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Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, KBE (born 29 September 1956 in Chiswick, London) is an English athlete and Conservative Party politician. He was the head of the London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. After the International Olympic Committee announced London as the winning bid, Coe became the chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, the organisation in charge of overseeing the development of the Games.
Athletics careerCoe won four Olympic medals and set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle distance track events. His rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.
He was coached by his father, Peter Coe, who designed workouts specifically for his son. Coe studied economics and social history at Loughborough University and won his first major race in 1977 - an 800-metre event at the European indoor championships in San Sebastián, Spain. He first ran against Ovett in a schools cross country race in 1972. Neither won, nor did they win in their first major encounter in the European Championships Prague in 1978 in an 800 metre race, where Ovett was second and Coe finished third. The next year on two occasions in Oslo, Norway, Coe set his first world records in the 800-metre (1:42.33) and mile (3:48.95) races. Later that year, he set the world 1500 metre record (3:32.03) in Zurich, Switzerland. The most famous races between Ovett and Coe were in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, where each won the other's speciality, Ovett the 800 metres, and Coe the 1500 metres (Coe came in second in the 800, while Ovett took third in the 1500), handing Ovett his first defeat at either one mile or 1500 metres in three years and 45 races. The image of Coe crossing the finish line arms outstretched, eyes rolling and mouth agape was much reproduced.
Although he had a short season in 1982, he still managed to rank number one in the world in the 800 metres and participate in a world record relay for the 4 x 800 metres. Coe, along with Peter Elliott, Garry Cook and Steve Cram, produced a 7:03.89, a time that would stand as a world record for 24 years until it was bettered by both Kenyan and American teams in the summer of 2006. Although 1983 started out promisingly enough, with world indoor records in the 800 metres (1:44.91, breaking his own WR of 1:46.0 from 1981) in Cosford, England and then in the 1,000 metres (2:18.58) in Oslo, Norway, along with promising early summer results in the 800 m, he spent most of the rest of the year battling health problems (and consequently had to skip the IAAF World Championships in Athletics). By the next summer, Coe was able to return in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He took silver in the 800 metres (behind Joaquim Cruz of Brazil) and gold in the 1500 metres, the latter in a new Olympic record of 3:32.53 while beating 1983 World 1500 m champion Steve Cram. He remains the only person to win back to back Olympic 1500 metre titles. Following the race Cram made the often repeated quote On the day there was only one man and on the day Seb Coe was that man. Two years later, he won a gold medal over 800m at the European Championships in Stuttgart (his only international title at 800m) and set a personal best over 1500m at 3:29.77 min in Rieti. For the fourth time in his career ('79,'81,'82,'86), Coe ended the year ranked number one in the world in the 800 metres. In a highly controversial decision, he wasn't selected for the British team for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, thus denying him the chance to retain his 1500 metres title for a second time. The then President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, unsuccessfully tried to have the rules changed to ensure his inclusion. One scene in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire recreates a race in which the runners attempt to round the perimeter of the Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge in the time it takes the clock to double strike the hour at midday or midnight. Many have tried to run the 367 metres around the court in the 43 seconds that it takes to strike 12 o'clock. Known as the Great Court Run, students traditionally attempt to complete the circuit on the evening of the Matriculation Dinner. The only people believed to have actually completed the run in time are Lord Burghley in 1927, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, whom Coe beat in a charity race in October 1988. Later careerCoe became Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne in 1992, for the Conservative Party, but lost his seat in the 1997 general election. He returned to politics for a short time as William Hague's 'chief of staff', having taken a life peerage in 2000. During this time he tried his hand at a marathon, running a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes. When London announced its bid to hold the 2012 Olympics, Coe became an ambassador for the effort and a member of the board of the bid company. With the May 2004 resignation of chairman Barbara Cassani, Coe became the chairman for the latter phase of the bid. As Coe was a well-known personality in Olympic sport, it was felt he was better suited to the political schmoozing needed to secure the IOC's backing. Coe's presentation at the critical IOC meeting in July 2005 was viewed by commentators as being particularly effective, and the bid won the IOC's blessing on July 6. It is widely felt that Coe could be a future President of the IOC. With his established credentials in sport throughout the Olympic world, he is seen as a passionate person who would be suited to the role. Although he has strongly denied it, he is considered a possible candidate for the 2008 London Mayoral election. It was considered he would also be a suitable candidate for the role of Chairman of UK Athletics, though he decided not to seek such a position. FIFACoe was appointed the first chairman of FIFA's new independent watchdog, FIFA's ethics commission. The commission will judge all cases alleging conflicts of interest and breaches of Fifa rules. FIFA president Sepp Blatter made the announcement in Zurich on September 15 2006 and said: "It is perhaps a surprise but it has been very well received. We have found an outstanding personality in the world of sport, a great personality in the Olympic movement." His appointment makes him one of the most senior Englishmen to work for FIFA. Personal lifeHe is a worldwide ambassador for Nike and owns a string of health clubs with a membership of 20,000. Coe is knowledgeable follower of a wide range of sports, including football (he is a season ticket holder at Chelsea Football Club) and boxing (he was a steward for the British Boxing Board of Control), and has a very large collection of jazz records. He is a millionaire several times over. Coe is also a member of the East India Club in London. AwardsCoe was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1990. He was created a life peer in 2000 as Baron Coe, of Ranmore in the County of Surrey. In December 2005, Coe was given a Special award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for services to sport. Personal bests
TriviaAs a student in Loughborough in the late 1970s Coe lived in Coe Avenue See also
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