Editing Linford Christie (section)

==== 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" />