Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 12:58 AM
The much-anticipated head-to-head between Britain's Dwain Chambers and Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre stayed on track after both sprinters won their 100 metres heats at the European championships on Tuesday.
Chambers, who was stripped of the 2002 European title after admitting to doping, powered down the inside lane of the Olympic stadium's blue track and eased up before the line for a comfortable victory in 10.21 seconds into a strong headwind.
Lemaitre, the fastest European this year after setting a national record of 9.98 at the French championships earlier this month, barely broke into a sweat as he recorded the quickest time of the night of 10.19 in the last of the five heats.
The pair are the only two athletes in the field to have broken 10 seconds this season, with Chambers clocking 9.99 when beating his young French rival at the European team championships last month.
Ireland's Jason Smyth, the first Paralympian to compete at the Europeans, qualified in fourth behind Lemaitre in 10.43.
The 23-year-old double Paralympic champion is visually impaired and has about 10 percent vision compared to a person with full sight.
Defending champion Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, who was also awarded the 2002 gold medal following Chambers's positive dope test, clocked 10.27 to win heat three but there was heartbreak for Gibraltar's Dominic Carroll who was disqualified for moving in his blocks before the start.
The first four athletes in each of the five heats went through to Wednesday's semi-finals (1750 GMT). The final is also on Wednesday (1945).
Source: Web Search
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