Kurt Streeter

Ever cheat on your spouse? Ever hide big money from the IRS? Ever arrive at a test with a raft of answers on a piece of paper stuck in your left sock?

Many of us have never done these sorts of things. But, imperfect as we tend to be, some of us have: cheating, lying, obfuscating and, to make matters worse, when the truth comes out, hiding.

To this mix I give you sprinter Dwain Chambers. He's an outlier in the sports world. Maybe, better said, in our world. Chambers, 31, was uncovered as a steroid cheat before the 2004 Olympics. Instead of falling for the temptation of further lies, instead of climbing behind the veil too often used by our fallen athletic stars -- "Uh, yeah, I took steroids, but it was only for part of a season, to help my torn tendon, and I got 'em from my cousin" -- Chambers accepted the full weight of his disgrace.

He blamed himself and coughed up the unvarnished truth. He exposed himself to ridicule and embarrassment, speaking out, trying to educate, and then starting an against-the-odds effort to return to a world-class level in track, an effort that had him barnstorming through Los Angeles on Saturday.

"At this point I am content to race wherever I can, whenever I can," Chambers said between heats at the 51st Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut. "So it's just great to be here."

Before being exposed, when he was one of the world's best, he would sometimes compete in Europe before crowds edging toward 70,000. He worked Saturday before roughly 7,000. He helped an ad-hoc team place third in the 400-meter relay. He ran the 200 meters, and took second. The results didn't seem to matter as much as just having the chance to run.

"Here I'm not vilified," said Chambers, whip smart and a shade under 6 feet tall. He sat under a tree between races. I noticed that....