Meet the madcap cast hoping to be crowned Britain's 100m sprint king

Together, they gathered in an attempt to claim ownership of the vacant throne: the potential superstar, the reformed doper, the man robbed of his greatest achievement by a cheating team-mate, and another fuelled by his close brush with death. 

With the reigning champion absent awaiting sentence for his drugs offence, the cast for the British Championships men’s 100 metres swelled in Manchester to step into the void. Nothing is a bigger attraction than the sport’s blue-riband event. 

Last year, CJ Ujah gained the crown with ease in what may prove an unexpected denouement to his elite career. His failed drugs test in the wake of the Olympic 4 x 100m final was one of the country’s biggest doping scandals, costing the Great Britain team their silver medal. His personal punishment is yet to be dished out.

Some of those contesting Friday night’s 100m heats harboured more realistic aspirations than others. 

For Reece Prescod, who was only denied Linford Christie’s British record by a horrible headwind last month, it should be the beginning. So, too, for European champion Zharnel Hughes, one of three relay runners wronged by Ujah. Both eased into Saturday's semi-finals. 

For James Ellington, who almost died in a motorbike crash five years ago, the quest was more personal, to prove the devastating hardship of his comeback was worth it. And for 44-year-old Dwain Chambers, who has consigned his doping past to history, it was just another opportunity to laugh. Neither made it beyond the heats. 

Chambers knows Ujah’s plight better than most. A world medallist when he was caught using steroids, Chambers was cast aside by the sport before devoting his life to convincing others not to go down his same wrongful route. 

Having regained