It has been set up by Simon Dent, the owner of a company in London that deals in sporting memorabilia, including offering a pair of spikes signed by Chambers for £150.

 

Dent said: “Everybody makes mistakes and serves the punishment given to them.

 

"It is not fair that Dwain is continually punished by those in authority.

 

 

“When walking down the street with Dwain the support he receives from the public is amazing.

 

"Londoners are on his side and it would be a huge miscarriage of justice if he was prevented from running

 

 

“The general consensus we have found is that Londoners want Dwain to run, he has held his hands up admitted he made a huge mistake and has served his punishment.

 

"He is clean and wants to represent Great Britain.

 

 

“All we keep hearing about are former athletes voicing there opinions and to be quite honest it's getting a bit boring.

 

"Everybody deserves a second chance and our petition will show that Londoners feel the same way.

 

 

“Dwain is the fastest clean athlete in Great Britain at the moment.

 

"Can we just not support one of our best prospects for a gold medal instead of continually hammering him down?”

 

Dent will hand the petition to the British Olympic Association (BOA) before the hearing in the High Court on Wednesday that will decide whether Chambers, who won the 100 metres at the Aviva Olympic Trials in Birmingham on Saturday, will be able to compete in the Beijing Games.

 

The 30-year-old Londoner, who tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid THG in 2003 and was suspended for two years, is appealing against the 16-year-old BOA by-law which bans any athlete guilty of serious doping offence competing for Britain in the Olympics.

 

Last month a petition was presented to the BOA from the British Athletes Commission with the signatures of more than 100 of Britain's top competitors, including Sir Steven Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes, calling for the by-law to be upheld.

 

Meanwhile, a public petition on the Downing Street website calling for the Government to adopt the by-law into British law has so far attracted just over 400 signatures.