Linford Christie

British-Jamaican sprinter who became the first Briton to break 10 seconds in the 100m and won Olympic gold in Barcelona 1992, dominating sprinting in the 1990s.

Linford Christie was born in St Andrew, Jamaica in 1960 and moved to London aged 7, becoming Great Britain's most successful male sprinter — winning the Olympic 100m gold at Barcelona 1992 at the age of 32, making him the oldest man to win the event at the Olympics. He competed from 1979 to 1997. His personal best of 9.87 seconds was the European record and made him the first British athlete to run under 10 seconds. He won the World Championship 100m in Stuttgart in 1993. He won 2 European Championship 100m titles (1986, 1990) and the 1990 Commonwealth title. His Barcelona gold — in a final where he had been disqualified twice for false starts before being recalled — was the culmination of a career built on exceptional reaction time, explosive acceleration and competitive durability across more than a decade. He was suspended for a doping violation in 1999 after testing positive for nandrolone — which he denied and challenged — ending his elite career. He became a prominent coach and athletics agent after retirement, working with several world-class sprinters including Darren Campbell and Katharine Merry.

Britain's greatest male sprinter, dominated 100m in late 80s/early 90s

• Olympic Gold 100m Barcelona 1992
• World Champion 100m Stuttgart 1993
• European Champion 100m 1986, 1990
• Commonwealth Champion 100m 1990
• OBE 1998
• First Briton to break 10 seconds for 100m