Linford Christie has opened up about the hardships he faced after his controversial two-year doping ban despite being cleared by UK Athletics.
Retired Jamaican-British sprinter Linford Christie has opened up about some of the hardships he encountered following his two-year doping ban by World Athletics.
Linford Christie had retired in 1997 and taken up a coaching but he would occasionally compete alongside sprinters in his training camp.
In 1999, Christie took up a challenge to return to competition and that’s when his woes began. He tested positive for nandrolone after a competition in Germany and was suspended for two years, but that suspension did not just come out of the blues.
Kishane Thompson has embraced a series of firsts, from seeing snow and touching it to making his indoor debut in Astana.
According to UK Athletics Federation after a series of investigations were conducted, the three-time European Champion was cleared off the charges.
However, World Athletics did not want to let the issue go just like that and requested that Christie goes to Monaco to explain himself.
At the time, Linford Christie had had enough back and forth with the UK Athletics Federation and did not comply to the request by World Athletics, leading to the ban.
“I didn’t do it and I had already been through all that with the UK Athletics and they found me innocent. When they decided to reverse what UK Athletics had said, by that time, I was emotionless,” Linford Christie said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“It did affect me in a big way because at the time, I couldn’t commentate anymore, sponsors were just dropping. For two years, I didn’t earn a penny and I know it’s never going to come back to what it was.”
He revealed that the ban came at a time he had just retired and was competing recreationally. The two-time Olympic silver medallist also insisted that he was innocent and had not engaged in any heinous acts.
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After the UK Athletics Federation had cleared him, Linford Christie explained that he was a bit elated and knew that there were no issues that would follow up.
“I had retired at the time, I just wanted my reputation and that’s what I wanted. I was called for another test and there was nothing in my system, my test was negative. I was happy that they believed that I didn’t do it but now you have to go and explain yourself all over again,” he shared.
After serving the two-year ban, Linford Christie established a successful sports management company and also works as a coach.
