a doping suspension of six months or more.
Chambers, who had urged the court to consider his family and current financial struggles, said after the ruling, "The judge has made his decision."
Chambers qualified for the Games by winning the British Olympic trials in Birmingham this month.
His attorney argued that Chambers represented the country's "best chance of a podium finish," in Beijing, and also urged the court to consider the sprinter's "redemption and rehabilitation."
