An article by Alan Hubbard in "The Observer" in 1990 said of Sanderson and Whitbread that "their hate-hate relationship has been one of the most enduring in British sport", citing Sanderson's perception that Whitbread received preferential treatment from the British Amateur Athletic Board, whose promotions officer was a family friend of Whitbread; and the support that Whitbread and Whitbread's mother (who coached Whitbread) publicly supported Sue Howland who had been allowed to compete at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. In 2009, Tom Lamont wrote in The Guardian that "Whitbread and Sanderson were always uneasy rivals and the enmity that developed during their overlapping careers became as famous as their achievements, and seems to survive in their retirement".