Linford Christie is one of the most highly-decorated athletes in British history, earning a total of 24 medals during his career, including an Olympic gold medal.
However, despite his stellar efforts on the track, Linford was also steeped in some controversy over doping allegations. He tested positive for a banned substance during the 1988 Olympic Games and two years following his retirement he was suspended for two years for testing positive for nandrolone.
Following his athletics career, Linford went into coaching, with two of his students, Darren Campbell and Katharine Merry tasting success at the Olympic Games and World Series.
Outside of the sport, Linford has fathered eight children, while several of his nieces and nephews have achieved stardom either as models or becoming sportspeople themselves.
Children
The 64-year-old athlete has fathered eight children with his oldest son being Merrick, who he fathered with ex-girlfriend Judith Osborne. He shares twin sons Liam and Korel with his ex, Yvonne Oliver and three children with long-time girlfriend Mandy Miller: Briannah and a son and daughter whose names have not been shared. Linford also fathered two sons, whose names aren’t public, with Letitia Rathbone.
Merrick, 45, has followed in his father’s sporty footsteps and is currently a personal trainer and nutritionist at the Frogmore Leisure Centre in Yateley, Hampshire.
Korel, 39, has mostly kept out of the public spotlight, however Linford’s son Liam, 39, made headlines in 2012 when he was jailed for four years for dealing drugs including heroin and cocaine.
Briannah, 26, has gone down a different route than her father and according to her LinkedIn bio, she is a final year law student with an interest in social justice. Briannah is close to her father and features in a BBC documentary examining his career and fall from grace.
In one clip, she tearfully tells the camera: “He [Linford] finds it hard to see the good in what he’s done. Maybe I’ll dig out his medals and plant them around the house just to remind him there are good times. I think he deserves to be proud of the things he did do.”
Famous relatives
Linford comes from a family-of-seven and so it’s not surprising that some of his relatives have also gone on to achieve stardom, with his nieces and nephews taking the modelling and sporting world by storm.
The athlete’s niece, Rachel Christie, initially went into athletics, with her uncle serving as her coach, but ultimately started competing in beauty pageants. Rachel’s biggest achievement came when she was the first Black woman to be crowned Miss England, back in 2009.
However, following an altercation with Miss Manchester in a nightclub, she relinquished her crown, despite being released without charge by police. Rachel stepped back into the spotlight when she competed on the first series of the revived Love Island, however she eliminated after 11 days in the villa.
Linford is also the uncle of another reality TV star, Joshua R. Christie, who competed on the 2019 series of Shipwrecked. In his youth, Joshua was a budding rugby star representing Jamaica in the 7s tournament.
Linford has another sporty nephew in the shape of professional footballer Omari Patrick, who currently plays for Sutton United. Omari has played for several lower league clubs including Carlisle United and Bradford City.
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