UK sprinter Chambers celebrates in Kalamata
British sprinter Dwain Chambers clocked a season’s best in Europe in the 100 meters at the Papaflessia meeting in Kalamata on Saturday. Chambers finished in a time of 10.06 seconds in the first race he has run this year, attracting attention across Europe. He also won the 200 meters event in 20.58, finishing ahead of favorite Johan Wissman of Sweden. The Kalamata meet has proved a happy hunting ground for Chambers, who had also started a successful season last year by winning the 100 meters in the city, albeit with a slower time of 10.26. Like last year, when he was barred from competing in the Beijing Olympics, Chambers’s doping past is dogging him in 2009. This year he has not been invited to take part in Golden League events. Chambers has responded by saying that instead he will run at smaller meetings to prepare for the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in August. «This is my first outdoor meet of the season. I want to participate in many meets with the target being Berlin, but before that the British trials in July,» he said in Kalamata. In the long jump, South African Khotso Mokoena achieved the third longest jump in the world this year, reaching 8.33 meters. Among the Greek contestants, Voula Papachristou stood out with her 14.20-meter effort in the triple jump.
