Dwain Chambers’ High Court appeal against a drugs ban has prevented the British Olympic Association (BOA) from naming more than one of the three 100 metres sprinters they intend to send to the Beijing Games.

Chambers was omitted from the 47-strong track and field team that the BOA confirmed this afternoon, but the authority will be forced to pick him if a judge grants an injunction against his lifetime Olympic ban at a hearing in London on Thursday.

The sprinter would then line up alongside Simeon Williamson, who was selected after finishing second behind Chambers at the Aviva National Championships title in Birmingham on Saturday, and one other competitor.

The 30-year-old is currently banned from representing Great Britain at Olympic Games after testing positive for the steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) almost five years ago.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Chambers’ case, the BOA could have named two of their 100m athletes instead of just one.

But that would have risked needlessly upsetting one of Craig Pickering, Tyrone Edgar or Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who are the leading three candidates to join Williamson on the team.

Dave Collins, the UKA performance director, played down the impact the Chambers issue was having on selection, insisting competitors in several events were being given extra time to stake a claim for selection before this weekend’s final deadline.

“What we’ve done is what we’ve actually done in previous years," Collins said. “The men’s 100m, the women’s 100m, the women's 800m: we’ve got so much talent, we want to give them every chance.

“What we’ve done is to go for the athlete who is eligible and has made a clear case for selection - and that’s Simeon. Of course, there are currently five other [100 metre] athletes at least who are in with a shout. We’ll give them until midnight on the 18th, which was always the closing date for selection standards.”

Great Britain athletics team for Beijing Olympics:

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100m
Simeon Williamson (Highgate Harriers)