The overriding question on seeing Dwain Chambers keep his tainted dream alive was not whether we should let bygones be bygones or bylaws be bylaws, but why did a man who can run quicker than all his compatriots go down the slippery slope to drug infamy in the first place?

Forget for a moment the way Chambers has divided opinion and the lawyers have bared their briefcases in the bunfight for the moral high ground. Forget that and look at how Chambers, bereft of funding or coaching, has come back and won a world indoor silver medal and run the fastest time by a Briton this year.

Last night, at the Aviva UK Championships and Olympic Trials in Birmingham, he ran 10.14sec in his 100 metres heat to be the fastest qualifier for today’s second round. It is a short-odds bet that he will add to his 2000 and 2001 national titles.

“There’s a lot of pressure on me but I’m just doing my job and hoping things work out,” he said. “I feel good because there’s a lot riding on this.”

Indeed there is. If Chambers finish-es in the first two in the final tonight, he will go to the High Court on Wednesday and hope to get a temporary injunction allowing him to run at the Olympic Games. Chambers is banned by the British Olympic Association, but he is challenging the legality of that bylaw, claiming that he has served his two-year doping ban and that the additional punishment would represent a restraint of trade.

As at the world indoor trials, UK Athletics would love to find a hero or two to deny Chambers tonight, but that looks unlikely. Those others who have the qualifying standard were nowhere near at a damp Alexander Stadium last night. Marlon Devonish and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey ran 10.38sec and Tyrone Edgar was slower still in 10.54sec. Simeon Williamson, second quickest last night with 10.31sec, and Craig Pickering, who has signed a petition backing the bylaw, will also hope to be in the shake-up tonight, but will need to record season’s bests to do so.

The sad irony of Chambers, morality aside, is that he did not need to cheat. No Briton has looked like beating him since he announced his second comeback in February, but a win tonight will be irrelevant if Mr Justice Mackay decides not to suspend his lifetime Olympic ban. He has garnered support through apathy on the part of athletics fans, and allegations of double standards from UKA, which has seen no discrepancy in ostracising one convicted doper while selecting another, Carl Myerscough, to represent Britain.

Cheered again last night, Chambers said: “If the crowd reaction persuades the judge then I’m glad. I am blocking [the court hearing] it out and only think about it when I get asked.”

Linford Christie, the former Olympic 100 metres champion, slammed the inconsistencies in the global approach to doping. Christie, who served a two-year doping ban while semi-retired but has always maintained his innocence, said: “The whole world is laughing at us.” Christie said it was wrong that the BOA had a bylaw while other countries did not. He also questioned the reliability of the tests, saying: “Not everybody who tests positive is guilty.”

While the fortunes of the sprinters attracted the television crews, the misfortune of Jenny Meadows was a sad postscript. The 800 metres runner has had a heavy cold and breathing problems all week and pulled out of the trials, hoping that she has already done enough. The problems will start for the Wigan runner, still reeling from the death from cancer of her father last month, if Marilyn Okoro and Jemma Simpson do not take the first two places in tomorrow’s final. Nicola Sanders, the world 400 metres silver medal-winner, has also pulled out of the trials as a precaution.

Battles for promised land

Six to watch this weekend

Men: 100 metres Tyrone Edgar and Co take on Dwain Chambers
400 metres Tim Benjamin’s withdrawal leaves Martyn Rooney trying to dip under 45sec
Long jump Chris Tomlinson is promising big things, while Greg Rutherford talks of nine metres
Women: 200 metresEmily Freeman tops rankings but all eyes will be on Christine Ohuruogu
400 metres Nicola Sanders should win, Lee McConnell and Donna Fraser vie for places
800 metresJemma Simpson and Marilyn Okoro to fight for title