After further investigation, it was revealed on 22 October 2003 that Chambers had tested positive for the banned steroid THG. Analysis of his backup sample also tested positive and the outcome was confirmed on 7 November 2003, making Chambers the first person to test positive for the new drug. Chambers was suspended the same day with an independent UK Athletics tribunal pending. The disciplinary hearing on 24 February 2004 resulted in a two-year ban from athletics, backdated to begin on 7 November 2003. He was also banned for life from the Olympics, and stripped of the medals he had won since mid-2002, after admitting that he had taken THG from that date. Chambers' 2002 relay gold medal performance was erased, costing teammates Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm their medals in the process. Chambers was also ordered by the IAAF to pay back his earnings from the period of his athletics career that was affected by his drug abuse.