Chambers also competed over 200 m and a personal best run of 20.31 s earned him selection in both sprints for the World Championships. In an interview with Tom Fordyce, Chambers stated that Maurice Greene's strong presence and mind games undermined the competition both physically and mentally. "You have to get out in front of him and hold on for dear life" he said of the world record holder. This was not enough for a medal in a strong race which featured five sprinters running under ten seconds and saw Greene defend his title. Chambers was later upgraded to fourth place after silver medallist Tim Montgomery tested positive for banned substances. A hamstring injury in the final ruled him out of the 200 m event. Chambers ended his season at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, and finished in first place in the absence of an injured Greene, who commentated on his European rival's victory.
2002 European champion
Chambers' coach Mike McFarlane struggled with the workload of full-time training. Frustrated by the distance between himself and the top sprinters, Chambers decided to relocate to California to work with Ukrainian coach Remi Korchemny and nutritionist Victor Conte. After parting ways with American sprinter Tim Montgomery, Conte looked to Chambers to fill the athlete's berth. In the run up to the year's major events, Chambers was in fine form and recorded a 200 m personal best of 20.27 s in Athens on 10 June 2002. Montgomery, impressed by Chambers' training regime, tipped the Briton to win the gold at the forthcoming 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.