Sebastian Coe

English runner and politician

• Born: September 29, 1956
• Place of Birth: London, England

An Olympic champion in the 1,500-meter run in 1980 and 1984, Sebastian Coe set world records in four events while establishing himself as Great Britain’s greatest middle-distance runner. After his athletic career, he remained active in the Olympic movement, spearheading the movement to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to London.

Early Life

Sebastian Coe was born in London, England, in 1956. He was the first child of Peter and Angela Coe. His mother was an actor until her marriage, and her son’s first name was taken from a play by William Shakespeare, The Tempest, in which she had performed. Her mother had been a ballet dancer for many years, and it is possible that the litheness that facilitated Coe's success as a runner was inherited from his maternal grandmother. His father, Peter, was an engineer who became the production director for a Sheffield cutlery company. Although his father became his coach, Peter had no competitive experience as a runner; in his youth he had been an avid bicyclist who participated in long-distance races.

As a youth, Coe gave little indication that he would eventually become a world-champion athlete. He was a frail, physically underdeveloped child whose activities during the summer months were curtailed by allergies. He also experienced anxiety acutely. When he took the set of examinations required of all British children around age twelve, he was so nervous that he failed. As a result, he was required to attend a comprehensive secondary school, where it was assumed that the students were incapable of doing college preparatory work.

Coe did not become a serious runner until age twelve, when he joined the Hallamshire Harriers athletic club in Sheffield. Unlike most distance runners, who begin with shorter distances and then move up, Coe started his running career racing long distances. He spent two years as a cross-country runner before he took up track racing. His first major success came in 1971, at age fourteen, when he won the Yorkshire School Colts division cross-country championship. In 1973, he was the English Schools 3,000-meter champion, and he also won the national youth championship 1,500-meter race in three minutes and fifty-five seconds (3:55).

His progress was interrupted in 1974 when he developed two stress fractures in his leg. That prevented him from running for four months; as a result of the loss of conditioning, he did not compete in 1974. When he resumed racing in the following year, however, he showed flashes of great potential. He won the national junior 1,500-meter title and then finished third in the 1,500 in the European Junior Championships in a personal best of 3:45.2.

Life’s Work

In the fall of 1975, Coe made two related decisions that were to shape the direction of his life during the next decade. Ordinarily, a young runner who races at 1,500 meters will move up to longer distances later in life, but Coe decided that he preferred to concentrate on the 1,500-meter races. Therefore, after consulting his father, he made a drastic switch in his training program. From that point on, the focus of his training was on relatively short runs at a fast pace to develop the leg speed necessary to run at a world-class 1,500-meter pace. This new system of training was supplemented by racing over shorter distances, especially 400 and 800 meters, to develop Coe’s basic speed.

In the fall of 1975, Coe decided to enroll at Loughborough University, where he majored in economics and social history. At Loughborough, Coe benefited from the assistance of George Gandy, a university lecturer in biomechanics, who devised a special indoor training program for Coe to use during the winter months, when the climate made it difficult to run outdoors. A form of circuit training, the program included weight lifting combined with a series of jumping exercises that strengthened the leg muscles used when running at a fast pace.

During the next two years, Coe emerged as a world-class runner. In August 1976, at age nineteen, he led a distinguished field for the first three laps of a mile race and broke through the four-minute barrier for the first time, finishing in 3:58.35. The following year, Coe set his first UK record, a 1:47.6 800-meter indoor race. Shortly after this, he won the 800 meters in the European Indoor Championships in 1:46.54, which was only 0.17 seconds slower than the world record. In the 1977 European Cup 800 meters, however, Coe suffered the first of a series of disappointments in major races at that distance. He was shoved by another runner and finished a disappointing fourth in 1:47.61. He gained some consolation, however, by setting a UK record for the 800 meters in 1:44.95 later that year.

In 1978, Coe seemed destined to win his first major international 800-meter title at the European Championships. The race was billed as a showdown between Coe and his chief British rival, Steve Ovett. Coe misjudged his pace, however, and ran the first lap in 49.3, more than a second faster than he had planned. He was unable to respond when Ovett and another runner sprinted past him in the last 100 meters, and he finished third in 1:44.8. Two weeks later, Coe demonstrated that he could run much faster than that when he lowered the UK 800-meter record to 1:44.0.

