Linford Christie still bitter over torch relay snub; criticizes Sebastian Coe

Former Olympic and world 100-meter champion Linford Christie is still bitter about not being invited to run in the London leg of Beijing's torch relay.

Christie was not invited by the British Olympic Association because he was banned for two years after testing positive for nandrolone in 1999.

He was invited by the office of London's former mayor Ken Livingstone, who quickly retracted the offer. Christie said at the time he would be unavailable to run in the April 6 relay because of a training camp, but the snub still rankles.

"I think it should be my right as a stalwart of our sport (to run), I've done my country proud," Christie said in a BBC Radio 4 interview to be broadcast Sunday. "For me, I look at track and field and what I did in the sport, it's like going to war. I went out there and I battled against other countries and put British sprinting on the map and so therefore I don't think it's something I should want to do, I think it's something I should be asked to do."

Christie, who won the gold medal in the 100 at the 1992 Olympics and the world championship a year later, is banned by the BOA from attending Olympic events because of his positive test.

He said his achievements had never been fully appreciated in Britain.

"Everyone says OK for me if I sing my own song and blow my own trumpet," he said. "I've achieved more single-handedly, I'd say, than any other athlete or any other sportsman in this country."

Christie also expressed disdain for former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe, who heads the organizing committee for the 2012 London Olympics.

Christie said he had been good friends with Coe, who won Olympic gold in the 1,500 meters in 1980 and 1984. The two have fallen out in recent years.

"I've known Seb for a long time and if he felt that he had a problem with me, as you do if you are friends, you come and say it, you come and say it to me as man to man," Christie said. "So therefore, for him to go in a newspaper and say something, then he had an agenda, and that's what I think it is. And again, what did he achieve for athletics? I'm still bitter about him. I cannot stand the guy and, to be honest, I wish we didn't even talk about it because I have nothing good to say about Sebastian Coe at all. Absolutely nothing."