Athletics: Devonish triumphs as Chambers limps out

Britain's wealth of talent at 200m produces surprise result as Campbell claims second European place at AAA Championships

The climatic event at the Norwich Union European Trials and AAA Championships produced an almighty shock as a talent-laden 200 metres field arranged itself in a quite unexpected order – Marlon Devonish took the title in 20.18 seconds ahead of Darren Campbell, who took the second automatic place for the European Championships in 20.26, shading third-placed Christian Malcolm by 0.03sec. But the biggest shock of all was the presence at the other end of the race of Dwain Chambers, who never in contention and eventually finished at a trot in last position before limping away.

Chambers, who had established himself at Britain's No 1 sprinter this season with two victories over Olympic Maurice Greene, was concentrating on this event here with a view to running a sprint double in Munich next month. But after this performance there must be a question about whether he will be offered either of the discretionary places in the 100 and 200m.

The result was a triumph for Devonish, who was not expected to figure strongly despite winning the European Cup earlier this month. It was no less of a triumph for Campbell, who has struggled this season with injury and illness.

The selectors will now have to think hard and long before denying the fast-finishing Malcolm, who has suffered similar problems to Campbell this year, the third 200m place. Meanwhile, Jason Gardner who missed out on an automatic 100m place, could yet benefit from yesterday's turn of events. Even if Chambers takes up the discretionary 100m place, Campbell – who narrowly beat Gardner on Saturday – has indicated he does not plan to double up at the European Championships.

There was an earlier scare involving Chambers as he failed to appear on the original 200m heats list having missed the official registration time by a matter of seconds. The list was soon amended, however, and the 24-year-old Londoner took the first opportunity to impose his presence upon the field assembled here as he dominated the opening race despite having an awkward inside-lane draw before easing off to allow Malcolm to win in 20.53sec.

Devonish pressed his case by winning the second of the two scheduled heats in 20.40sec ahead of Campbell. The latter athlete had already indicated his return to form following the chest infection that forced him out of the Commonwealth Trials by taking second place behind Mark Lewis-Francis in Saturday's 100m final in 10.11sec.

In the absence of Chambers, who chose to rely upon the selectors to offer him the third discretionary place, Lewis-Francis was an expected winner of the 100m in 10.06sec, although he left clutching an ice-pack to the hamstring that has troubled him throughout this season.

Kelly Morgan produced one of the outstanding performances of the day when she twice bettered her own British javelin record of 63.03metres as she produced a world class sequence of five throws all over 60 metres, which leaves her ideally placed to challenge for the Commonwealth title in Manchester.

The 22-year-old Army clerk produced a second throw of 63.87m to lay claim to the Rover car which is due to all British record-setters. Her third effort looked longer still, only to be registered as a no-throw.

But her fourth effort soared out to 64.87m, the second furthest in the world this year, and she produced a final effort of 64.48 for good measure before turning down a sixth throw. The throw established her as a favourite not just for the Commonwealth Games, but also the European Championships that follow them.

Morgan just gets the one car, but by the look on her face afterwards that was the least of her concerns. "I just can't believe it," she said. "To say this was everything I wanted would be an understatement. I'm all smiles and looking forward to the Commonwealth Games."

Morgan, who has suffered from a long-standing shoulder injury, received a cortisone injection a week ago which she said allowed her to throw pain-free. "I did an 80 per cent throw first off and it went over 60 metres, so that allowed me to relax and try and get the crowd support," she said. "This is what athletics is all about."

Morgan is seeking to follow Kelly Holmes's career-path in the Army by becoming a PT instructor. Holmes, meanwhile, was stimulating her athletics career by taking a 10th AAA title in the 1500metres, which she won in 4min 06.07sec after driving clear of her opposition around the final bend. Helen Pattinson and Hayley Tullett chased her home, but Holmes, whose form had dipped in recent weeks after an outstanding start to the season, appeared to be back to her redoubtable best.

The men's 400m title went, unexpectedly, to the 20-year-old Welshman Tim Benjamin. The European junior champion overhauled the race favourite Sean Baldock in the final 30 metres to claim a place in Munich with a winning time of 45.73, inside the qualifying mark of 45.85.

Chris Rawlinson maintained his outstanding form over the 400m hurdles this season by taking the title here in 48.68sec, despite slowing over the final 10 metres, which was 0.10sec outside the Championship record set in 1979 by the legendary Olympic champion Ed Moses.

The 30-year-old from Rotherham, who opened his season with a 48.49sec timing in Walnut, California, has since beaten all the leading contenders apart from the world champion Felix Sanchez and looks in good shape to realise his potential this summer for the first time at a major championship event. Anthony Borsumato took second place in a personal best of 48.90.

Anthony Whiteman claimed his first AAA 1500 title in 3min 38.24sec, finishing ahead of his perennial rival John Mayock and third-placed Michael East, the European indoor bronze medallist.

Susan Jones, competing with a black band on her kit to mark the sudden death of her sister's fiancé last Monday, just missed a British high jump record of 1.96m on her third attempt, but proved a clear winner with a season's best of 1.92.

Darren Ritchie produced one of the other outstanding performances of the first day in winning the long jump with a Scottish record of 7.93m ahead of British record holder Chris Tomlinson, who could only manage 7.82m.

Sadly, Iwan Thomas will have no say in who inherits his European 400m title after managing only fifth place in Saturday's semi-final. 'This is the lowest I have ever felt in my life, said the 28-year-old Welshman. He has an opportunity to salvage something from his season at the Commonwealth Games.