Coe first became world-famous in 1979, when he set world records in the 800 and 1,500 meters and in the mile. This came as a surprise to Coe, for he had had to reduce his training during the winter and spring to devote extra time to studying for his final exams at Loughborough. Yet after running his first lap in a comfortable 50.6 at Oslo’s Bislett Stadium on July 15, Coe accelerated and found that he continued to feel surprisingly fresh. He completed the second lap in 51.8, giving him a world record of 1:42.33.

Despite his new record, Coe continued to insist that the metric mile was his best distance. The first indication that he was right came in the Dubai Golden Mile at Bislett Stadium on July 17. Contrary to his usual practice of running from the front, Coe held back through the first three laps, running at a comfortable pace of 57.8, 1:55.3, and 2:53.4. Unaware of how fast he was running, Coe sped his final lap in 55.6 to finish far in front of his competition and in the world-record time of 3:49.0. At Zurich, on August 15, Coe added the 1,500 meters to his list of world records, his third world record in forty-one days. The chance for a record was nearly sabotaged by too fast a pace. Attempting to stay with the leader, Coe ran his first lap in 54.4. During the second lap, the pace slowed so much that Coe was forced to take the lead, passing 800 meters in 1:53.2. Running on his own, Coe completed the final two laps in 57.6 and 56.8, to give him a record time of 3:32.03. Because of his records, Coe was ranked first in the world at both 800 and 1,500 meters in 1979; the prestigious runners’ journal Track and Field News also selected him as its athlete of the year.

Coe’s training in 1980 was directed toward the Moscow Olympic Games, but a hamstring injury in the spring left him unsure whether he would be able to participate in the Games. His 1,000-meter race at Oslo’s Bislett Stadium on July 1 was the first clear indication that he was ready to run. Coe ran the first 400 meters in 51.0, far too fast, but was able to come back and run the final lap in a swift 55.6 to give him a time of 2:13.40, his fourth world record.

Prior to the 1980 Olympic Games, Coe was considered the overwhelming favorite in the 800 meters and ranked even with his chief rival, Ovett, in the 1,500 meters. Unfortunately, Coe ruined his chance for victory in the 800 meters by running one of his worst races ever. He had been extremely nervous in the days before the race and admitted afterward that the pressure to live up to expectations had hampered his performance. He ran most of the first lap in last place and completed it in a lethargic 55.3. It was not until the last 150 meters that he ran up to his ability, but his rapid finish was sufficient only to bring him second place in the slow time of 1:45.9. His disappointing 800-meter race strengthened Coe’s resolve to do well in the 1,500. The first 800 meters of that race were run at an excruciatingly slow pace: Coe needed laps of only 61.7 and 63.2 to stay on the shoulder of the leader. With eighty meters to go, Coe sprinted into the lead with one of the fastest finishing kicks ever in a championship race. He covered the last 400 meters in 52.2 and the final 200 meters in 25.4 to finish first in 3:38.40.

Judged by the quality of his performances, Coe’s 1981 racing season was the best of his career. After setting a world indoor 800-meter record in 1:46.0, Coe demolished the world record for 800 meters in a race on June 10, in Florence, Italy. A pacesetter towed Coe through a quick first lap in 49.9. Then, running on his own, Coe ran the last 400 meters in a superb 51.8 to lower the world record to 1:41.72. Coe wanted badly to regain his 1,500-meter world record, but despite a very hard effort at Stockholm, Sweden, on July 7, he finished in 3:31.95, only slightly slower than the record. He gained some consolation by reducing his own world record for 1,000 meters to 2:12.18 at Bislett Stadium on July 11.

