Editing Linford Christie (section)

==Professional athletics career==
Christie's early track career was not particularly promising. A comparatively slow starter, he failed to make the Great Britain team for the [[1984 Summer Olympics]], not even being included in the sprint relay squad. It was not until some years after he had begun to work in earnest on his running technique under the coaching guidance of [[Ron Roddan]] in 1979 that he fulfilled his potential.

In 1986, he was the surprise winner of the 100&nbsp;m at the [[1986 European Championships in Athletics#Track|European Championships]] and finished second in the same event at the [[Commonwealth Games]] in Edinburgh, behind [[Ben Johnson (Canadian sprinter)|Ben Johnson]]. At the [[1987 World Championships in Athletics]] in Rome, Christie came fourth in the 100&nbsp;m, but was later awarded the bronze medal, when winner Johnson was disqualified after admitting years of [[doping in sport|steroid use]].

At the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] in [[Seoul]], Christie won the 100&nbsp;m silver behind [[Carl Lewis]] after Johnson, who set a world record in 9.79&nbsp;seconds, was again disqualified following a positive drug test. Christie's time was 9.97 seconds, a new European record by 0.03 seconds and this was only the third time that an athlete had broken the ten second barrier in the 100 metres without winning the race.

In 1992, Christie became the third British athlete to win the Olympic 100&nbsp;m, after [[Harold Abrahams]] and [[Allan Wells]], winning the title ahead of [[Frankie Fredericks]] of [[Namibia]] at the [[Barcelona Olympic Games]]. In the absence of his great rival Lewis, Christie ran 9.96&nbsp;s in the final, and at the age of 32 years 121 days became the oldest Olympic 100&nbsp;m champion by four years and 38 days.

In 1993, he became the first man in history to hold the Olympic, World, [[1990 European Championships in Athletics#Track|European]] and Commonwealth titles in the 100 m as he was victorious at the [[1993 World Championships in Athletics|Stuttgart World Championships]] in his fastest ever time of 9.87.<ref name="Athlete Profile">{{cite web|url= http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=41565|title=Power of 10: Linford Christie|access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref> The time stood as the British record until 2023. His achievement saw him being voted [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] by the British public that year.

The following year, in 1994, he defended his [[1994 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth]] title in [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] in his second fastest ever 100 m time of 9.91.<ref name="Athlete Profile" />

Defending his [[1996 Summer Olympics|Olympic title in 1996]], Christie was disqualified in the final after two false starts. He said: "The first one I knew I did, but on the second one I felt I reacted perfectly to the gun. I have never been disqualified from a race before in my life. What a place to do it."<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/christie-self-destructs-in-defence-of-his-title-1330976.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/christie-self-destructs-in-defence-of-his-title-1330976.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=Christie self-destructs in defence of his title| website=[[Independent.co.uk]]| date=29 July 1996}}</ref> His reaction time was 0.086 seconds. Under IAAF rules, sprinters are not allowed to start from their blocks faster than 0.1 seconds.

Christie retired from representative international competition in 1997,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/412020.stm Christie: Legend under fire] [[BBC Sport]] (4 August 1999) Retrieved on 2009-01-20</ref> although he continued to make appearances at invitation meetings.

===Doping allegations and ban===
==== Early allegations ====
Christie faced an [[International Olympic Committee]] disciplinary hearing at the 1988 Seoul Olympics because of an adverse drug test for the banned stimulant [[pseudoephedrine]] after he ran in the heats of the 200 m. He escaped sanction after the committee voted by a margin of 11 to 10 and gave Christie "the benefit of the doubt."<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/and-what-inquired-mlud-is-linfords-lunch-box-1165856.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/and-what-inquired-mlud-is-linfords-lunch-box-1165856.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title = And what, inquired M'Lud, is Linford's lunch box?|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 19 June 1998}}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/1033514.stm Christie takes the stand] [[BBC Sport]] (21 November 2000) Retrieved on 2009-01-20</ref> Christie argued that he had taken it inadvertently when drinking some [[ginseng tea]].

