Linford Christie, OBE is one of the UK’s most successful athletes and the only English man to win Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European 100m gold medals. He still holds the UK record in the 100m and now works with Street Athletics, a new initiative to break down the barriers preventing youngsters from believing in their own talents.

You have a list of accolades and awards from your athletics career. When did you first realise you had such talent and what inspired you at the start of your career?

A schoolteacher spotted me running after a football in the playground and asked me to try out for the school team. After that, there always seemed to be someone around who encouraged me to keep going.

What do you enjoy most about running (while you were professionally racing and now)?

It’s about you and nobody else, when you are in your lane, there isn’t anything your competitors can do to you that will affect your performance, and if you have done the training it will show in the race. If you take part in a team sport you are partly reliant on the rest of your team.

What have been the highlights of your career?

The Olympics is the ultimate for most sportspeople but personally I think my highlight was the World Championships in 1993. All the Americans had qualified for the finals and I managed to beat all of them.

What is your focus for 2007?

I am heavily involved in coaching Christian Malcolm for this year’s World Championships in Osaka as well as next year’s Olympics in Beijing, so that is them main priority.

You are still very active. Can you tell us a little about how you get yourself in peak condition?

The key for me is that I really enjoy training and I still have fun on the track and in the gym. This means that you will always go back and want to improve your performance. If you have a good group of people around you, training becomes fun.

What tips do you have for Seasonal Berries’ readers to help keep themselves in the best possible shape (particularly men and children)?

I don’t have any specific diet but I naturally enjoy healthy food like chicken and fish and am a total fruit addict and will snack on fruit over everything else.

What is your favourite berry?

This is a tricky one, but it varies between blueberries and British strawberries when they are in season.

What is your favourite way to serve berries?

On their own, so you get to taste the real flavours.

For more information about Linford Christie and Street Athletics visit www.streetathletics.com