Asafa Powell is backing Dwain Chambers to give an impressive account of himself at the London Olympics.
Jamaican believes Chambers is one of UK's best Olympic hopes
Asafa Powell is backing Dwain Chambers to give an impressive account of himself at the London Olympics after the British sprinter's ban was lifted.
Chambers, 34, was banned for two years after testing positive for a banned steroid in 2003. He is now eligible for London 2012 after a court ruling overturned the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban for drug cheats.
He has an ally in 29-year-old Jamaican Powell, a former 100 metres world record holder, with Chambers training earlier this year in the Caribbean with him.
On Friday, Chambers will chase the 100m 'A' qualifying standard of 10.18 seconds, as he takes on a field including Usain Bolt at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava.
Good vibe
Powell said: "Dwain is working hard. He really deserves this and he's a real cool guy and we enjoy training with him here, a real good vibe.
"Hopefully he gets to go there and run well. You know for me he is pretty much the best chance for the UK and the Olympics in London and I'm sure they want someone in the final and I think Dwain is the best chance."
Asked whether he backed the decision to let Chambers run this summer, Powell added: "Yeah definitely, I welcome that. Ever since he's been here I was hoping that he'd get the chance to run at the Olympic Games so I'm happy for him."
Second chance
Canada's disgraced former sprinter Ben Johnson has also said that Chambers should have the right to run at his home Olympics.
Johnson said: "He deserves a second chance, yes, everybody deserves a second chance in life.
"Nobody should point a finger and say he's bad and that. There's many people who've done bad things in the world but we don't know. No one should judge anybody."
Johnson was thrown out of the Seoul Olympics in 1988 after winning the 100m, being stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for a steroid.
He later returned to action but was banned for life in 1993 after failing another drugs test.
