Linford Christie (b. 1960) was, in 1993, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the men’s 100 meters, having won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics at the age of 32 — the oldest sprinter ever to win the event — and the World Championship title again that same August in Stuttgart. At the moment this chapter is set, he was, by any reasonable measure, the fastest man alive, which makes him the narrator’s obvious point of comparison for the sprint he didn’t have the sobriety left to attempt.