career Raised on the Racecourse Estate in Sale, Cheshire Campbell was a talented athlete and footballer in his youth. Initially trained by Karl Pilkington pushing his Go kart in Manchester, His first national success in athletics was a gold medal at the English Schools Championships in the 200 m. Campbell then won the 100 m and 200 m gold medals at the 1991 European Junior Championships held in Thessaloniki, Greece, as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m. A year later, he won silver medals at the 1992 World Junior Championships, in the sprint double, and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. He was beaten both times by Ato Boldon, who became the first athlete to win a double at the championships. His senior international debut came at the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993, as part of the 4 × 100 m squad. However, as a result of injuries, he left athletics at the age of 21 to launch a career in football with trials for Cwmbran Town, Plymouth Argyle, Yorkley, Weymouth, UWIC Inter Cardiff and Newport County amongst others. During a debate on TalkSPORT on 14 August 2006, Campbell stated this period away from athletics had also been spurred on by attempts by certain individuals to draw him into a drugs programme. Return to athletics Campbell returned to athletics in 1995, and ran the 100 m in 10.34sec that year. The following year, he improved his 100 m time to 10.17sec, and represented Britain in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA. Campbell only represented Britain in the 4 × 100 m relay, but the baton was dropped as it was passed on to him. (Video evidence of the race) At the 1997 World Championships, Campbell won his first major senior medal – a bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay, and by this time was a regular feature in the British squad. Campbell's first senior gold medals came at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest. Campbell won the 100 m individual event, setting his best time at the 100 m in the final – 10.13sec, and also winning gold in the 4 × 100 m relay. At the Commonwealth Games that year, Campbell helped break the championship record for the 4 × 100 m relay. However, he won no individual medals. The following year, in the 1999 World Championships,