Success also came in the individual events: he became the 1998 European Champion in the 100 m and won his first Olympic medal, a silver in the 200 m at the 2000 Sydney Games.
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,[5] Yorkley, Weymouth, UWIC Inter Cardiff and Newport County amongst others.
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 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.
The following year, in the 1999 World Championships, held in Seville, Campbell won the silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, but was eliminated from his individual event in the semi-finals.
After returning from injury the following year, Campbell took bronze in the individual 100 m event and gold in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2002 European Championships.
However, he anchored the team to gold in the 4 × 100 m relay along with squad members Jason Gardener, Marlon Devonish and Allyn Condon, just beating Asafa Powell of Jamaica in a very tight photo finish.
He also ran the 2nd leg for the 4 × 100 m relay team, but later lost this medal due to Dwain Chambers being found guilty of doping.
He was named captain for the European Cup in 2005, however did not have a successful season, only placing 5th in the AAA semi-final and running 10.47sec (10.48w) for the 100 m and 20.9sec for the 200 m. He did, however, receive an MBE in the New Year Honours.
Campbell competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, however did not progress past the semi-final in the 200 m, and the England team were eliminated in the 4 × 100 m after a faulty baton changeover in their heat.
He did not compete individually at the European Championships in Gothenburg, but ran the second leg to help Britain to the gold medal in the 4 x 100 relay.
On 13 August 2006, after winning the 4 × 100 m European relay gold medal with Great Britain, Campbell left the track without completing a lap of honour with the rest of his teammates.
John Regis criticised Campbell for this stand, also noting that his coach (Linford Christie) had served a drugs ban.
He has also been engaged by several professional rugby clubs such as Sale Sharks and Saracens to help develop the power and speed of the squad for the 2011–12 season.
Campbell was a childhood friend of English comedy personality Karl Pilkington, as described in The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts.
[17][non-primary source needed] Campbell guest presented children's TV gameshow Best of Friends in the 'sports special' with Iwan Thomas in 2008.