The 46-year-old sprinter explains why he still enjoys racing after being voted AW Masters 2024 Male Athlete.
Dwayne Chambers was as nervous as ever when he settled into his blocks at the start of the M45 age group 60m final at this year’s European Masters Championships in Poland.At his peak, he won the World and European titles in 2009 and 2010 over the same distance, but competing in Poland. with veteran sprinters, he was the famous athlete whom scalps were wanted by all.
“I was taking it very seriously because I knew I could lose,” he says. “I was two or three meters ahead on paper, but I still had to go in and prepare the same way. I knew I couldn’t slip , because one of the other Brits would steal my glory. They were raising their level to compete with me, but I had to raise my game too.
“I was still as nervous as ever before the race. I still had to go to the bathroom as many times before the race. It wasn’t easy.”
Camer dominated at 6.93.He had also run a faster age-group record of 6.81 at Lee Valley.The performances were enough to see him voted AW: Readers’ Choice Men’s Masters Athlete of the Year.
He first rose to fame as a talented teenager in the 1990s with several wins over 100m at the European Junior Championships.A well-publicized brush with anti-doping authorities began his rollercoaster career in recent years with his ageless athleticism, often winning athletes half his age, as he continues to post super-fast times in his forties the string.
Dwayne Chambers (Getty)
How did he find the masters scene? “After years of being an international athlete, I thought, ‘What’s it going to be like?'” he says , and me overwhelmed with my support and also seeing all these older athletes still doing what they love.
“OK, they’re not running crazy fast times, but they’re out there doing their best. They’re all having fun and enjoying themselves, which reminded me why I loved the sport so much as a younger athlete, before it got to the point where I It wasn’t that fun.”
Did he ever imagine as a young athlete that he would one day do athletics? “Absolutely not,” he admits. “As a young man, you just live in the moment, and if you have a short break, then you have a vacation, and soon you will be back on the road again.”
Dwayne Chambers (Getty)
Chambers believes more ex-elite athletes should compete in the masters. “I think the masters should be part of the athlete’s responsibility because it helps raise the profile of the sport, it provides longevity and it keeps you going.” he says.
“It can help athletes who are close to retirement but don’t know what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives. They can get their foot in the door by playing master’s athletics while you figure it all out for 10-20 years become unruly all of a sudden, that’s not a good thing. The Masters allows athletes to play the sport for pure enjoyment rather than having to worry about agents, contracts and the like. about things.”
Chambers was banned from the sport after testing positive for drugs in 2003. At the height of his infamy, Niels de Vos, then chief executive of UK Athletics, called for him to be banned from the WB team , the sprinter always maintained a policy of facing his mistakes and gradually, over time, began to attract fans and journalists with his affable personality this AW: Readers’ Choice voting proves that the former pantomime villain of athletics is now a respected and admired figure.
Today, he advises young people to stay on the right path and avoid drugs. It has also struck a chord with athletes and parents, as his Dwain Chambers Performance Academy has been going strong for several years now, with half a dozen coaches and several administrative staff helping him deliver courses to children in Lee Valley, north London.
“We teach children life skills through sport,” he says. “None of them are guaranteed to become world, European or Commonwealth champions, but we hope they become decent people. we know we can help them in that process.”
Beyond coaching kids, Chambers also offers his services to soccer players and celebrities. “It’s great to bring athletic training into the fitness world,” he says.
Along with his own sprinting, he also plays “Celebrity Soccer” for charity purposes. “I was absolutely destroyed in the first five minutes because I was used to running for only 10 seconds or so,” he smiles to twist my ankle or something.”
Dwayne Chambers (Mark Shearman)
He turns 47 in April and can still mix it with Britain’s best sprinters, having reached the semi-finals of the British Indoor Championships earlier this year.With this in mind, what are the secrets to his longevity?
Eating a relatively clean diet and getting more rest between heavier workouts are on her list of priorities I would train hard for a few days and then take two or three weeks to recover.
“I don’t get much rest between workouts like the younger athletes.
“So I decided to work on my nutrition, something I’ve never worked on before in my career. Those who pay attention to everything will always beat those who only do 85-90 percent of the work.
“We probably have fish and chips once in a blue moon and a takeout every Friday, but I don’t go beyond that. I just stay disciplined.
“I also only run fast once every 10 days. In between, I’ll just do tempo or recovery runs. And that works a lot better for me than if I try to do speed, speed, speed all the time.”
Despite his reduced training schedule, years ahead and busy daytime routine, Chambers believes he can run faster in 2025 than he did in 2024, and is ambitious, though he admits it may just be a delusional fantasy; 6.42 for the 60m and 9.97 for the 100m he ran a few years ago.
“Naturally, there is an element in me that thinks: “I still got it,” he says. “I sometimes ask myself if I’m the equivalent of ‘drunk.’
“Yes, I ran a 6.81 this year, but it’s not a 6.40 or 6.20. I think I can still run those times, but is that my imagination or is that still driving me?
“I look at what I did when I ran those times in the past and think about what steps I can take to get back to that point. Whether or not I can still run those times, or even come close, I’m not sure. But that’s my pursuit of happiness at the minute.”
One thing is certain, if he loses the ability to be competitive, he is not sure that he will continue. Once that goes away, I think I’ll be done. I love the thrill of the race and the nervousness and everything that comes with it.”
If Chambers was the man to shoot for at the European Masters this year, the opposite will be the case at the 2025 British Indoor Championships in Birmingham. a run for their money.
“I want to do the experiments again this winter,” he says. “If I’m lucky and if I can find that spark again, I can make it to the European Indoor Championships again.”
» This article first appeared in the December issue of AW Magazine Subscribe to AW Magazine herecheck out our new podcast! here or subscribe to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
