Linford Christie today said he "cannot stand" Sebastian Coe and partly blamed his former team-mate for him not being allowed to run in the Olympic torch relay in London in April.

The former Olympic 100metres champion, banned for two years after testing positive for nandrolone in 1999, is still bitter he was not nominated by the British Olympic Association to be part of the parade of sports stars and celebrities.

And Christie claims his fall-out with the London Olympic Committee chairman was a reason for this.

"I think it should be my right as a stalwart of our sport [to take part in the relay]. I've done my country proud," he said. "For me, I look at track and field and what I did in the sport, it's like going to war.

"I battled against other countries and put British sprinting on the map and so therefore I don't think it's something I should want to do, I think it's something I should be asked to do.

"Seb and I were good friends and if he felt 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 absolutely nothing good to say about him."

The 48-year-old has always denied taking performance-enhancing substances.