BBC SPORT | ATHLETICS | Coaching cash for Christie

Former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie has secured up to �35,000 in annual coaching grants just a week after completing a two-year drugs ban.

Christie approached Richard Callicott, the chief executive of UK Sport, because of worries that he would be barred from receiving the money due to his suspension for steroid use.

UK Sport, the government agency that funds British sport, distributes lottery funding to Britain's sporting elite.

The agency plans to introduce a new rule on 1 January, 2002, to ban all athletes who have received a two-year doping suspension from receiving public money.

Under natural justice, he is allowed to coach

UK Sport's Richard Callicott

But Callicott described as "an anomaly" the case of a banned athlete retiring from competition and taking up coaching, as Christie has done.

The matter will be discussed by UK Sport and Britain's other sports governing bodies at a special conference at the end of March.

"Because Linford is an anomaly in the system, we cannot not allow him to receive funding," Callicott said, confirming he had been approached by Christie.

"There's no other case we know of where an athlete banned for two years has retired and gone into coaching - I'm not aware of that in any other sport at any time.

"Under natural justice, he is allowed to coach," said Callicot.

UK Athletics distributes up to �10,000 per athlete each year to coaches of world-ranking competitors.

This helps towards the costs of warm-weather training and attending international championships.

Katharine Merry at the Birmingham Grand Prix
"As far as Linford Christie is concerned, now that his suspension is over, he can receive grant aid for coaching under our world class performance plan," said Emily Lewis, spokeswoman for UK Athletics.

"He is not going to receive a direct grant. The amount will be determined in discussion with his athletes," Lewis said.

Christie, 40, was banned from athletics for two years in 1999 after testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone at an indoor meeting in Germany.

He subsequently announced his retirement from competition to concentrate on his coaching and business interests.

Winter training

Christie coaches Sydney Olympic sprint medallists Katharine Merry and Darren Campbell as well as world indoor 400 metres champion Jamie Baulch.

Before his ban, Christie had claimed expenses against invoices, and the coaching grants were paid to his management company, Nuff Respect.

UK Athletics said "he claimed about 50 per cent of the money to which he is entitled".

Christie regularly spends up to two months with his athletes training in Australia or the United States during the winter, as well as attending the annual championship meetings each summer.

He is also known to pay the travel expenses of some of the younger, less well-off members of his training group out of his own pocket.


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