Coe says Christie's out of line and totally off track

British middle distance legend Sebastian Coe has attacked sprinter Linford Christie, questioning the former Olympic champion's credentials as a role model to young athletes.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Coe, himself a double Olympic champion in the 1980s, blasted Christie for recently describing British athletics as "corrupt".

Christie, whose two-year suspension for a positive drug test ended yesterday, said in an interview he would not want his children to enter the sport.

But in a hard-hitting retort, Coe, who competed in the same British team as Christie for six years, claims Christie should take a long hard look at himself before criticising officialdom.

"(Christie) would be well-advised to do some soul-searching as he returns today from a two-year suspension after testing positive for nandrolone," said Coe. "Christie's place as our greatest sprinter is unquestioned . . . but there has been controversy on the way.

"Christie's captaincy of the British team was marked by continual conflict with team coaches, most notably high profile and disfiguring arguments about the order of baton changes in the sprint relay.

"I sat in one team meeting when he made himself deliberately unintelligible to all but those who had a passing knowledge of jive and, 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."

Coe was sharply critical of Christie's behaviour at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when the reigning champion was disqualified for two false starts.

"(Christie) gracelessly paraded himself before an Olympic final having false-started twice. In doing so, he seriously affected the chances of fellow competitors before being asked to leave the stadium.

"Christie says in his interview: `The sport is so corrupt now I wouldn't want my child to do it.' Well, I hope my children do take up the sport. And I only hope they look long and hard before deciding on a role model."