The loss of his great former coach Ron Roddan has left LINFORD CHRISTIE “broken.”
On Friday morning, the Team GB Olympic legend posted a picture of the couple on Instagram to share the tragic news.
In 1979, “Rocket” Roddan started mentoring former Olympic sprinter Christie. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a sprinter, and he also worked as a lab assistant for the civil service.
During Roddan’s illustrious coaching tenure with Thames Valley Harriers, he helped over 30 competitors qualify for Great Britain.
He is most known for coaching Christie to the Olympic 100-meter gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the thriving athletics scene, when it was one of the most watched sports on TV, Roddan coached several well-known athletes.
He settled into the athletics culture in London and gradually brought out Christie’s best qualities. At the most controversial race in history, the 1988 Olympic final in Seoul, Christie finished second to Carl Lewis in the 100-meter final.
Christie thought he had won bronze, but after the final, Canadian champion Ben Johnson was disqualified. Christie competed in Barcelona four years later and qualified for the final as the second-fastest man there.
However, Roddan famously lost the Olympic gold medal race because of an ankle injury he finished in 9.96 seconds. Instead, he viewed the race on a TV in the warm-up area.
In 2011, he was given the London Regional Council’s Performance Coach of the Year Award.