Explore popular quotes and sayings by a British athlete Linford Christie.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Linford Cicero Christie is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was the first European athlete to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m and still holds the British record in the event. He is a former world indoor record holder over 200 metres, and a former European record holder in the 60 metres, 100 m and 4 × 100 metres relay.
My first love is the sport, and it will always be my priority.
I think it's great that they are getting funding, but it's just too easy. They don't have to work for it. We did it because we had pride, because we loved it.
I'm good in the garden and I can do the cooking, ironing and cleaning, but I can't hang wallpaper or paint.
When I was young you raced from one end of the street to the other, or round the block.
Olympic Style lifting compliments sprint training perfectly. It does this by making sure everything in the body is 'fully connected.' This is based on the principle that all movements have a kinetic chain.
As athletes, when you find something that gets to someone you have to press their buttons.
I used to say to my opponents: 'If you let me beat you, I'm going to tell your kids you were beaten by an older man.' When I beat them I would tell them I did it with a slight hamstring problem or that I was only feeling 80 per cent fit.
I think there's institutionalised racism in this country.
But I sometimes think we have too much of a fixation about 2012.
I don't think there are really enough meetings in Britain for our athletes to compete properly, and because of this a lot of the talent we have has been stunted.
Adopting a new healthier lifestyle can involve changing diet to include more fresh fruit and vegetables as well as increasing levels of exercise.
I coach a few guys and they work very, very hard, but in our day we did it because we just loved it.
I love being in the garden, and my 'chilling-out room' is almost like being out there.
I am a coach on the outside of the establishment and that works.
You can always be stronger.
If you criticise something then you have to have an alternative, but we do have to try and improve things.
What motivated me as much as anything was to show the racists that a black man could bring pride and honour to Britain.
I've never enjoyed being cooped up.
I am there for the athletes I coach.
I think the athletes respond well to me because I have been successful.
There was no money in the sport but we'd be out there day in, day out, rain or shine, doing it.
Some of today's athletes do not have that kind of pride. They left school at 16, have never had a job in their life and are getting Lottery funding, earning money as an athlete.
I have always eaten well.
I know what it takes to get to the top.
Appreciate me for what I am doing.
I grew up until I was seven in Jamaica with my grandmother, who I still think of as the greatest person I have known in my life.
I think the Jamaicans are among the most talented people on the planet; it's just that through circumstances, through poverty, they rarely get the chance to bring those talents to the fore.
I like to have space.
I've done my country proud.
People live, people die. It's always hard when it's a member of your family.
I'm a very opinionated person and when I feel something I have to say it.
When I was competing, I cut out red meat but only because I felt it took too long to digest, so I stuck to chicken and fish.
I have got better things to do in working with my athletes who I feel are going to be involved in 2012.
We have got to go out there and deliver, go on the streets and find athletes, improve facilities around the country and find coaches. We have got to go out there and search for a star.
Within what gifts you are given you can change certain events in your life and some people choose not to do that.
When I was competing I didn't have a nutritionist. It wasn't something that British athletics offered back then.
Obviously I was disappointed when it fell into disuse, because it was my own track named after me, but I am sure all those youngsters we lost will be coming back, and I certainly intend to be down here as much as I can, coaching and advising.
It should be your parents and others in the community that you look up to. For me it was my grandmother, a great woman. She had wisdom and knowledge.
Regardless of what I've ever done or will ever do, I'll always be black.
When I was competing, I trained between three and six hours a day, seven days a week.
When you see athletes like me win gold medals, you only see the finished product, you dont see the real effort that the likes of Ron have put into making that product. Without the Ron Roddans of this world, you would have no sport.
I think it is good for youngsters to see me at 45 still jogging around the track. If me being here gives them a boost then thats great.
Robert Fox is real good! Enough said!
The Stroke Association has produced leaflets that set out clearly the health risks associated with stroke that African-Caribbean people face.