WHERE IS LINFORD CHRISTIE NOW? HOW OLYMPIC HERO WENT FROM BRITAIN'S FASTEST MAN TO A SHREWD BUSINESSMAN AFTER DOPING BAN

Linford Christie won 24 medals during his career as an Olympic sprinter
His career was overshadowed by a doping ban, which he received in 1999
Christie has since delved into coaching, television and has his own business

Linford Christie is one of the most highly decorated British athletes in history.

During his career, the 64-year-old won countless medals, broke records on the track and is the only Brit to win gold at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games - athletics four most prestigious events.

His career, though, was overshadowed by a ban for doping in 1999, ending his time as a British athlete.

On the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Christie is set to look back on his career alongside several of his family members, with the BBC set to air a documentary about the life of the former track runner on Thursday.

'I am not the type of person who naturally looks back and reflects, so that was difficult for me to do but it has made me appreciate how far I have come and how lucky I am to have some great people around me,' he said in the documentary, according to the i Paper.

In later years, Christie would dip his toes into coaching, broadcasting and operating a successful business. But how did he go from being Britian's fastest man to being a shrewd entrepreneur?

The Early years

Christie, who was born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, moved to London at the age of seven.

He would live with his father, James, and mother, Mabel, near to Loftus Road, the home of QPR Football Club. He would regularly watch games through his back window or by climbing on to the rooftops of neighbouring houses, according to The Guardian.

His first big taste of competition came at the 1977 London Youth Games, but he did not take up athletics until he was 18 years old.

Christie was initially slow to pick up the pace of life in the fast lane, with the 1993 BBC Sports Personality of the Year failing to make Team GB's Olympics relay squad for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

But motivated by his omission, he would return, hungrier than ever, and under the mentorship of his coach Ron Roddan, he would begin to showcase his outstanding sprinting abilities.

Christie's sprinting legacy

Roddan had in fact written Christie a letter following his Olympics snub, stating, per The Telegraph, that he would not continue as his coach until the Sprinter, who was in his early 20s, did not take the sport seriously.

'Once he made his mind up he was going to do it properly, then he was very focused,' Roddan told The Telegraph. 'He wanted to be the best in Britain, then the best in Europe, and then the best in the world. And he did it.'

In 1986, Christie would subsequently go on to win the men's 100m race at the European Championships, before finishing second at the Commonwealth Games that year.

It was perhaps the moment he announced himself on the athletics scene, with the 64-year-old setting his eyes on becoming an elite sprinter.

Between 1987 and 1990, Christie would continue to race, winning bronze at the 1987 World Championships before clinching silver in Seoul in 1988.

He would subsequently make history in 1992, with the sprinter becoming only the third British athlete to win the 100m at the Olympics - running 9.96 seconds in the final at the age of 32. He earned the title of becoming the oldest Olympic 100m champion in the history of the Games.

That same year he would also clinch gold in the World Cup in Cuba, before placing first in the 100m at the World Championships in Stuttgart the following year.

During that period, Christie was the best in the game, but he would continue to rake in medals, also claiming gold at the 100m European Championships in Helsinki.

Christie's athletic prowess would see him go on to win a whopping 24 medals throughout his career.

Notably, Christie was the first men's sprinter to break the 10-second barrier at the 1988 Seoul Olympics - posting a time of 9.97 seconds and held the record for 16 years - being overtaken by Francis Obikwelu at Athens 2004.

'I just ran, I just ran with what I had. That was the main thing, just run with what you got. The race is not for the swift nor the strong, but for the endurance until the end,' he told The Guardian, speaking on his record time.

It was in Seoul, though, that Christie tested positive for pseudoephedrine.

'Everything I had worked hard for had just gone down the drain,' he wrote in a column with The Independent back in 1995.

Upon learning the news, Christie also wrote that he 'just broke down', but he would ultimately not incur a ban.

A disciplinary hearing with the International Olympic Committee was held during the Games, but they voted by a margin of 11 to 10, with the committee giving him the 'benefit of the doubt'. The committee absolved the sprinter after stating that the traces of pseudoephedrine could have came from drinking ginseng.

'It hurt, you know, because I knew I didn’t do anything, I didn’t intentionally take anything,' he told the BBC documentary.

Business ventures

It was immediately after his triumph in Barcelona that Christie set up his sports management agency Nuff Respect alongside fellow Team GB athlete Colin Jackson.

The organisation, which is based in Twickenham, is still operating today and represents elite athletes, broadcasters and coaches across a wide range of disciplines.

Their roster of clients includes a wealth of big names including Mark Lewis-Francis, Iwan Thomas and Sharron Davies.

Christie's ban and retirement

In 1996, Christie would return to defend his 100m title in Atlanta, but was agonisingly disqualified in the final after two false starts.

The 64-year-old father-of-eight would hang up his running cleats the following year, but he would continue to compete in exhibition events.

It was at an indoor meeting in Dortmund in 1999, that Christie, then aged 38, tested positive for nandrolone - an anabolic steroid that some athletes have used in the past to build muscle.

He had come out of retirement to compete in the race meeting.

Initially, the British Athletic Federation delivered a not-guilty verdict to Christie, but that was subsequently overturned by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (now World Athletics).

The IAAF said in a statement on his hearing: 'The arbitration panel believes that UK Athletics ... reached an erroneous conclusion when clearing these athletes.'

He was subsequently handed a two-year ban by the governing body.

He had been due to appear on BBC's coverage of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but was dropped from their punditry team, with the BBC stating his omission was 'inappropriate'.

Christie has always denied any wrongdoing and throughout his career has staunchly opposed the use of steroids in athletics.

'If I took drugs there had to be a reason to take drugs. I had pretty much retired from the sport,” he said, following his ban.

What does Linford Christie do now?

Having also held the British record for nearly 30 years, Christie would subsequently turn his hand to coaching.

In 2006 he was unveiled as a senior mentor to athletes with two of his former students, Darren Campbell and Katharine Merry, going on to clinch titles at the World Championships and the Olympics.

He would also step into broadcasting, working on BBC shows including Record Breakers and Garden Invaders and has appeared on reality shows including The Jump, and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Alongside running his business Nuff Respect, the former sprinter also runs an athlete training academy called the Linford Christie Academy, which helps athletes competing in track and field events improve their speed and fitness. He has also worked with Brunel University as an athletics coach.

2024-07-25T20:55:48Z dg43tfdfdgfd