Len Ruddock has done our sport a great service by producing a series of videos exploring the career of one our greatest competitors, Chris Maddocks.

There are five short videos, based on each of the Olympic Games in which Chris raced, starting with Los Angeles in 1984 and ending with Sydney in 2000. There will be two longer episodes, each of around 40 minutes. The second has the sub-title, ‘Reflections on a long international career’ and ends with the BBC coverage of the finish of Sydney 50 km.

Len proposes that Chris has many profound things to say about Race Walking, the athlete, presentation, history, current distances, judges and technology. He commends us all to sit up and take notice.

Please see the YouTube channel, ‘Race Walking Extra’, where all the videos will be posted.

To whet your appetite here are the first three of the short videos, within which Chris’s pre-race eating habits leave someting to be desired!!

I look forward with anticipation to the forthcoming clips and the in-depth conversations.

Respect and sincere thanks to Chris and Len.