Two of Coe’s best efforts in 1981 came in one-mile races. In his first fast mile, at Zurich, Austria, on August 19, a pacesetter led Coe through two laps in 56.2 and 57.47. Taking the lead during the third lap, Coe allowed his pace to slow to 58.09, severely endangering his chances of a record. He recovered to complete his final 400 meters in 56.85, giving him an overall time of 3:48.53 and a world record. Much to Coe’s chagrin, however, one week later Ovett ran a 3:48.40 to regain the record. Coe entered the mile race at Brussels on August 28, determined to recapture the record. Unlike most of his world-record races in which he had little competition, another runner, Mike Boit, remained a threat to Coe until the last 100 meters, thereby forcing Coe to go all out. A pacesetter helped Coe through the first two laps in 55.3 and 58.1. Taking the lead on the third lap, Coe slipped to a 58.8 pace, but with Boit close behind, he ran the final 440 yards in a fast 55.1, giving him a world record for the mile in 3:47.33. As a result of his outstanding performances, Coe was ranked first in the world at both 800 and 1,500 meters, and Track and Field News selected him as its athlete of the year for 1981.

The year 1982 should have been a prime racing season for Coe, but injury and illness prevented him from even approaching his performances of the previous year. He suffered a stress fracture in his foot in February that prevented him from establishing a proper endurance base. The climax of a subpar season came at the European 800-meter championship, in Athens, Greece, in September. Another runner outsprinted Coe to gain first place in the slow time of 1:46.33. Suspecting that he had mononucleosis, Coe withdrew from the 1,500-meter race and did not compete again that year. Unaware of the true nature of his illness, Coe continued to train and compete in 1983. He suffered several defeats from runners whose best times were considerably slower than his, and some sports reporters suggested he was washed up. Eventually, he entered a hospital, where he was found to have enlarged lymph glands, and his illness diagnosed as glandular toxoplasmosis.

Coe spent much of the fall of 1983 in the hospital and could not train from July until December. He was determined to defend his 1,500-meter title in the 1984 Olympic Games and, in the spring of 1984, he worked hard to regain his conditioning. It appeared that all of his efforts had been in vain when he placed second in the British Olympic Trials in the slow time of 3:39.79. Even Coe admitted that he would have been unsurprised had he been left off the British team. The British selection board, however, in a decision that received much criticism from the British press, placed Coe on the team rather than the runner who had beaten him.

At the Los Angeles Olympic Games, Coe competed in both the 800-meter and the 1,500-meter races. To qualify for the 800-meter final, he had to run three heats in the three days before the final. Despite being fatigued from such frequent racing, Coe ran well in the final. He ran his first lap in 51.3 to stay in close contact with the leader, Joaquim Cruz. Yet even a quick 25.71 for the last 200 meters was not sufficient to enable Coe to catch Cruz, and he finished second in 1:43.64.

As in 1980, defeat in the 800-meter race merely strengthened Coe’s determination to win the 1,500, which followed two days of heats. Because of his participation in the 800, Coe had to run seven races in nine days. Because of his frequent racing, as well as the heat and high humidity on the day of the 1,500 final, it was anticipated that Coe would not be able to run a fast time. He surprised his critics: He ran near the front throughout the race, keeping himself in position to strike when he was ready. After passing 800 meters in 1:56.92, he ran his third lap in a fast 56.29. With about 200 meters to go, Steve Cram caught up to Coe and attempted to pass him, but Coe responded with one of the best finishing sprints of all time. Coe ran his last 200 meters in 26.1 and finished first in an Olympic record time of 3:32.53. Coe thus became the first person to win two Olympic 1,500 gold medals. After the Olympics, Coe wanted to regain the 1,500-meter world record, but after one near miss in a winning time of 3:32.39, he injured a ligament in his foot and did not race again in 1984.

Hampered by injuries, Coe suffered through a disappointing racing season in 1985. He ran in a highly publicized mile race against Cram on July 27, at Bislett. Although he ran well during most of the race, Coe could not to mount his usual sprint at the finish and faded to third place in 3:49.93. On August 21, he ran close to his personal best in a 1,500-meter race but finished second. Four days later, in a rematch with Cruz, the Olympic 800-meter champion, Coe ran his third-fastest time ever, but his 1:43.07 was sufficient only for second place. Even though it had not been one of Coe’s better years, he was still ranked third in the world at 800 meters and sixth in the world at 1,500 meters by Track and Field News.

In 1986, even though at age twenty-nine he was considerably older than his main opponents, Coe continued to dominate middle-distance running. Although his best 800-meter time, 1:44.10, was slower than in previous years, he was beaten only once at that distance, and he defeated Cram while winning the European Championships with a 1:44.50. Amazingly, given his age, Coe improved his personal best at 1,500 meters to 3:29.77 in a race in Rieti, Italy. At the end of the year, he was ranked first in the world at 800 meters and second in the 1,500 meters.

