Ron Roddan (8 May 1931 – 10 February 2023) was a British athletics coach. He was best known for coaching British sprinter
Linford Christie, whom he began coaching in 1979. A former
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
laboratory assistant, Roddan was himself a sprinter in the Fifties and Sixties. During his coaching career, he has had more than 30 athletes selected for the British team. Roddan coached Malcolm Christie.
Roddan first met Christie while the sprinter was attending school in
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...
, London.
Speaking in a High Court libel hearing in 1998, Roddan told the jury that a magazine article by
John McVicar
John McVicar (21 March 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a British journalist and convicted one-time armed robber who escaped from prison.
Career As a criminal
McVicar's criminal career began in his teens with shop break-ins and car thefts. In 1 ...
alleging Linford Christie took drugs to get to the top was a "fairy story", describing a suggestion that the
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
gold medallist's impressive physique may have been due to taking
steroid
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...
s or other
performance-enhancing banned substances as "ridiculous". In 2001, in response to claims by
Sebastian Coe
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...
that Christie's time as British athletic captain was marred by "continual conflict," Roddan said he was "surprised that someone of such so-called brevity would come out with a load of rubbish like this" and insisted that Christie enjoyed the support of his fellow athletes in the various British athletic teams that he competed in.
In February 2011, Roddan received London's Regional Council Performance Coach of the Year Award. Prior to this, in October 2010, he had received the national Performance Coach award at the England Athletics Hall of Fame and National Volunteer Awards.
Roddan died on 10 February 2023, at the age of 91.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roddan, Ron
1931 births
2023 deaths
British athletics coaches