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Picture The team, minus Campbell, celebrate victory.

GOLD AT LAST FOR BRITAIN

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Great Britain finally won a gold medal at the European Championships on Sunday, with the men's 4x100m relay team delivering the goods.

The quartet of Dwain Chambers, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis, who have had problems getting the baton round in the past, came good when it mattered in Gothenburg, winning in 38.91secs.

The Olympic champions' only scare came on the first changeover, Campbell seemingly setting off too early and he only just received the baton inside the allotted space.

However, once Devonish took over, Britain stormed into the lead. His fine second bend put Lewis-Francis in the clear and he fended off the opposition to strike gold.

Campbell, a former European 100m champion, surprisingly did not join in the lap of honour with his delighted colleagues, apparently upset at the inclusion in the side of Chambers, whose use of the designer drug THG four years ago at the previous championships in Munich resulted in Britain being stripped of the gold medal.

Campbell's behaviour marred the quartet's achievement in winning the Britain's only championship gold medal.

The senior British international failed to explain his behaviour, although he did attend the medal awards ceremony.

There the 32-year-old, who has served his country brilliantly for a decade, stood looking sullen with his head bowed.

It is no secret there was bad blood six years ago when Chambers - then a colleague of Campbell - quit Linford Christie's 'Nuff Respect' managerial company.

He left to join a rival athletics firm, where another former great British sprinter, John Regis, took over as his manager.

It is possible Campbell is unimpressed by Chambers' inclusion in the relay squad because of injuries to other sprinters.

Campbell - like other athletes - was asked to hand back relay medals from the Munich event in 2002, and the following year's World Championships as a result of Chambers' cheating.

Chambers apologised for his mistake to the relay squad two days ago when the runners gathered for a practice session - and it appeared to have been accepted by all.

So the rift remains a mystery, particularly after Campbell insisted Chambers should be welcomed back after his two-year ban ended.

Campbell said: "As a human you have to forgive and forget. If he hadn't been punished you could feel bitter, but what happened wrecked him as a person.

"I know he was rock-bottom. To even contemplate coming back to the sport, I can only wish him the best of luck.

"If he wins medals for the country, I will applaud that."

UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins was also in the dark after Campbell's snub to his team-mates and also British supporters.

Collins said: "I don't know what happened - they were all fine before they went out there.

"There has been a discussion and full open meeting, when Dwain had openly apologised.

"That said if any athlete has a problem, I would expected him to have come and talked to me about it."

On the track, Poland pipped world champions France to the silver medal.

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2  Germany 4 4 2
3  Belarus 4 3 2
----------------------------
10  GB 1 5 5
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