Athletics: Rosswess ends Christie's unbeaten run

Linford Christie's six-year supremacy ended at the national indoor championships in Birmingham yesterday when he was beaten in the 60 metres final by Birchfield's Michael Rosswess in a photo- finish. Both were timed at 6.56sec. It was Christie's first defeat by a British athlete in a major final over the distance since Lincoln Asquith outpaced him at Cosford in 1988. 'You have to lose some time and it's better to get it out of the way now,' Christie said. Also beaten by Rosswess in the semi-finals and by the Swede Torbjorn Eriksson in his heat, Christie added: 'I'm not too worried. Anything can happen over this distance, especially if you get away badly. If he had beaten me over 100 metres, there would have been a real sense of loss.' Rosswess, whose time was a personal best, also had the satisfaction of beating Colin Jackson. Tom McKean bounced back to winning ways with a convincing performance in the 800m. He fell after a collision with the American Mark Everett during last week's international in Glasgow, but this time he beat a quality field with a confident and controlled piece of front running.