Linford Christie

Biography

Early years

Track career

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. 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

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.

Quotes and Trivia

• 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.[link] (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)[link]
• 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.[link]
• 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.

References