I can't stand Seb Coe and have nothing good to say about him, blasts Christie

Christie, who also hit out at ‘institutionalised racism in this country’, fell out with Coe in 2001 when the double Olympic 1500metres champion attacked him in a newspaper column over his doping ban. But the rancour has multiplied since he was denied a chance to be one of the torch carriers.

Upset: Linford Christiesays he should have been allowed to carry the Olympic torch in London.

‘I think it should be my right as a stalwart of our sport. I’ve done my country proud,’ said the Londoner, who won the Olympic 100m in Barcelona in 1992 but ended his career with a two-year doping ban.

‘I went out there and I battled against other countries and put British sprinting on the map and so I don’t think it’s something I should want to do, I think it’s something I should be asked to do.’

Christie was asked in a letter signed by the then Mayor of London, Ken
Livingstone, but when it became public knowledge Livingstone denied he had known of the offer.

It was withdrawn under pressure from the International Olympic Committee, who said it was not proper for a man banned from any official involvement in Olympic Games.

Christie, in an interview with John Humphrys for Sunday’s edition of On The Ropes on Radio Four, seems to blame Coe in part for the decision, because he reiterates the bitter feelings he has felt towards him.

‘Seb and I were good friends and I’ve known Seb for a long time and if he felt that he had a problem with me, as you do if you are friends, you come and say it, you come and say it to me as man to man.

‘Therefore, for him to go in a newspaper and say something, then he had an agenda, and that’s what I think it is, and again what did he achieve for athletics?

‘I’m still bitter about him, I cannot stand the guy and, to be honest, I wish we didn’t even talk about it because I have nothing good to say about Sebastian Coe at all, absolutely nothing.’

When Humphrys suggests that Christie’s life could have turned out differently and he might have become Sir Linford Christie, he replies: ‘You believe that? How many black knights from British athletics do you know? I think there’s institutionalised racism in this country.

‘If you look to what we’ve achieved in sport, nandrolone and all this thing aside, how many knights have we had in British athletics?  I’ve achieved more single-handedly, I’d say, than any other athlete or any other sportsman in this country.’

Christie is the only British man to take gold in Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European 100m but Daley Thompson won the same four titles in the decathlon — and the Olympic title twice — as well as setting world records and Sally Gunnell did the same at 400m hurdles.

Christie’s unhappiness goes back to his decision not to challenge the international doping ban. He appealed successfully to an independent arbitration panel in Britain after he tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone at a meeting he ran years after officially retiring from competition.

When the IAAF, of which Coe is now vice-president, refused to accept the overturning of the positive test and imposed a ban, he declined to challenge them, believing it would be a waste of money.

So the British Olympic Association imposed their automatic ban on him from all involvement with the Olympics as athlete, coach or official.