Coe tried out for the 1988 Olympics team, but controversially, the English committee did not select him. He did not end his running career with that, however. He ran several charity races. One, the Great Court Race in 1988, required completion of the 367-meter circuit around the Great Court of Trinity College, Cambridge, within the time that it takes the court clock to ring twelve times for noon. In a race with Cram, both men succeeded, with Coe in the lead; only one other person had done it, David Burghley in 1927. In 2000 he ran a marathon, finishing in 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Coe also served as vice chair for the Sports Council from 1986 until 1989 and steward of the Bright Boxing Board of Control from 1994 until 1998. Moreover, he wrote several books and a column for the London Daily Telegraph.

In 1992 Coe turned his attention to politics. He won a seat in Parliament, representing Falmouth and Camborne as a member of the Conservative Party, but lost it in the 1997 general election that swept the Labour Party into power. Nonetheless, he stayed engaged in politics, serving as chief of staff for William Hague, leader of the Conservatives, until 2001.

Coe became a member of the committee preparing London’s bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. When the chair, Barbara Cassani, stepped down in 2004, Coe succeeded her. His determined campaign culminated in a highly effective presentation that impressed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July 2005. Initially rated third behind Madrid and Paris, London prevailed in the final vote. For his efforts, Coe was again widely hailed as a sports hero.

Coe immediately was appointed chair of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. In that capacity, he made it his policy to include many ethnic and age groups in the planning, which won him praise. Many saw the London Games as a success, from the riveting Opening Ceremony, which included Queen Elizabeth II participating in a tongue-in-cheek short James Bond film, to the focus on environmental sustainability at the venues and the more than thirty world records that were set by the athletes.

After the London Games, Coe became the chair of the British Olympic Association and received the Olympic Order, the highest honor of the Olympic Movement, given to those who promote and advance the mission of the Olympics. He went on to join the IOC in 2020, serving on the Tokyo 2020 Coordination Committee, and was a member of the councils of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and Association of National Olympic Committees.

Coe became the vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2007 and was reelected to that post in 2011. He was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012 as part of its inaugural class, and elected IAAF president and board chair of its Diamond League in 2015. In 2018, the IAAF began investigating Coe for allegedly misleading a parliamentary committee looking into an IAAF cover-up of a Russian doping and extortion scheme, but it ultimately cleared Coe of wrongdoing the following April. Coe went on to be reelected that year and again in 2023. In 2024, Coe said he would give consideration to running for president of the International Olympic Committee in 2025, when the IOC President, Thomas Bach, steps down.

As president, Coe led the IAAF through a reform and restructuring that culminated with the organization rebranding as World Athletics in mid-2019, in an effort to appeal more to younger audiences and be more inclusive. He also took controversial stances on acceptable testosterone levels in athletes with differences of sexual development, participation by transgender female athletes, revising marijuana policies, exclusion of athletes from aggressor countries in armed conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war, and prize money for Olympic medalists. Additionally, he sought to address climate change impacts on sports.

In addition to his Olympics organizing duties, Coe ran a chain of health clubs affiliated with Ramada Inn and represented the sports apparel company Nike as a worldwide ambassador from 1978 to 2015. He has also been involved with soccer: he chaired the FIFA ethics commission from 2006 to 2009, consulted for the English Premier League's Chelsea Football Club, and led a task force on repairing Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England. Coe chaired Fast Track Events, part of UK Athletics Limited, the running authority for the United Kingdom, and chaired and directed the consultancy Complete Leisure Group (CLG, later part of CSM Sport & Entertainment). Additionally, Coe held various roles for the health and life insurance group Vitality Companies, directed the Fortescue Metals Group, and served as a senior adviser to the financial firm Morgan Stanley and Co. International. In 2017 he was installed as chancellor of his alma mater, Loughborough University, and the following year opened the Elite Athlete Centre and Hotel there.

A philanthropist, Coe has supported the Helen Rollason Heal Cancer Charity, joined the youth sports–focused Laureus World Sport Academy in 2000, and established the Sebastian Coe Charitable Foundation.

