Ask the Expert: Colin Jackson

Would you swap the 110 metres hurdles world record for the Olympic gold that eluded you?

Brian Stowell Bath

Colin Jackson: I wouldn't swap the world record for an Olympic gold. Setting a world record is very special. When you break a world record you're making history. It really lifts you in status in your sport at the time. And there are hundreds of Olympic champions who people have never heard of.

Athletes always seem to be injured. How did you keep yourself fit enough to stay at the top for 17 years?

Mark Warren by email

Colin Jackson: I had great medical back-up and a great coach, Malcolm Arnold, who always took care to condition me very well. He could spot when I was stressed, so he would lighten the training load. I still had seven knee operations but I didn't grumble. I think nowadays some athletes lack the basic conditioning you need if you are going to put your body through the hell that is training. I think coaches are not as switched on as in the past. There are a lot of people making jobs for themselves around the athletes and they don't seem to be helping much.

Why is Britain incapable of producing world and Olympic champions as it did in the past?

Julia French by email

Colin Jackson: Perhaps the talent we have in the UK is just not in athletics right now. The best youngsters are going to football, rugby and cricket these days and it's hard to think that it's not all about the money. If you were a 14- or 15-year-old and someone said to you that you could earn 70 grand a week playing football, or maybe the same amount in your entire career in athletics, what would you do?

Should Linford Christie be allowed to become an official British coach after his drugs ban and if so, why?

S Bardon Norfolk

Colin Jackson: Linford already coaches, and if the federation wants to use him then it's up to them, but because of his drugs ban he can never be an official part of an Olympic team. That is the rule. But Linford doesn't need an official position in order to coach athletes.

Would you do something like Strictly Come Dancing again - and how annoyed were you to lose to Darren Gough in the final?

Nicola Jenning Manchester

Colin Jackson: I don't think there is another show as good as Strictly Come Dancing, so no, I wouldn't. I didn't mind losing to Darren Gough, as it was for the audience to judge and they thought Darren was a better dancer than me, so he won. . . because the show was about who danced the best. . . right?

Which up-and-coming British athletes would you tip for gold at London 2012?

Barry Crace Portsmouth

Colin Jackson: A Sheffield heptathlete called Jessica Ennis. I watched her pick up a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and I believe she's got all the assets to go right to the top.

Next week: Brian Mawhinney
Football League chairman