Dwain Chambers relieved to evade another court battle

And just a day after the action in Istanbul finishes, the case which could end the 33-year-old sprinter's lifetime Olympic ban will get under way at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The British Olympic Association will argue before CAS on March 12 that their bylaw, which bans convicted drugs cheats from competing in the Olympic Games, does not violate the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

Chambers, cyclist David Millar and other British athletes convicted of doping offences are currently ineligible to compete at London 2012, but if CAS find the BOA's bylaw to be non-compliant with the world anti-doping code, they will be cleared to be selected for Team GB.

A verdict is expected in April and Chambers, who lost an appeal against his ban in 2008, said: "The climate is a lot different because I am not taking the fight, which I am grateful for. I don't want to be in court.

"It is in my mind but it's out of my hands. I have to prepare and if the door opens at least I am prepared and I can compete to the best of my ability. If that does not happen then there is the European Championships in Helsinki.

"I talk about (the Olympics) with the others, although my situation is different. I can encourage them and if the opportunity presents itself I will be able to run beside them."

Jessica Ennis will also defend her pentathlon title in Istanbul and enjoyed a good weekend, winning the high jump (1.91m) on Saturday and then twice equalling her personal best of 7.95 seconds in the 60m hurdles yesterday.

However, perhaps the most impressive performance came in the pole vault, where Holly Bleasdale won the competition with her first jump at 4.52m and went on to clear 4.70m with ease.

Bleasdale, second in the world rankings this year with her stunning clearance of 4.87m last month, failed with three attempts at improving her British record to 4.89m but said: "I've got Birmingham next weekend and the World Indoor Championships coming up, so I'm saving my big jump for then."

Elsewhere, there were victories in the 400m for Shana Cox and Nigel Levine, while Shara Proctor won the long jump with a leap of 6.68m - just two centimetres short of the British record.

World 1500m silver medallist Hannah England - who will not compete in Istanbul - won the 3,000m title, while Joe Thomas cruised to victory in the men's 800m and Marilyn Okoro won the women's race.

Okoro will now try to achieve the qualifying time at next weekend's Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham.
Andrew Pozzi set a new personal best in winning the 60m hurdles in 7.62 to seal his place on the team for Istanbul.