And now it's Linford the torch bearer

Christie, who won the 100metres gold medal in 1992, received an Olympic ban after testing positive for nandrolone seven years later.

But the London Mayor has asked Christie to join Olympic heroine Kelly Holmes as one of 80 runners to carry the flame through the capital on April 6.

The decision caused uproar and Emmanuelle Moreau, spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, said: 'We are surprised and disappointed. We have not been consulted. We wish we had been as we would have strongly recommended not to give an invitation to an athlete who has an Olympic ban.'

A British Olympic Association spokeswoman said: 'We were allocated 13 slots for athletes and Linford Christie was not one of the names on our list.'

Shadow Sports Minister Hugh Robertson described the decision as 'completely unacceptable', saying: 'It is utterly perverse of the Mayor to select someone banned from the Olympic Games for drug offences to act as a standard bearer for the London Olympic torch relay. It sends out the wrong message to young people about drug cheats and to the world in general about the values that will underpin London 2012.

'I urge the Olympics Minister and the Olympic Board to tell the Mayor to cancel this utterly ill-conceived invitation.'

Michele Verroken, former director of anti-doping in UK Sport, said: 'We don't want the Olympics to be associated with doping and unfortunately this brings about yet another association at a time when we are fighting with the return of a drug cheat to athletics.'

British athletics is embroiled in the Dwain Chambers scandal after the drugs cheat's selection for next month's World Indoor Championships in Valencia. The invitation to Christie will infuriate anti-drug campaigners.

Christie is the only Briton to win 100m gold at Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European Championships. He was banned for two years after failing a drugs test. He denies taking drugs but he is not allowed to work in any official capacity with the national team. Christie plans to be in Beijing as coach to 200m hopeful Christian Malcolm but the BOA says his ban on Olympic accreditation remains.

The London leg of the torch relay from the 2004 venue in Athens to Beijing is being organised by the Greater London Assembly and so far the GLA have confirmed three of the 80 names — Kelly Holmes, Trevor McDonald and actress Amara Khan.

The torch is in London for one day and will be carried from Wembley to the O2 Arena — each runner carrying the torch for 250m.