Linford Christie,OBE (born April 2, 1960) is an English former athlete and the only man ever to win Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European 100 m gold medals. Christie's career was tainted after he was found guilty of using the performance enhancing drug nandralone whilst in semi-retirement.
Born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, Christie followed his parents, who had emigrated five years before, to England 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.
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.Interestingly, at the same games, Christie's time of 20.09 that placed him 4th in the 200m, would have been enough to secure gold at Sydney 12 years later.
After 1994, he was less successful. Christie was disqualified in the 1996 Olympic final after two false starts. In 1999, he was persuaded out of semi-retirement by his training group to compete in an indoor meet in Dortmund, Germany. But at the routine doping test 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. As a direct result, he was unable to go trackside at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, despite being coach to several competing athletes.
Controversy has not ceased however; in the successful London bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, Christie was absent from the team, even though he states he attempted to get involved. An ongoing feud with former team-mate Sebastian Coe has been cited (by Christie himselfBBC interview, 3rd July 2006) as the main reason for the snub.
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 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 accusations.
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 penis) 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.
A lot of people have looked at my physique and two things can come into their mind - ADMIRATION and ENVY.L. Christie & J. Nicholson, A Year in the Life of Linford Christie (1996) The Judy Garland of the 100 metres.[1] (John McVicar) Linford has to be in control, he has to be number one, he has to be the leader. (Colin Jackson)Colin Jackson, The Autobiography (2003) I think (newspapers commenting about my anatomy) is derogatory, but then what do you expect from The Sun? They don't talk about Sally Gunnell's breasts; if they did, there would be uproar... So why do I have to put up with this?L. Christie & T. Ward, Linford Christie: An Autobiography (1990, updated 1996 as To Be Honest With You) There's nothing new you can say about Linford Christie, except he's slow and has got a small penis. (Nick Hancock) It does not follow that all athletes who are big take drugs... Only by testing all athletes will the sport be kept clean of drugs.L. Christie & J. Nicholson, A Year in the Life of Linford Christie (1996) He's a well-balanced athlete; he has a chip on both shoulders. (Derek Redmond)[2] I will have no complaints if people remember me as one of the best athletes in the world.L. Christie & T. Ward, Linford Christie: An Autobiography (1990, updated 1996 as To Be Honest With You)
*In 1993 the West London Stadium was renamed the Linford Christie Stadium. *In 1996 Christie controversially wore contact lenses embossed with the Puma logo at a press conference.[3] *Although a shoe size 10, Christie competed in size 9-and-a-half spikes. *He is name-checked in the Aswad song Shine: Linford Christie say nobody alive can catch me/ Moving like lightning with enough energy *Christie appeared in a music video for the song Won't Bring Me Down by the rapper S.O.E. *Christie recently cameoed in an episode of the third series of Hustle, as himself.
