IMDB

Actor

1956-09-26 · Chiswick, London, England, UK · Male

3 series in the catalog

Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records over the course of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.

Following Coe's retirement from athletics, he was a Conservative member of parliament from 1992 to 1997 for Falmouth and Camborne in Cornwall, and became a Life Peer on 16 May 2000.

Coe headed the successful London 2012 Olympic bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and re-elected for another four-year term in 2011. In August 2015, he was elected president of the IAAF.

In 2012, Coe was appointed Pro-Chancellor of Loughborough University where he had been an undergraduate. Subsequently, in 2017, he was appointed as Chancellor. He is also a member of Loughborough University's governing body. He was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame. In November 2012, he was appointed chairman of the British Olympic Association. Coe was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December 2012.

Early life and education

Coe was born on 29 September 1956 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith, London. His father was athletics coach Peter Coe and his mother, Tina Angela Lal, was of half Indian descent, born to a Punjabi father, Sardari Lal Malhotra, and an English/Irish mother, Vera (née Swan). Indian diplomat Samar Sen was Sebastian's uncle.

When he was less than a year old, Coe and his family moved to Warwickshire, where he later attended Bridgetown Primary School and Hugh Clopton Secondary School in Stratford-upon-Avon. The family then moved to Sheffield where he attended Tapton School, a a secondary modern school, at Crosspool which became a comprehensive school while he was there and Abbeydale Grange School. He joined Hallamshire Harriers at the age of 12, and soon became a middle-distance specialist, having been inspired by David Jackson, a geography teacher at Tapton School who had been a cross-country runner. Coe was coached by his own father and represented Loughborough University and later Haringey AC, now Enfield and Haringey Athletic Club when not competing for his country.

Coe studied Economics and Social History at Loughborough University, where he met George Gandy, the university's strength and conditioning coach, whose already well-established exercises for Loughborough Students RUFC strengthened and conditioned Coe. Coe won his first major race at the 1977 European indoor championships 800 metres in San Sebastián, Spain.

His mother, Tina Angela Lal, died in London, in 2005, aged 75. His father, Peter Coe, died on 9 August 2008, aged 88, while Coe was visiting Beijing.

Athletics career

Coe first caught the public's attention on 14 March 1977 when he competed in the 800 m at the European Indoor Championships in San Sebastián, front-running the entire race and winning in 1:46.54, just short of the world indoor record. He ran in the Emsley Carr mile on 29 August 1977, outsprinting Filbert Bayi of Tanzania in the home straight and winning in 3:57.7. Eleven days later, on 9 September 1977, he ran the 800 m at the Coca-Cola Games at Crystal Palace in a time of 1:44.95, beating Andy Carter's 1:45.12 to claim his first UK national outdoor record.

Coe's 1978 season continued to show his progression in the middle distances, though he raced only sparingly, as in early June he had suffered a serious ankle injury whilst out on a training run. On 18 August 1978, he ran the 800 m at the Ivo Van Damme Memorial meeting in Brussels, where he far outclassed the field and stormed home in a time of 1:44.25, another UK national record.

He first ran against his great rival Steve Ovett in a schools cross country race in 1972. Neither won, nor did either win in their first major encounter, on 31 August 1978, in the 800 m at the European Championships in Prague. Ovett took second, breaking Coe's UK record with a time of 1:44.09, and Coe finished third; the race was won by the East German Olaf Beyer. According to Pat Butcher, Coe's father and coach Peter Coe had encouraged him to run as fast as he could from the start. The early pace was indeed exceptionally fast: Coe ran 200 m in 24.3, 400 m in 49.32, and 600 m in 1:16.2; he then slowed and finished third in 1:44.76. A few weeks later, Coe reclaimed the UK record at Crystal Palace, setting an all-comers' mark of 1:43.97 which ranked him second in the world that year. On 1 October 1978, Coe displayed to the world for the first time his phenomenal natural endurance by winning the Loughrea 4-Mile road race in Ireland in 17:54, defeating the likes of Eamonn Coghlan (who would win the 5000 m at the 1983 World Championships) and Mike McLeod (who would be the 1984 Olympic 10,000 m silver medalist), and breaking Brendan Foster's course record of 18:05. All this off a season which had been focussed on 800 m, with only one race at 1500 m or the mile. This was a warning to the world's top milers of what was to happen the following summer.

The next year, 1979, Coe set three world records in 41 days. He set the first two in Oslo, Norway, at 800 m (1:42.33) and the mile (3:48.95), then broke the world 1500 m record with his 3:32.03 in Zurich, Switzerland, becoming the first person to hold these three records at the same time. He easily won the 800 m at the European Cup in Turin in August, covering the last 200 m in 24.1, and anchored the British 4 × 400 m relay team with the quartet's fastest split, 45.5. He was voted Athlete of the Year by Athletics Weekly and Track and Field News and was ranked number one in the world at 800 m and 1500 m; no other athlete since has ranked number one at these distances in the same year.

In 1980, Coe broke Rick Wohlhuter's world record for 1000 m with a time of 2:13.40. He held all four middle-distance world records—the 800 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, and mile—simultaneously (another unique feat) for one hour until Ovett broke his mile record. In the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Ovett and Coe each won the other's speciality: Ovett the 800 m and Coe the 1500 m. Coe took second in the 800 m after running what he described as "the worst tactical race of my life", while Ovett took third in the 1500. It was Ovett's first defeat at one mile or 1500 m in three years and 45 races. Coe covered the last 400 m in 52.2 and the last 100 m in 12.1 seconds, the fastest-ever finish in a championship final at this distance.

Coe began 1981 with an indoor world record of 1:46.0 for 800 m at Cosford in February. On 10 June, he set a world 800 m record in Florence; his 1:41.73 remained unbeaten until August 1997. As of 2025, his time still stands as the UK record and puts him in a tie with Nijel Amos for the eighth fastest man ever at the distance (Only bettered by David Rudisha, Wilson Kipketer, Djamel Sedjati, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Marco Arop, Gabriel Tual, and Bryce Hoppel). A month afterwards he set another world record with 2:12.18 for 1000 m, which was to last 19 years and to this day (2025) has only been bettered once. At this time, Coe was more than 1.7 seconds (about 14m) faster than anyone in history at both distances. Between these two record-breaking runs he won the Europa Cup 800 m semifinal, running the last 100 m in 11.3 (the fastest final 100 m ever recorded in a major…