BBC SPORT | Athletics | All is well in Dwain's world



By Steve Cram BBC Sport

The weather may have been freezing but there were some great performances to keep the Sheffield crowd happy on Sunday.

The focus was obviously on Dwain Chambers, and rightly so.

Chambers shines in Sheffield

But there was also a great javelin competition, the sight of Sonia O'Sullivan running really well and a superb performance from Chris Rawlinson in the 300m hurdles.

Psychologically Dwain has given himself a huge lift with this victory, following on from his win in Oslo on Friday night.

Dwain Chambers points to the sky after beating Maurice Greene for the second time in a week
Dwain Chambers is currently the best around

He has got a bit of a swagger now and he really believes that he can take on Greene and Tim Montgomery.

He may have believed it before, but another win really underlined it.

To be honest this was not the Maurice Greene we know, and not even the Greene that won the recent US Championships and beat Dwain in Athens.

He looked as though he was not quite at the races.

Brits reign supreme

That is not to take anything away from Dwain, it just shows that Greene cannot just turn up and go through the motions.

If he is not 100% spot-on, the others are going to kick his backside.

However, I am sure you will see a different Greene in Lausanne on Tuesday night.

He knows that Dwain and Tim Montgomery are a real threat now, but this will give Dwain a lot more belief that he can put one over on him when it really matters in a major championship final.

Dwain is developing into a really good 200m runner too. He has worked on his speed, he is strong enough, and when he runs a good bend he is right up there.

The good thing is that he will be running against Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm, so just to be Britain's number one he has got to be world class.

Frankie Fredericks is obviously back but it is quite an open event and Dwain could well double up at the Commonwealths and Europeans.

His best event comes first so he can relax and then do the 200m.

Sergey Makarov has threatened to do something big before and then disappointed on the big occasion.

But for a second he looked like he was going to break the world javelin record in Sheffield.

There must be something about the Don Valley Stadium because Steve Backley and Jan Zelezny always seem to throw well there as well.

Jonathan Edwards shrugs his shoulders
Edwards: Probably not surprised by the defeat
I do not think Jonathan Edwards' defeat came as a great surprise to Jonathan himself.

He was pleasantly surprised to pull one out of the bag in Oslo on Friday, where there were five guys jumping 17.20m and above.

Usually it is only one or two, but now there is a whole clutch coming through and Jonathan knows if he is not 100% he is going to get beaten.

Idowu overcomes Edwards

He may well decide if that is happening regularly that this will be his last year, but I would not write him off just yet.

His training is going well, he has still got his speed and for him it is a mental thing.

He will still go into the Commonwealths and Europeans as favourite.


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