Chambers stripped of European 100 metres title

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) British sprinter Dwain Chambers has been stripped of his 2002 European 100 metres title after admitting he took the steroid THG (tetrahydrogestrinone) that year.

A statement from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said all the athlete's results from January 1, 2002 to August 1, 2003, including the European 100 title he won in Munich, had been annulled.

Chambers and his team mates Christian Malcolm, Marlon Devonish and Darren Campbell, will also lose the gold medals they won in the 4x100 metres relay and Britain will forfeit the European Cup they won in Annecy, France, in the same year.

The 28-year-old Chambers, who has been selected to represent Britain at this week's European Cup in Malaga, was banned for two years in November 2003 after a positive test for THG.

However, in a BBC interview last December, Chambers revealed he had been using the designer drug at the centre of the BALCO laboratory scandal since 2002.

The IAAF statement said Chambers had also been stripped of first place in the grand prix final on September 14, 2002.

Chambers was promoted from second place last year when American Tim Montgomery, who set a world record of 9.78 seconds in the Paris race, was banned for two years as a result of the investigation into the BALCO laboratory.

REUTERS PM DS1412