Chambers 'can only get better' after victorious return to Spain

Dwain Chambers ran the fastest 100 metres by a European this year here in last night's Grand Prix meeting at the Olympic stadium.

On the track he won a world championship bronze medal, Chambers recorded 10.01sec to leave his rivals trailing. But there was a blow for his fellow Briton Jason Gardener, who pulled up when leading at the halfway point.

Chambers admitted that he would have liked to have ran under "evens" ­ 10 seconds. "It would have been nice to do that particularly as I ran my 9.97sec [a personal best] for third place in the Worlds here two years ago," he said. "But that will do for starters. I can only get better and I know there is a lot more to come.

The early part of Chambers' season last year was undermined by a hamstring injury that at one point seemed likely to prevent him running in the Olympic Games, where he eventually finished fourth. Despite a scare two-month's ago when he sustained lacerations after coming off his motorbike, his progress is already looking promisingly smooth.

At the Loughborough meeting last month, where he finished second over 200 metres, he insisted that he was not worried about facing the Olympic and World champion Maurice Greene this year. Although Greene is likely to stamp his mark on the event once more on Monday night, when he runs on the Athens track where he set his world record of 9.79sec two years ago, Chambers' form suggests that he could yet give the American a run for his money at the World Championships in Edmonton in August.

The Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis finished second in the 100m hurdles and third in the long jump. Lewis ran 13.52sec for the hurdles. The Birchfield Harrier was well ahead until striking and knocking over the sixth hurdle, then colliding with the next, but she then jumped a healthy 6.46 metres.

In the 400m, Daniel Caines was angry after finishing sixth in a top-quality race. "I hate losing," said the Midlander, who two months ago won a World Championship indoor gold medal. Caines' performance was not too bad, with his time of 45.58sec only 0.21sec outside his personal best, but Greg Haughton was the clear winner in 44.58sec.

Catherine Murphy set a personal best in the 400m of 51.84sec, finishing fourth as Michelle Collins took the honours in 50.66sec. Hayley Tullett stepped up to 3,000m and finished seventh in 8:51.73sec.