Darren Campbell snubbed the celebrations as Dwain Chambers and the Great Britain 4x100m squad won a face-saving gold medal at the European Championships.

Campbell did not accompany Chambers, Birchfield Harrier Mark Lewis-Francis and Coventry Godiva's Marlon Devonish on the traditional lap of honour, apparently upset at the inclusion in the side of Chambers, whose use of the designer drug THG four years ago, at the previous championships in Munich, resulted in Britain being stripped of the gold medal.

Campbell's behaviour marred the quartet's achievement in winning Britain's only championship gold medal and also took the shine off the three silvers and one bronze picked up by the team on the final day.

The senior British international failed to explain his behaviour, although he did attend the medal awards ceremony. There, the 32-year-old, who has served his country brilliantly for a decade, stood looking sullen with his head bowed.

It is no secret there was bad blood six years ago when Chambers - then a colleague of Campbell - quit Linford Christie's "Nuff Respect" managerial company.

He left to join a rival athletics firm where another former great British sprinter, John Regis, took over as his manager.

It is possible Campbell is unimpressed by Chambers' inclusion in the relay squad because of injuries to other sprinters.

Campbell - like other athletes - was asked to hand back relay medals from the Munich event in 2002 and the following year's world championships as a result of Chambers' cheating.

Chambers apologised for his mistake to the relay squad three days ago when the runners gathered for a practice session and it appeared to have been accepted by all.

So yesterday's rift remains a mystery, particularly after Campbell insisted Chambers should be welcomed back after his two-year ban ended.

Campbell said: "As a human, you have to forgive and forget. If he hadn't been punished, you could feel bitter but what happened wrecked him as a person.

"I know he was rock-bottom. To even contemplate coming back to the sport, I can only wish him the best of luck. If he wins medals for the country, I will applaud that."

UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins was also in the dark after Campbell's snub to his team-mates and the British supporters.

Collins said: "I don't know what happened - they were all fine before they went out there.

"There has been a discussion and a full open meeting, when Dwain had openly apologised.

"That said, if any athlete has a problem about the situation, I would have expected him to come and talked to me about it."