Old King Coe

Olympic Flashback: Seb Coe

It was Moscow, it was 1980, no Americans were there…

Back in the days before he became the right honorable Lord and Baron Sebastian Newbold Coe, this weedy-looking conservative was one hell of a long distance running oik. What marked out his 1500 metres triumph in 1980 was that he was up against Steve Ovett, a man of the people – hence, the nation was divided over who should take gold. Of course, as with everything in the 1980s, the snootiest runner won with all the good grace of a spiky young princess stealing toys from an orphanage.


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