|
 |
 | | You are in: You are in: Athletics |
 | | Thursday, 15 February, 2001, 08:58 GMT Christie fury at Coe's 'racial' jibe  Christie says Coe's comments were 'out of order' Linford Christie says the fierce criticism of him by fellow former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe had "a racial connotation." The 1992 Olympic 100m gold medallist sprinter says he was shocked by Lord Coe's attack. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Coe rounded on the former British team captain following a recent interview in the BBC's Eve magazine. In the magazine article, Christie hit out at athletics chiefs labelling them so "corrupt" that he did not want his children to follow in his footsteps. Coe said of Christie: "I sat in one team meeting when he made himself deliberately unintelligible to all but those who had a passing knowledge of jive.
"If officialdom was to blame for anything, it was to turn a blind eye to his boorish behaviour and then making him team captain to buy some peace." In an interview with BBC Radio Four where he was asked about the 'jive' comment, Christie said: "I took that as a racial connotation, to be honest with you. "Maybe Seb feels he's more upper class than I am. Is 'jiving' a racial slur?" Former middle-distance runner Coe advised Christie to do some "soul-searching" as he returns from a two-year suspension after testing positive for nandrolone.
The double Olympic gold medallist Coe, a British team-mate of Christie's for six years, questioned his credentials as a role model for young athletes. "Christie's place as our greatest sprinter is unquestioned," he said. "But there has been controversy on the way." In 1988, Christie avoided suspension for failing a drug test at the Seoul Olympics after attributing the test result to ginseng. "Some thought him lucky. Me included, " said Coe. But Christie countered: "Do I feel lucky? I will take a lie detector test with anybody in our sport." 'Shocked' Coe criticised Christie's captaincy of the British team, claiming it was marked by continual conflict with coaches and, most notably, arguments about baton changes in the sprint relay. He claimed that Christie now sneers at the anonymous "amateur" helpers who supported him and shared in his glory. He also attacked Christie's behaviour at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when the reigning champion was disqualified for two false starts. But Christie said of Coe's article: "I was totally shocked by it, and he was totally out of order." And he said he believed the pair's friendship had been ruined. "I thought Seb and I were friends. I have nothing to say to Seb anymore," said Christie. | |
See also:  Other top Athletics stories:  Links to more Athletics stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more Athletics stories |
| ||
 | ^^ Back to top | |
| Front Page | Football | Cricket | Rugby Union | Rugby League | Tennis | Golf | Motorsport | Boxing | Athletics | Other Sports | Sports Talk | In Depth | Photo Galleries | Audio/Video | TV & Radio | BBC Pundits | Question of Sport | Funny Old Game ------------------------------------------------------------ BBC News >> | BBC Weather >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMII|News Sources|Privacy | ||
SPORTS TALK
Role model
E-mail this story to a friend