British sprinter Dwain Chambers says he will be inspired by the memory of Linford Christie's Olympic gold medal run in the upcoming European Championships.

Chambers will begin his 100 metres campaign on Tuesday at the same venue where Christie triumphed in the Olympic Games' blue riband event in 1992.

Christie recently gave a speech to the British athletes during a pre-event

training camp in Portugal that included two pieces of poetry.

And that, along with the memory of Christie's 100m win in Barcelona, has provided extra motivation for Britain's leading sprinter ahead of the championships.

"It was a long time ago, 18 years ago and that raised a few eyebrows, it even raised Linford's at the time," Chambers said.

History

"It was inspirational to watch and know we are going back to the stadium where he won gold, especially for the 100m guys. It's a fantastic opportunity for us to recreate history.

"It was a very motivational speech and it was great to see him being acknowledged for his achievements and he got a standing ovation from us.

"It's great for him to be out there watching us and hopefully we can do him proud."

And Christie has thrown his support firmly behind the 32-year-old, who holds a season's best time of 9.99, one hundredth shy of leading European Christophe Lemaitre.

Chambers' two-year drug ban has meant that he has found invitations to events on the IAAF circuit hard to come by, something Christie believes has put him at a disadvantage so far this year.

Win

"I expect Dwain to win," Christie said.

"Considering Dwain's at a disadvantage because of all the problems he has with being able to get races, to go out there and still put in his performance shows what a good athlete he is.

"And given the same opportunities as everyone else we wouldn't be talking about how close it would be because Dwain would be streets ahead."

Chambers added: "I'm optimistic about it, if I can draw on everything I have experience-wise.

"It's my ambition to win but again I have strong competition, especially from Lemaitre, and I have to do the best I can to stay ahead of him."