Linford Christie looking at the camera
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Linford Christie on ‘burden’ of ‘disgusting’ Lunchbox nickname and how it led to him being sexual assaulted

Linford holds multiple gold medals

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Linford Christie – recently the subject of a BBC One documentary – once opened up about his “disgusting” nickname.

The former athlete, 64, made the confession during his new documentary, Linford.

Linford Christie on a running track,
Linford has won multiple gold medals (Credit: BBC)

Linford Christie on ‘disgusting’ nickname

Back in his heyday in the 80s and 90s, Lindford made headlines worldwide thanks to his incredible sporting achievements.

However, sometimes the headlines weren’t about his medal winning, but about his manhood.

The Olympian’s manhood was visible through his running outfit – and it soon developed the nickname the “lunchbox”.

Now, in the new documentary, Linford confessed that he actually “hated” the nickname. He also revealed that it actually led to him being sexually assaulted, too.

“The day after I won the Olympics they talked about how big my [bleep] was. I thought it was derogatory and racist,” he said in the doc.

Linford Christie looking at the camera
Linford was sexually assaulted thanks to the nickname (Credit: BBC)

Linford Christie slams ‘Lunchbox’ nickname

The Olympian – on the new series of Cooking With The Stars – then continued.

He explained that because of his manhood’s nickname, some women thought it was acceptable to grope him.

“Because of that story women thought it was okay to grab my [bleep],” he said.

“The lunchbox thing followed me around for years. I had to carry a lot of burden that I was more famous for my genitalia than I was for my athletic achievements.”

Linford Christie during an interview
Linford was the third British man to win gold in the 100m at the Olympics (Credit: BBC)

Linford’s life and career

Linford remains the only British athlete to win gold in the 100m at the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

His first Olympic Games were in 1988 in Seoul. He won silver for the 100m there. However, four years later, he became just the third British man to win gold in the 100m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

He retired from competitive sports back in 1997.

Since then he has gone on to forge a career in the media, presenting programmes such as Record Breakers. He even had a contract with BBC Sport. However, all that came crashing down when he tested positive for banned substances after returning to the sport for a one-off race.

In 2010, he appeared in I’m A Celebrity. He was the sixth celebrity to be eliminated, with Stacey Solomon crowned the eventual winner.

Read more: Strictly 2024 celebrity line-up ‘to be announced in just days’ amid scandal: ‘Can’t wait to get started’

Linford is available on BBC iPlayer. Watch Cooking With The Stars tonight (July 30) on ITV1 at 8pm. 

Linford Christie wins 100m Gold - Barcelona 1992 Olympics

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer

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