Linford Christie, OBE (born April 2, 1960) is a former British athlete and the only man ever to win Olympic, World, Commonweath and European 100 m gold medals. Christie's career was tainted after he was twice found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs. However, the first offence for trace amounts of ephedrine was accepted by the IOC and consistent with testimony given by Christie. The second offence was another in a long line of 'nandrolone' offences to plague professional sports in athletics and tennis. Nandrolone has been shown in other sports to be a contaminant in many sports supplements and is not considered to be a significant source of androgenic advantage. In 2004 the British tennis star greg Rudeski was cleared by the WTA for having nandrolone levels significantly higher than Linford Christie, as followed a moritirium on all tennis cases of nandrolone offences.There is no doubt that had Linford Christie chose to appeal the findings, he would have been cleared, but he was retired and his achievements would never have been overshadowed by the nandrolone witchhunt of the mid 1990's.
Early years
Born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, Christie followed his parents, who had emigrated five years before, to Britain at the age of seven. He did not take up athletics until he was 19.
Track career
Christie's early track career was not promising. He failed to make the GB team at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and it was not until he began to work in earnest under the coaching of Ron Roddan that he began to fulfill his potential.
In 1986, he was the surprise winner of the 100 m at the European Championships and finished second at the Commonwealth Games.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics, Christie won silver behind Carl Lewis, though only after Ben Johnson, who set a new World Record in 9.79 seconds, had been disqualified for a doping offence. In fact, Christie's urine also contained metabolites of a banned substance, however he was not stripped of his silver medal.
In 1992, he succeeded Allan Wells as a British Olympic 100 m champion, winning the title ahead of Namibian Frankie Fredericks. In 1993, he became the first man in history to hold the Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles in the 100 m as he was victorious at the Stuttgart World Championships. He also became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
After 1994, he was less successful. Christie was disqualified in the 1996 Olympic final after two false starts, and in 1999, he was found guilty of using the banned drug nandrolone. A leak of the story to the press resulted in the cancellation of the £100,000 contract with his sponsoring company, Puma. Although the (now defunct) British athletic federation found him to be not guilty, the IAAF overruled and confirmed the suspension. Christie, who had for some time been focusing on coaching, subsequently retired.
By the end of his track career Christie had won 23 medals overall, more than any other British male athlete before or since. He was appointed MBE in 1990 and OBE in 1998.
Later years and relationship with the press
Ironically, Christie had the previous year won a libel action in against the journalist John McVicar. McVicar had insinuated in a satirical magazine that Christie's remarkable rise from 156th in the world to triumph at an age when he should have been in decline could only have been achieved through drugs. Part of the court's decision was that McVicar should be bound by an injunction restraining him from accusing Christie of taking banned substances. Nonetheless the £40,000 damages awarded were outweighed by the cost Christie incurred to bring the case.
Christie's response to the press
During his track career Christie frequently crossed swords with the press over jibes about his physique, notoriously 'Linford's lunchbox' (about the size of his manhood) which especially angered him. It led to his infamous 'newspaper print' running suit.
Christie's famous claim that he started races on the "B of the Bang" inspired a spectacular sculpture of the same name, officially unveiled by Christie in Manchester in 2004. It celebrates the Commonwealth Games held in the city in 2002.
Away from the track, Christie hosted the BBC television children's series Record Breakers for a time until its cancellation in 2001. A keen amateur gardener, he also co-hosted the series Garden Invaders.
In 1993 Christie formed a sports management and promotions company, Nuff Respect, with sprint-hurdler Colin Jackson. One of their early products was a sports training and workout video, The S Plan: Get Fit with Christie and Jackson. Jackson was later to leave the enterprise. Since his retirement Linford Christie has spent less time as a public figure and has devoted most of his time to managing his company.
Christie recently cameoed in an episode of the third series of Hustle, as himself.
Further reading
- Christie, L. & Nicholson, J. (1996) A Year in the Life of Linford Christie
- Christie, L. & Ward, T. (1990) Linford Christie: An Autobiography (updated 1996 as To Be Honest With You)
- Mackay, D. (1996) Linford Christie
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linford_Christie under GFDL
