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

86 A POISONED CHALICE? After an initial honeymoon period, the early years of the BAF were uncomfortable. Relationships with ITV were not going well and the commercial events were not attracting viewers or spectators as before. The controversy surrounding the departure of Malcolm Jones had reopened old animosities which polarised with the challenges to the officers at the 1993 AGM. When he agreed to become the executive chairman, Radford (pictured) knew that he would be taking on a difficult task. David Miller, chief sports writer of The Times newspaper, penned a full page article on 16th December 1993 which laid bare the problems. After describing the successful world athletics championship in Stuttgart, where British athletes had won 10 medals including 3 gold (Linford Christie, Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell), he wrote: “Athletics holds the all-comers record for post war mismanagement. A succession of weak, bickering or ignorant chairmen..... have allowed the administration to drift rudderless.” Miller went on to describe what he perceived to be the problems in the sport and the enormity of the task Radford had taken on. Peter Radford took up his position as executive chairman on 1 st February 1994 and immediately walked into a storm. Andy Norman had long enjoyed a love-hate relationship with the British athletics press and one of them, Cliff Temple, had been preparing to write a critical article for the Sunday Times . Norman had got wind of this and had had a heated telephone conversation with Temple during which, it was claimed, Norman had threatened Temple. Sometime later, Temple, who had suffered from severe depression following the breakup of his marriage, committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train and Norman had been accused of being, at least partly, responsible for his death. This Norman hotly denied but others of the athletic press saw an opportunity to get back at him and whipped up the controversy.