A grateful country has bestowed many awards and honors on Coe. He was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1990. In 2000 he was elevated to the life peerage as Baron Coe of Ranmore, in the county of Surrey, and gained a seat in the House of Lords, which gave up in 2022. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order in 2006 and Companion of Honour in 2013. Coe's early athletic career was also memorialized in the 2004 book The Perfect Distance: Ovett and Coe—The Record Breaking Rivalry by Pat Butcher. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) named him sports personality of the year 2005, and the Hungarian University of Sports Science granted him an honorary doctorate in 2023.

Divorced from his first wife, Nicola, in 2002, he has four children. He married his second wife, Carole Annett, in 2011. The couple separated in 2020.

Significance

At the end of 1986, Coe had achieved an impressive collection of Olympic titles, world records, and victories over major opponents. He is the only person to have won two Olympic gold medals at 1,500 meters. In addition, he placed second twice at 800 meters. He has held world records at 800, 1,000, and 1,500 meters, as well as at one mile. His longevity in a demanding sport in which it is unusual for world leaders to remain at the top for more than a few years is remarkable. At the end of 1986, he had been ranked in the top ten in the world at 800 meters for nine straight years, and during four of those years he was rated first in the world, an achievement equaled only by Peter Snell. Illness hampered the later years of Coe’s sports career, but in 1992 he entered a new arena when he was elected to Parliament.

As a leader within the Olympic movement, Coe was frequently lauded for his vision and positive contributions, though his decisions as head of World Athletic have proven divisive at times.

Bibliography

Coe, Sebastian. Road to 2012. National Portrait Gallery, 2012.

Coe, Sebastian. Running Free. St. Martin’s, 1981.

Coe, Sebastian. Running My Life: The Autobiography. Hodder, 2012.

Coe, Sebastian. The Winning Mind: My Inside Track on Great Leadership. Headline, 2009.

Davies, Amanda, et al. “World Athletics Trying to ‘Remain Politically Neutral’ during Conflicts, Says Sebastian Coe.” CNN, 1 Mar. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/sport/world-athletics-sebastian-coe-israel-russia-spt-intl/index.html. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

Ehantharajah, Vithushan. “Sebastian Coe on ‘Uncomfortable’ Duty of Integrity as Christine Mboma Sprints into Spotlight.” The Independent, 5 Aug. 2021, www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/sebastian-coe-christine-mboma-tokyo-2020-b1896611.html. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

Greenslade, Nick. “Sebastian Coe.” New Statesman, vol. 134, no. 4745, 2005, pp. 30–31.

Ingle, Sean. “Coe Defends World Athletics’ Move to Award $50,000 to Olympic Gold Winners.” The Guardian, 10 Apr. 2024, www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/10/world-athletics-introduces-50000-dollar-prize-money-for-olympic-gold-medallists. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

Ingle, Sean. "Sebastian Coe Hints Strongly At IOC Presidency Bid to Succeed Thomas Bach." Guardian, 11 Aug. 2024, www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/11/sebastian-coe-ioc-presidency-thomas-bach-olympics. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

King, Kelley. “Sebastian Coe, Champion Runner.” Sports Illustrated, 25 Dec. 2000, p. 16.

Knight, Tom, and Sybil Ruscoe. London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: The Official Commemorative Book. Wiley, 2012.

“Lord Sebastian COE.” Olympics, International Olympic Committee, olympics.com/ioc/lord-sebastian-coe. Accessed 7 June 2024.

Miller, David. Sebastian Coe: Coming Back. Sidgwick, 1984.

Moore, Kenny. Best Efforts: World Class Runners and Races. Doubleday, 1982.

Nelson, Cordner. The Milers. Track and Field News, 1985.

Nelson, Cordner. “Sebastian Coe.” Track’s Greatest Champions. Track and Field News, 1986.

Reuters. “IAAF Closes Investigation into President Lord Sebastian Coe.” ESPN, 11 Apr. 2019, www.espn.com/olympics/story/‗/id/26494782/iaaf-closes-investigation-president-lord-sebastian-coe. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

Watman, Mel, editor. The Coe and Ovett File. Athletics Weekly, 1982.

Wilson, Neil. Sebastian Coe. Hamish Hamilton, 1982.