Icon: Lord Sebastian Coe

Lord Sebastian Coe has been a prominent figure-head within the UK throughout his life, due to his achievement in both sports and politics. His triumphs range from Olympic gold medal winner to being awarded his a seat in parliament; these are just a few examples that hail a lifetime of success and accomplishment.

He was born in Middlesex but shortly moved to Sheffield where he began his journey into athletics at Hallamshire Harriers aged 12. His father Peter, supported his enthusiasm and nurtured his gift in athletics by becoming his coach and training him over a five year period.

 

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”

He progressed through his education, eventually being accepted at Loughborough University to study economics and social history in 1977. Coe’s athletics ability paired with the facilities and coaching available at the university led to his development from a middle distance runner to a middle distance specialist.
At Loughborough he met athletics coach George Gandy who developed “revolutionary” conditioning exercises to improve Coe’s running and sculpt him into a champion athlete. His first major race came in an 800-metre event at the European indoor championships in San Sebastián, Spain, this was the start for what would go on to be a long a successful career.
After graduating Coe focused on his athletics becoming extremely successful in both the 800m and 1500. He went on to win four Olympic medals including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984.
On top of his Olympic achievements he also set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997.
This love of the Olympics would go on to play a major part of his future, leading to his Olympic status being enhanced even more.
After retiring from competitive athletics Coe moved into politics, being elected as Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party in 1992, but lost his seat in the 1997 general election.
He returned to politics for a short period of time as Leader of the Opposition William Hague’s chief of staff, having accepted the offer of a Life Peerage on 16 May 2000. During this time rekindled his love of running by running the London marathon, in a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.
After completing his time in politics Seb Coe returned to his love of running and the Olympics. Not by competing but by taking up the responsibility of bringing the Olympics to the city of London. He began as an ambassador for the bid later moving into the role of chairman. Putting forward a bid on the July 2004 accompanied by a variety of the UK’s sporting  celebritires such as David Beckham and Kelly Holmes, and eventually won the rights to the Olympics in July 2005.

“It is to create the best Games the world has ever seen by unlocking the UK’s unrivalled passion for sport, by showcasing London’s unmatched cultural wealth and diversity and create a lasting legacy”

This in itself was an enormous achievement for the country as well as a personal triumph to add to Seb Coe’s long list of successes.
Whether it be his personal gold olympic medals won, or his seat in office, the London Olympics crowned and capped a long list of achievements through Lord Coe’s life.  His legacy is one that  contains achievements both personally and collectively as part of british sports and politics.

And is a legacy that will be remembered throughout time.