Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

125 What about the athletes? By 1991, however, South African sport was starting to get its act together, had come close to readmission to the IAAF in late 1991 and had high hopes of taking part in the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 as, in fact, it did. It may have been something of a coup, therefore, for Great Britain to be the first country to welcome South Africa back from the sporting wilderness by sending a team to compete against them. Moreover, a high percentage of the British team was black. However, once news of the possible fixture crept out, there was an immediate backlash from some of Britain’s leading black athletes who declared that they would refuse to compete in South Africa. Star British athletes including Linford Christie, Tony Jarrett, John Regis and Derek Redmond led a potential boycott. The timing was unfortunate as strong moves were taking place to reintroduce South Africa to the world community of sport but the BAF had misjudged the reactions of the athletes and the match never took place. After the comparative disappointment of Seoul four years earlier, the Barcelona Olympic Games of 1992 brought triumph and disappointment alike for Great Britain. Two gold medals from Linford Christie (100m) and Sally Gunnell (400m hurdles) were the highlights followed by bronze medals from Kriss Akabusi (400m hurdles), Steve Backley (javelin) and both men’s and women’s 4x400m teams. The disappointment was Colin Jackson’s failure to get amongst the medals despite being the favourite for the gold. A few weeks after the Olympic Games, the World Junior Championships took place in Seoul, South Korea. One of Britain’s strongest junior teams included future Olympic medallists Darren Campbell, Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Steve Smith and Katherine Merry as well as a quiet young lady who was to become one of Britain’s and world athletics’ greatest stars – Paula Radcliffe. The treadmill never stopped and 1993 brought another world championships, this time in Stuttgart, Germany and the first of the change from a four yearly to a biennial championship. Colin Jackson came back from his Olympic disappointment with a roar, taking the gold medal in the 110m hurdles and setting a new world record in the process. Sally Gunnell did the same in the 400m hurdles, winning in a new world record time, and Linford Christie showed that his Olympic Gold was no fluke by winning the world title. Silver medals came