BBC programme about 1992 Olympic 100m champion looks at his athletics achievements but also his run-ins with the media and anti-doping officials
Hot on the heels of the excellent Daley Thompson documentary comes a similarly in-depth programme about Linford Christie. Both are currently on BBC iPlayer. There are many other similarities, too. But whereas the Daley doc is an inspirational, enjoyable ride, Linford is a more painful watch.
Both athletes enjoyed a rags to riches journey to the top of the athletics tree. Like Thompson, Christie had a humble start in life and the documentary shows him, among other things, signing on at the Job Centre.
The two men were also alpha males, incredibly competitive and mentally strong. Christie, who won the Olympic 100m title in Barcelona in 1992 before claiming world gold in Stuttgart in 1993, was unable to fully enjoy his peak period and subsequent years in retirement due largely to a tense relationship with national newspapers.
Among other things The Sun poked fun at what they called his ‘lunchbox’, which Christie found offensive and humiliating. Linked to this there are allegations of racism and sexual harassment.
Linford Christie (Mark Shearman)
Whether you are a fan of Christie or not, it’s hard not to have some sympathy for the ridicule he faced from journalists who felt he was ‘fair game’ and in some cases had an axe to grind. Indeed, one of the documentary’s more painful moments is seeing two of his children in tears as they watch some of the archive footage.
He is also dogged by a failed drugs test for nandrolone which took place after he had retired from competitive sprinting. He was cleared by British Athletics but the ban was upheld by the IAAF. In the documentary he says he’d had enough by that stage and did not go to Monaco to contest his innocence, partly because he had already spent a sizeable percentage of his savings at that point on the case.
“I didn’t even know what nandrolone was,” he says. How did it get into his system? “I don’t know,” he adds. “I don’t even believe that it was in my system.”
Despite this, Christie continues to be a popular figure in the sport, often attracting large queues of autograph or selfie hunters at events.
Ron Roddan and Linford Christie (Mark Shearman)
Again similar to the Daley doc, the 90-minute programme is peppered with plenty of people to comment on his life. They include fellow athletes like Sally Gunnell and Jonathan Edwards,…
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