He may have been one of Britain’s most successful ever athletes, but Christie’s triumphs opened him up to abuse from the press, the police – and sexual harassment
‘I am so proud of being British,” says Linford Christie. Watching this painful hour and a half-long portrait of one of Britain’s most accomplished yet controversial athletes, it’s hard to figure out why. England’s footballers may be enduring 58 years of hurt, but Christie runs them a close second.
When Christie sensationally won gold in the 100m final of the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart (“I must have been ranked about 15th”), he celebrated on track by draping the union jack over his shoulders – only to be ticked off. Now 64, Christie recalls being told by a British official that it was not the done thing: “He meant it was not the done thing for a Black person.”
