Biography
Masterminded the victorious campaign to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to London and now heads LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games).
Born in Chiswick, he grew up in Sheffield, and was inspired to take up athletics when John Sherwood brought his 1968 400m Hurdles bronze medal to the local club.Coe was coached by his father Peter who told him he would go to the 1980 Olympic Games.
The 1978 European Championships in Prague was his first major event in a British vest.He was beaten over his speciality distance 800m. It would be another eight years before he won a championship gold at the distance.
His three world records in 42 days in 1979 marked him out as a gold medal prospect for Moscow and his rivalry with Steve Ovett added spice to the Olympic confrontation.
Ovett won the 800m to leave Coe in despair, but less than a week later he ran a tactically perfect race to take gold over 1500m.
In 1981 he was back to record breaking around Europe but strangely he never met Ovett on a British track.
Coe was beaten once more over 800m at the 1982 European Championships in Athens but was discovered to be suffering from a rare virus which wiped out his 1983 season.
Few expected him to retain his title in Los Angeles.He finished second in the 800m again, this time behind the Brazilian Joaquim Cruz. His programme in 1984 demanded he race seven times over nine days, but incredibly, he surged away from the field to win his second gold at 1500m.
A title at 800m finally came in the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart.
He was controversially left out of the team for Seoul 1988 after a poor performance in the trials and retired from the track after the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
As an athlete he had addressed the 1981 IOC congress in Baden Baden and a career in politics followed his athletics career.
He was Conservative MP for Falmouth and Camborne from 1992 to 1997 and later elevated to the House of Lords.
He remains closely in touch with Athletics as member of the IAAF Council.