The British are well and truly into the Olympic swing of tings and merchandise is by all accounts selling well, especially a book entitled “The Great British Olympians,” which has been endorsed by the British Olympic Association.
However all is not quite what it seems and what the British spent many years accusing the rest of the world of doing, hushing up historical facts, thay are themselves now doing.
In the book sprinter Linford Christie’s 100m Gold medal achievement in the 100m at the Barcelona Games in 1992 has been airbrushed out.
Christie’s achievement is ranked below Scotsman Alan Wells 100m Gold medal in Moscow, when 65 nations were boycotting the Games and which was run in a far slower time. He even is left behind a horse named FoxHunter from the 1952 games!
Christie tested positive to a banned substance well after his ’92 achievement, in 1999 when he was an older statesman of the track. He never tested positive previously despite numerous drug tests. Even though the court of arbitration overruled his lifetime ban imposed by the BOA and the fact that he has four athletes he coaches in the GB team, he is best forgotten along with the joy be brought when he won that gold medal.
They say you cannot change history, but it would appear the BOA can erase it!
