Youthfully, Linford Christie stood in the middle of the melee, a grandfather at 37. If he'd lifted his T-shirt to give a glimpse of that crazy cobbled stomach, we'd have cowered away like Dracula with a cruci fix in his face.

Up in the Shelbourne, disgraced Olympic champion Ben Johnson was kicking back and in the College of Surgeons William Jefferson Clinton was brokering more peace. Two former Olympic gold medallists and an American president . . . yesterday, Dublin was a happening place.

More graceful than the pumped-up physique suggests, Christie, a European, world and Olympic champion, was pressing flesh and embracing total strangers. Product endorsement does that to men. Now coach to a pack of aspiring Linford Christies, the best-known body in athletics was mellow in the wake of his most recent successes - a court action and his sprinters' performances at the European Championships.

When convicted armed robber turned author John McVicar hit Christie with both barrels in an article "How did Linford get so good?" Christie sued and won. The former Olympic and world 100 metres champion argued that he was not the Frankenstein of athletics, as McVicar had imprudently stated without, apparently, a scrap of evidence.

Not surprisingly, the magazine which carried the libel, Spiked, is now defunct while Christie, who was promoting Physio Sport body care products, moves on to the next phase of a turbulent but highly successful career.

Snatching his thoughts during the main course is a loser's game. Gently putting to him questions on drugs and his lunch box can be a tricky business.

On drugs: "Nobody wants to go to court. It was something I'd hoped would never have happened. My reputation means the world to me. I trained so hard. The public, they don't see anything but the finished product. For someone to say that I took drugs or that I cheat . . . I will not tolerate that. "I've put up with a lot of rubbish but for someone to call me a cheat I'll fight with the last breath in my body. During the European Championships they (International Olympic Committee) were talking about lowering the penalty for taking drugs. I don't think it should be lowered. I think it should be increased. I think if you are caught taking drugs you should be banned for life . . . so long as it's proved that you did it."

And the grandad's lunch box? Ooh, no thanks.

Christie is soon to front the television programme Record Break- ers and was an analyst for the BBC during Budapest. From deriding the media, he is now part of the establishment - the only part who can run the sprint in 10.2 seconds.

"Oh yes, I do think I got a raw deal from the print media. There's no doubt about it. I think I did and I think I'm still getting it now.

"A guy in the Daily Telegraph wrote recently that I was trying to hog the limelight in Budapest because I was down hugging Darren Campbell after the 100 metres. He was saying, like, it's Linford Christie saying me, me, me. Now what I can do is analyse, which I did during the championships. It's not my job to slag anybody off."

Christie's legacy is that of exploding ageist myths and, in the Stuttgart World Championships of 1993, becoming the only European to have run under 10 seconds.

"I think in the next 10 years the 100 metres time will get down to 9.7 seconds. I think to get down to 9.5 seconds will take a couple more years than that. But all things are possible. It's all about belief. If you believe enough in what your body can do, then you can. Never put limitations on yourself.

"Atlanta wasn't the worst moment. When you're injured it's worse. In Atlanta I was fit. People say I false started but my interpretation of a false start is if you react before the gun. I reacted after the gun. There have been four times this year alone where the American Maurice Greene has reacted in the same time as I did in Atlanta and quicker. I'll sit back and watch with interest to see what happens."

The transition from performer to director has been smooth enough. Success has crossed Christie's path enough to satisfy even an ego which required him to name his company 'Nuff Respect. Now, more in equilibrium with his surroundings, Christie's regular gripe, amidst a savage tabloid commentary, was that he was not shown respect. But he also traded on the notoriety of his hugging lycra. And has done well from it.

"The biggest buzz you can get out of sport is doing it yourself. The next biggest is telling someone how to do it and seeing them do it right. Watching Darren Campbell win in the European Championships for me was the next best thing to running myself. Making that transition was easy enough. As long as you make preparations then it shouldn't be that hard.

"All my life I've prepared for the next race. Now I prepare for the next few years."