By Alison Wildey
Barcelona - The much-anticipated head-to-head between Britain's Dwain Chambers and Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre stayed on track after both sprinters won their 100m heats at the European championships on Tuesday.
Chambers, who was stripped of the 2002 European title after admitting to doping, powered down the inside lane of the Olympic stadium's blue track and eased up before the line for a comfortable victory in 10.21 seconds into a strong headwind.
Lemaitre, the fastest European this year after setting a national record of 9.98 at the French championships earlier this month, barely broke into a sweat as he recorded the quickest time of the night of 10.19 in the last of the five heats.
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The pair are the only two athletes in the field to have broken 10 seconds this season, with Chambers clocking 9.99 when beating his young French rival at the European team championships last month.
"I felt comfortable enough to not go too hard too early on in the race," Chambers, 32, told reporters.
"I felt good in the warm-up. I didn't want to go out too fast and leave myself with nothing for tomorrow. You have got to do all the work from tomorrow onwards. I was happy with it."
Ireland's Jason Smyth, the first Paralympian to compete at the Europeans, qualified in fourth behind Lemaitre in 10.43.
The double Paralympic champion is visually impaired and has about 10 percent vision compared to a person with full sight.
"I'm just thankful I got here and things went so well," Smyth, who has a personal best time of 10.32, told reporters.
Asked if he had a chance of reaching the final, the 23-year-old said: "I wouldn't want to say yes. It's a very outside chance but you never know what can happen. I'll see if I can step up another level and compete."
Defending champion Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, who was also awarded the 2002 gold medal following Chambers's positive dope test, clocked 10.27 to win heat three but there was heartbreak for Gibraltar's Dominic Carroll who was disqualified for moving in his blocks before the start.
The first four athletes in each of the five heats went through to Wednesday's semifinals (17h50 GMT). The final is also on Wednesday (19h45). - Reuters
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