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12:46 - 16-July-2008
Tomorrow looks like being Olympic judgement day - and not just at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the latest chapter in the Dwain Chambers drugs ban saga.
Because later that same day, up at Loughborough, another sprinter ought to be fighting for her Olympic future, too, and for the chance to set a little bit of British sporting history.
Except that Croydon Harriers' Donna Fraser's trial will be on the track, in a last-ditch race-off to secure her place on the plane to Beijing next month.
If picked, it will almost certainly be Fraser's last Games, but might also be her best shot at grabbing a cherished Olympic medal.
She would certainly set a record, for Fraser - a veteran of the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Games - would become the first British woman track athlete to compete at four Olympics.
Dear old Donna - well, she will be 36 later this year - has been one of the stalwarts of British athletics for the last three decades.
Ever since she was a schoolgirl, when between 1986 and 1991 she won an unprecedented six English Schools' titles, she has exhibited that deceptive, telescopic stride that eats up the track, and sees her come off the final bend in 400 metres races with tremendous, race-grabbing speed.
But Fraser, softly spoken, and who has always held down a job in this era of full-time, professional athletes, has somehow managed to escape the limelight enjoyed by some of her team mates.
A two-year absence from the track due to a terrible Achilles tendon injury did not help, since it robbed Fraser of two summers when she could have expected to be at her peak, including the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
“That was one event I definitely did not enjoy sitting at home and watching,” she says.
This week, Fraser has been confronted with the prospect of watching the Beijing Games from her home in Penge.
“Just being part of Team GB for an Olympics is like nothing else,” she says, the enthusiasm bubbling in her voice.
“You have people from all sorts of other sports there, all mingling together, it's an altogether fantastic experience.
“I'd be devastated to miss out.”
Thus far, the closest that Fraser has come to winning Olympic metal was in 2000, when she charged down the home straight in Sydney, amid the light of ten thousand flash bulbs, to place fourth as Australia's Cathy Freeman took the 400m gold at the 2000 Olympics.
This year, her sights have been set on the relay team. Fraser has been an ever-present in British 4x400m squads for more than a decade, collecting six major international medals.
This time around, with 2007 world champion Christine Ohuruogu and silver medallist Nicola Sanders in the squad, Britain's quartet has an outstanding chance to improve on the fourth place at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Fraser had hoped to wrap up selection for Beijing at last weekend's Olympic trials in Birmingham.
But another set-back in her early-season racing, and the blustery conditions on Saturday saw her having to settle for third place, albeit in a season's best 53.11sec, in the 400m final.
“Given the conditions, that was probably worth 52.4,” Fraser's coach, Ayo Falola, says, “but the selectors have decided that to be named in the relay squad, they will have to race-off this week.
“That's tough on Donna, because she had a tough weekend, she's really tired.”
The fatigue is self-inflicted. After her 400m exertions in Birmingham, Fraser - who in 2005 became the only woman in 60 years to have won the 200-400m double at the national championships - went out and contested the 200m on Sunday, as part of her determined effort to get herself into top form for the Olympics.
“In hindsight,” Fraser admits, “I probably shouldn't have done it - it was five races in three days, which is a lot, but I've done it before.
“Maybe I wouldn't have done it if I had known I had to race again on Thursday.”
The British selectors have not spoken to Fraser since the weekend, but Fraser will need to beat Scottish rival Vicky Barr.
Barr will be in the race at Loughborough, although late on Tuesday there was some doubt whether Fraser would be fit to race.
“It's all in the selectors' hands,” says Fraser, who works part-time for London 2012 sponsors EDF Energy, organising health and leisure events, “though you would hope that they might consider my experience, and the fact that I have always managed to peak at the right time.”
At least Fraser's Olympic fate is in her own hands this week. For men's 100m national champion Chambers - “He's a good mate,” Fraser says - whether or not he gets to compete at the Olympics depends entirely on the court over-ruling a British bye law that bans drugs cheats from representing their country at the Games.
Fraser is torn by the situation. “You like to support your friends as best you can,” she says. “But the rules are there, and he knew what they were before he took drugs.
“I guess he's fighting because there have been loopholes that others have used.”
Chambers and Fraser will both know whether they will be Beijing-bound by Friday morning. Fraser might be talking about the selectors as well as the judge when she says: “You just have to have faith, hope that they make the right decision and go by the rules.”
FITNESS FEARS: Donna Fraser, competing at last year's Norwich Union London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.
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