At the 1994 European championships staged in [[Helsinki]], where British team captain Christie won his third European 100 m title, he was caught up in a doping controversy after [[Solomon Wariso]], a [[400 metres|400 m]] runner making his international championship debut, tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine. Wariso revealed that he had used an over-the-counter pick-you-up called "Up Your Gas", which Christie had bought at a Florida pharmacy.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/4768790/Shadow-over-Christies-reputation.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Shadow over Christie's reputation | first=Tom | last=Knight | date=22 August 2000 | access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref>

In 1998, less than six months before his first positive drug test, Christie won a [[libel]] action against the journalist [[John McVicar]]. McVicar had insinuated in a satirical magazine that Christie's remarkable rise from 156th in the world to triumph at an age when he should have been in decline could only have been achieved through performance-enhancing drugs. The jury found in Christie's favour by a 10–2 majority. The judge ordered that McVicar should be bound by an injunction restraining him from accusing Christie of taking banned substances. The modest £40,000 damages awarded were outweighed by the legal costs that Christie incurred to bring the case. After the judgment, McVicar called Christie "The [[Judy Garland]] of the 100 metres", referring to the emotion that Christie had displayed before the court.<ref>Thackray, Rachelle (28 June 1998). [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980628/ai_n14154422 What the papers said] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221115244/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980628/ai_n14154422 |date=21 December 2007 }} ''[[The Independent]]''; Retrieved on 2009-01-20.</ref>

==== Positive drugs test and ban from athletics ====
In February 1999, Christie competed in an indoor meet in [[Dortmund]], Germany. A routine in competition drug test found the banned substance [[nandrolone]]. After a six-month delay, a disciplinary hearing was convened by the [[UK Athletics|British Athletic Federation]] which found Christie to be not guilty. But the [[IAAF]] overruled and confirmed a two-year suspension. He was found to have more than 100 times threshold levels of the metabolites of nandrolone in his urine. Various explanations were offered to explain the result.<ref>Professor Ron Maughan, [[University of Aberdeen]]. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15467106 Contamination of supplements: an interview with professor Ron Maughan by Louise M. Burke] [[PubMed]] Retrieved 2009-01-20</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/in_depth/2000/drugs_in_sport/863386.stm Moorcroft backs medical research] [[BBC Sport]] (2 August 2000) Retrieved on 2009-01-20</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tseng |first1=Y. L. |last2=Kuo |first2=F. H. |last3=Sun |first3=K. H. |year=2005 |title=Quantification and profiling of 19-norandrosterone and 19-noretiocholanolone in human urine after consumption of a nutritional supplement and norsteroids |journal=Journal of Analytical Toxicology |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=124–134 |doi= 10.1093/jat/29.2.124|pmid=15902981 |doi-access=free }}</ref> "You think that's an awful lot," says Professor Ron Maughan one of the UK Athletics anti-doping panellists who worked on Christie's case, "but the amounts are so small, they would have absolutely no physiological effect, but they would trigger a doping test.".<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/articles/c035805y52mo] [[BBC Sport]] (20 July 2024)</ref> The [[International Amateur Athletic Federation|IAAF]] rejected the explanations and gave Christie a two-years ban from athletics, despite [[UK Athletics]] feeling that there was reasonable doubt whether the drug had been taken deliberately, a decision which ignored the usual drug testing principle of "strict liability".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/889694.stm British trio rocked by doping bans] [[BBC Sport]] (21 August 2000) Retrieved on 2009-01-20</ref>

Several alternative theories have been proposed that might explain Christie's positive test. [[Nandrolone]] is a long-acting [[anabolic steroid]], and is well-known in athlete circles to be detectable in blood and urine screenings for long periods; ranging from 6 to 18 months.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ayotte |first1=C. |title=Significance of 19-norandrosterone in athletes' urine samples |year=2006 |volume=40 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=i25–i29 |journal=British Journal of Sports Medicine |doi=10.1136/bjsm.2006.028027 |pmid=16799098 |pmc=2657496 }}</ref> Sceptics of Christie's positive, and other [[Nandrolone]] sanctions in the late 1990s, have cited this detection window as a major deterrent to using the drug at any point during training or competition periods. Around this time [[Androgen prohormone|pro-hormones]] like [[Bolandione|19-norandrostenedione]], [[Androstenedione]], and [[1-Testosterone]], among others, abounded in the American supplement market, and were not yet codified as '[[anabolic agents]]' under the [[Controlled Substances Act|Federal Controlled Substances Act]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=G.A. |last2=Vukovich |first2=M. |last3=King |first3=D.S. |title=Testosterone prohormone supplements |journal=Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise |year=2006 |volume=38 |issue=8 |pages=1451–61 |publisher=Medical Science of Sport and Exercise |doi=10.1249/01.mss.0000228928.69512.2e |pmid=16888459 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Christie has always denied any wrongdoing. "If I took drugs there had to be a reason to take drugs. I had pretty much retired from the sport." Furthermore, he denied that his physique was gained through drug use and promoted an anti-steroid approach: "It does not follow that all athletes who are big take drugs ... Only by testing all athletes will the sport be kept clean of drugs."<ref name="autogenerated1" />

==== Fallout following positive drugs test ====
Following his positive drugs test and ban from athletics, Christie was banned for life from the [[British Olympic Association]], who announced that Christie would not be accredited for any future Olympic Games, in accordance with their regulations.