Who was Linford Christie’s coach Ron Roddan?

RON RODDAN is one of the most iconic coaches in British athletics history.

He most famously coached Linford Christie to Olympic 100 metres gold in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics.

Ron Roddan and Linford Christie were inseparable as coach and athleteRex

Roddan coached many household names in the vibrant athletics scene, when it was one of the most-watched sports on TV.

Who was Ron Roddan?

Ron Roddan was a Civil Service lab assistant until he started coaching in athletics in 1979.

He made his name as a sprint coach at Thames Valley Harriers.

Roddan met Christie at West London Stadium – a track that would later be named after the champ himself.

He became part of the furniture in the London athletics scene and slowly coaxed the best of out Christie’s abilities.

It was Christie who claimed silver in the 100m behind Carl Lewis at the most infamous race of all time – the 1988 Olympic final in Seoul.

Christie thought he had claimed bronze, only for Canadian winner Ben Johnson to be disqualified after the final.

Four years later Christie went to Barcelona as a contender and was second fastest going into the final.

But he won the Olympic gold in 9.96 seconds – a race Roddan infamously missed because he had hurt his ankle.

He watched the race on a TV in the warm-up area instead.

Christie announced on his Instagram page that Roddan had passed away.

He posted a picture of them together with the words: “Broken R I E P RON “Rocket” RODDAN.