Linford Christie OBE (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter and athletics coach.

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 m at the European Championships and finished second in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, behind Ben Johnson.

At the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome, Christie came fourth in the 100 m, but was later awarded the bronze medal, when winner Johnson was disqualified after admitting years of steroid use.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Christie won the 100 m silver behind Carl Lewis after Johnson, who set a world record in 9.79 seconds, was again disqualified following a positive drug test.

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 m runner making his international championship debut, tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine.

[8] 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 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 a six-month delay, a disciplinary hearing was convened by the British Athletic Federation which found Christie to be not guilty.

[10][11][12] "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.".

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.

[15] 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 pro-hormones like 19-norandrostenedione, Androstenedione, and 1-Testosterone, among others, abounded in the American supplement market, and were not yet codified as 'anabolic agents' under the Federal Controlled Substances Act.

The term Linford's lunchbox had been coined by The Sun newspaper in reference to the noticeable bulge of Christie's genitalia in his Lycra shorts.

"[20] In court, the judge Mr Justice Popplewell, amused some by tactlessly asking Christie to explain the phrase, asking "What is 'Linford's lunchbox?

[22][23] In the successful British bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, Christie was absent from the team, even though he has stated that he attempted to get involved.

Christie has cited an ongoing feud between himself and former teammate Sebastian Coe, who led the bid committee, as a likely reason for the snub.

[24][25][26] Commenting on the argument, Christie's teammate, Derek Redmond, said he was "a well-balanced athlete; he has a chip on both shoulders.

In the 4 × 100 m relay event Christie's performance as anchor, alongside Colin Jackson, Tony Jarrett and John Regis, set a European record of 37.77 s at the 1993 World Championships.

Christie broke the world indoor record over 200 m with 20.25 s at Liévin in 1995, and remains the seventh fastest sprinter on the all-time list.

His niece Rachel Christie was crowned Miss England in 2009 though later relinquished the title following allegations of assault.

[47] In 1993 Christie formed a sports management and promotions company, Nuff Respect, with sprint-hurdler Colin Jackson.