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Going for gold with stars of the future
THE look on their faces says it all. As Linford Christie – once the fastest man on the planet – breezes in through the gates, not even the thunderous drum 'n' bass music blasting out from a giant speaker in the corner can distract these wide-eyed youngsters.
Their expressions are a mixture of excitement and awe, but then it's not every day that they get to meet an Olympic champion.
Christie is at Thomas Danby College, on the outskirts of Leeds city centre, with fellow gold medallist Darren Campbell, to encourage children to get involved in sport.
"The reason I'm here is to give the kids a chance," says Christie. "They don't have to take up athletics, but if we can get just one of them to take up some kind of sport, then we're happy with that."
More than 50 youngsters, ranging from eight to 18, have come to take part in their Street Athletics event. Those involved are split into four different age-groups to race over 60 metres.
The top three boys and girls in each age-group then join the winners from 23 similar events held across the country, in next month's national final in Manchester.
Christie and Campbell set up their Street Athletics scheme four years ago – since then more than 10,000 youngsters have taken part.
In this short space of time they have done more than any well-meaning government initiative could ever hope to.
"We go into areas where they might not have an athletics track and we're aiming for the kids who prefer to sit at home with their PlayStations and don't do any exercise," explains 48-year-old Christie.
"By taking part in this, hopefully they can realise that sport is fun, and we make a point of telling them that kids who take part in sport learn better, they're better behaved and they have more respect."
The Street Athletics programme is more than just a gimmick. As well as being supported by Sport England, the top two youngsters win a year's sponsorship from Reebok, while the top child in each age-group is taken to an international athletics event in Paris, courtesy of Leeds-based energy supplier Gaz de France.
Christie, who won 23 championship medals during his career, talks about his sporting brainchild with an almost missionary zeal.
"We thought if we can show how we got into sport to kids out on the street, then we might be able to make a difference. But we also wanted to put our money where our mouth was, because it's no use being a champion if people can't see you," he says.
Following Britain's record medal haul in the Beijing Olympics, our sporting future would appear to be rosy, but Christie believes there is too much focus on those at the top.
"The grass roots I feel has been neglected, it's all about the elite. Clubs are crying out because there aren't enough coaches and they need help."
He feels, too, that schools still aren't doing enough to encourage youngsters to take part in sport.
"When I was a kid, we definitely did more sports. I got into athletics through teachers at school, but now there's not as many after-school clubs.
"There were kids at school quicker than I was, but I had the teachers who saw something in me and they encouraged me. I was one of the lucky ones, butnowadays, unfortunately, you don't see that as much," he says.
Although Christie won the 100m gold medal in the 1992 Olympics, his reputation was tarnished seven years later after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone, although he has always denied taking the banned drug.
Despite suffering further embarrassment earlier this year, when it was revealed that officials of former London Mayor Ken Livingstone had mistakenly invited Christie to carry the Olympic torch during its procession through the capital, he insists he doesn't bear a grudge.
"I'm happy where I am and I'm not into the whole VIP thing. I find it easy to come into communities like this and talk to people; this is where the work is needed most."
Talking briefly about the problem of drugs in sport, he says: "Unfortunately, sometimes innocents get caught up in it, but I can't be bitter about it. If I'm bitter, it will reflect on the kids. It's a minority, and let's concentrate on the majority who love the sport and are doing it properly."
Christie says that young people are more likely to listen to sporting role models like himself and Campbell than some Whitehall official.
"The Government sends in people with shirts and ties to deal with them and that's the wrong approach. You've got to win their trust, otherwise it's not going to happen."
Which is where, he says, Street Athletics steps in. "We want to get all kids doing sport in the future, so, hopefully, our role becomes redundant."
Campbell was part of Britain's Olympic 4 x 100m relay team who famously beat the "unbeatable" Americans in Athens four years ago. For him, Street Athletics is a way of giving youngsters a chance.
"I grew up on a council estate, and when me and Linford sat down four years ago, we wanted to give young people and under-privileged kids an opportunity to try athletics," he says.
"When we go into these communities, the people there are just thankful that we've come. We get a lot of parents coming up to us and shaking our hands, because for many of these places, it's a big community event."
Campbell's own talent was first spotted by his mum when he ran at a school sports day. "She spotted a talent in me I didn't know existed and she encouraged me to go out there and be the best I could be, and we want to give these kids the same belief that we had," he says.
"We don't have to give our time, I've got kids myself and so has Linford, but we feel it's important to give something back because athletics and this country have given us so much."
The 34-year-old former sprinter feels that many of today's youngsters don't deserve such a bad press.
"I was in a gang, and just because you're in one it doesn't mean you're a bad kid. A lot of kids get into gangs because they're being bullied or want to belong somewhere, and maybe, sometimes, we need to look at ourselves and the society we've created before judging others."
But he believes that schemes like Street Athletics can make a difference.
"One lad who got involved in our scheme two years ago went on to win the long jump in the English schools competition, so it just shows that some of these kids have a tremendous amount of talent. But it's not all about finding future champions, it's about getting as many people involved as we can, because every kid leaves here with the same reward.
"Everyone who takes part gets a T-shirt and a tag, because that's how it has to start, by taking part."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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