Linford CHRISTIE

In January 1994 Linford Christie returned to the scene of his only European Indoor Championship triumph, Glasgow, to run indoors and again ran the 60m there in 6.56 secs, just beating Colin jackson (6.57). That match against Russia was followed by a match against the USA in February where the pair ran 6.53 and 6.55 for another 1-2 , but Linford then lost the AAA's title to Micheal Rosswess (both 6.56) in Birmingham later that month. At the outdoor AAA's Championships Linford was not to be beaten, racing to the title in a wind assisted 9.91 secs and then later in June captained Britain at the European Cup, where he won both the 100m (10.21 secs.) and the 200m (20.67 secs.). However, what really mattered to Christie were the two major championships titles he was defending, the European and the Commonwealth.

Helsinki was the venue of the first and Linford duly retained his title in 10.14 secs. from Norway's Geir Moen (10.20) the photo above show him during the preliminaries and exactly two weeks later in Victoria, Canada, he repeated his 1990 triumph of winning the Commonwealth 100m title in a Championship Best Performance. Only on this occasion his win was not wind assisted and his time of 9.91 secs. was the second fastest in the world that year. The men behind him included Micheael Green (10.05), Frank Fredericks (10.06) and Ato Boldon (10.07). His season was not all triumph. At the European he dropped the baton on his change over and in Victoria would not run the relay - where England lost their title to Canada.

Linford Christie's defence of his world 100 metres title took place in Gothenburg, Sweden during August of 1995, at a time when he was suffering from a slight hamstring injury. He is pictured above during the early rounds. 6th. June 1995 photo Stuart Franklin ©.˙.Consequently he ran below his best and was relegated to sixth place in the final, won by Canada's Donovan Bailey in 9.97 seconds from fellow Canadian Bruny Surin (10.03). Linford clocked a 10.12 time. Of little consolation to Christie was the fact of his nine head-to-heads with Bailey he won five and he beat Surin five times in their seven clashes.

At the famous Weltklasse in Zurich, just eight days after the world championship final, Linford beat Donovan, but by then he had lost the one race that really mattered. On the 1995 ranking lists Linford placed third, behind the two Canadian's, with a season best of 9.97 seconds recorded in Johannesburg on September 23rd, having eight days earlier ran a 10.00 in Tokyo, where he had beaten Surin. Remarkably, the 1995 ranking list contained only two USA sprinters in the top ten neither of whom were well known (Tim Harden and Terry Bowen) thus giving an indication of how cosmopolitan world class sprinting had become. (GH)

In the year he was defending his Olympic 100 metres title Linford made an auspicious start to his international season with a brilliant double at the European Cup Final in Madrid, on a 1-2 June. Day one saw him win the 100 metres race in 10.04 seconds, from Germany's In the year he was defending his Olympic 100 metres title Linford made an auspicious start to his international season with a brilliant double at the European Cup Final in Madrid, on a 1-2 June. Day one saw him win the 100 metres race in 10.04 seconds, from Germany's Marc Blume (10.25 secs.) and on the Sunday he won the 200 metres with a time of 20.25 secs. aided by a wind of +2.5 mps. ahead of the Ukraine's Vladislav Dologodin (20.39). Johnathan Edwards and Sally Gunnell were Britain's only other winners that weekend which also saw the men's team lose their title to Germany.

Two weeks later Linford was contesting the AAA's Championships (pictured above in the 100m heats 14th. June 1996 © G.Herringshaw.) were he won the 100m in 10.04 seconds from Darren Braithwaite (10.25) and only narrowly lost the 200m final to John Regis, both 20.54 secs. in what was the British Olympic Trial meeting. Within a month he was in Atlanta for the Olympic Games. Linford ran his fastest time of the season, when winning his quarterfinal in 10.03 and duly progressed to the final. But on July 27th 1996 Linford Chritie's dream became a nightmare. He not only did not successfully defend his title - he did not even contest the race. He was disqualified for two false starts. It marked the beginning of the end of his remarkable international career for he never again won an international title. He was, it must be pointed out, by then thirty six years of age. Had anyone suggested ten years earlier, when he made his break through into world class athletics, that he would still be a force in sprinting a decade later, they would have been looked upon as being stupid. Sprinting was after all a young man's event - that is, until Linford came along. (GH)

 At an age most international athlete had long since 'hung up their spikes' Linford Christie was finding it very difficult to leave the stage. But why should he ? True his Olympic and World titles had passed to men with swifter legs but on the domestic scene, in Great Britain, he still was the No 1 sprinter. And there was the no small matter of appearance money which he could still command as one of the all time greats of European sprinting. Had he been a golfer he could expect to receive appearance money almost into his dotage. So he soldiered on, choosing his 'battle fields', as befits an old campaigner.

In 1997 his opening race of any significance was to be the European Cup final, in Munich, an event he had all but made his own. Following a warm up event in Nuremberg, the week before, where he ran 10.11 secs behind Donovan Bailey (9.94) he set off to Munich. There he performed to his customary superb standard winning the 100 metres on day one with a time of 10.04 seconds (his fastest time of the year) ahead of an old adversary Geir Moen of Norway. The following day he contested the 200 metres, but didn't win ! He did, however, dead heat for first place with Greece's Georgios Panayotopoulos, in a time of 20.56 seconds.

His heroics helped the men's team regain the team trophy pushing the holders, Germany, into second place. He chose not to compete in the National Championships, which were the trials for the 1997 World Championships, leaving that title to his then protege Ian Mackie. For the remainder of the season, which had began in Australia in February he raced sparingly. He once more topped the British 100 metres ranking lists, for a record 12th successive season. He then announced his retirement from major athletics. (GH).