Christie angry over Olympic ban

Christian Malcolm's hopes of winning a medal at the Beijing Olympics were hit by the British Olympic Association, his coach Linford Christie claims.

Christie is angry that he was not allowed to help the Newport sprinter in his final preparations for the Games.

The BOA said Christie was not eligible after a failed drugs test in 1999.

Christie told the BBC's Sport Wales: "UK Athletics and the BOA didn't give Christian the chance to prepare for the Olympics as best as he possibly could."

Malcolm, 29, finished fifth in the 200m final, left in the wake of world record-breaking winner Usain Bolt.

And Christie, 48, said: "I wasn't allowed to go to the warm-up camp so he had to go out there and do a lot of stuff on his own.

"You need those kind of things where just before you go into championships, there's things you've got to tweak to make him ready.

"He wasn't given the same chance as a lot of other athletes who had their own personal coaches and everything else."

Christie, who won 100 metres gold at the 1992 Olympics, was banned for life by the BOA in 1999 after he failed a routine drugs test.

A BOA spokesman said: "Linford is under our by-law ineligible for accreditation for Team GB.

"As well as the Olympic Games, that includes our preparation camp."

The spokesman confirmed the by-law refers to to anyone who has been found guilty of a doping offence.